Green Eyes of the Suburb

"Thank you, Ma’am," Tama smiled politely as he accepted the plastic bag of bean sprouts, weighing eight kilograms, from one of the traditional market vendors. The boy sighed in relief, after ten minutes of bargaining, he successfully managed to get the lowest price, the first time in his life.

Green beans and bean sprouts were all done. All left for one, the chicken meat.

Tama was given a task that used to be his older brother’s: buying certain ingredients for her mother’s restaurant that she managed along with one of her cousins. This day's shopping list just needs three items. His brother Ando went to the city due to an internship for three months, and its been a week.

Right after, Tama was busy searching for the chicken butcher who was his brother’s regular, to every corner, without a chance to blink.

At last, he found the vendor he was looking for.

The shop man asked, "You’re Ando’s little brother, right? Your body shape is pretty similar, but behavior wise, very different.”

"Yes, that’s right, Sir."

"Ando often talks about having a little brother, and announced that his brother will be doing the daily shopping here from now on.”

Unexpectedly, without having to bargain, the vendor already knew what to hand over and what price to say, just from Tama's confirmation that he is Ando’s younger brother.

Tama was relieved. Now he could go home quickly, or... Stop by to buy a cold drink first.

No way, no way! Hold it in, Tama’s mind yelled to himself. Money is not quite safe right now, don’t do anything unnecessary. Prioritize buying staple foods first!

Still with minimal breakfast condition, Tama walked sluggishly through the crowd of the market towards his motorcycle, parked quite far away. A bit remote, filled with trees and grass, purposely to avoid the parking fees.

Just before he pulled out and started his motorcycle to head to the main road, a loud roar of racing motorcycles with oversized exhaust pipes blasted through the air, as if the eardrums of anyone nearby were about to burst.

"So noisy," he quietly grumbled. "Just causing noise pollution."

The spiky haired boy started to ride when he thought the road was clear.

Thud!

Screech!

Tama’s motorcycle toppled over to the side of the road. Losing balance, Tama’s body was thrown far from the motorcycle into the tall grass and trees. The items he had bought spilled out from their damaged bags.

However, jumping off the motorcycle didn’t spare his entire body from crashing uncontrollably as he lost all balance, everything happened in the blink of an eye. Tama’s head slammed hard into the grassy ground that was ankle-deep to an adult. The hardest hit he had ever experienced in his life, until it made him...

Experience unconsciousness, for the first time.

***

A gentle breeze brushed against his body, as if softly caressed by the grass around him. That made Tama slowly regain consciousness.

His round eyes opened slowly, began to move his arms and legs, although they felt heavy and sore. Although his vision was still blurry, Tama already expected to have his elbows bruised, since he was wearing a t-shirt that doesn’t cover his elbows.

Gradually, he tried to sit up among the grass, groaned in pain, and saw that his knees were scraped and bleeding with the specks of dirt, as seen clearly because he was wearing knee length shorts.

In panic, Tama’s mind quickly focused on searching for clean water. The problem was, he didn’t bring a water bottle at all, with his condition right in the middle of an open field with only wide grass and old trees with thick trunks all over.

Walking back to the market was the best option available, but unfortunately, the market was far. The nearest place was some small convenience stalls to buy bottled water. It still would take a lot of energy, which seemed impossible in his condition, although it would take less time than walking to the market.

He still had yet to process the situation with his eyes clearly. It was better than before though, especially regarding the whereabouts of this grassy field, it's more vivid.

Wait a minute.

Something’s off.

The sky was dark... Purplish. Like the sky in the evening.

How long have I been here!?

Hard to believe. Could I really have been unconscious for that long and no one noticed!?

Suddenly, Tama quickly shifted his thoughts as he realized something else was strange.

As Tama observed the paved road, his motorcycle and groceries were nowhere to be seen. Staggering, he moved toward the road to check the area more closely, maybe they were just in a different spot, hidden by trees and grass.

Nothing.

Maybe it’s stolen.

Besides that, he couldn’t hear a single sound of passing vehicles.

"Damn it!" he shouted.

"A... living human."

Tama froze at hearing that voice. A hoarse and low voice, loud and echoing, came from behind him.

Slowly, he dared to turn around.

He was shocked, nearly falling back to the ground.

A brown owl the size of a medium sized tree began to reveal itself from behind the trees.

"Wait a minute... What is that!? I’ve never seen a bird that big!"

Tama grew even more confused after remembering why he turned around.

So then... who spoke?

His eyes tried not to blink even once to stay alert for any unwanted possibilities.

"Hm... Incredible."

That voice was heard again.

And Tama guessed... the voice came from the owl.

Huh, what? So... that bird can talk?

Uh... Why is this getting weirder?

Tama started to think of the worst possible explanation for his current condition.

Could it be... I’m already dead?