Later, the little monster finally heard a voice again.
Before its joy could even rise, it sank into disappointment.
It wasn't the man's voice.
The unfamiliar voice made it uneasy.
Back then, it never imagined that the owner of that unfamiliar voice would keep it company for such a long time.
It was still inside the jade.
It could hear voices, but it couldn't see what their owners looked like.
It missed the sunlight a little.
It felt so warm on its body...
The deep blue sky was beautiful...
The white clouds were fluffy. The man said they looked just like cotton candy.
It didn't know what cotton candy was.
The man went out of his way to buy some for it.
It was soft and sticky.
Sweet.
It got cotton candy all over itself when it wasn't paying attention, and the man spent ages cleaning it off.
Afterward, he gave it little pieces of cotton candy to eat.
They tasted the same.
But it liked the fluffy kind better.
It liked the way the man frowned and told it not to move while carefully cleaning it up.
The man said to it, "You're such a dummy. You're practically turning into cotton candy, and you're still grinning so happily."
It grinned even more happily.
It liked cotton candy.
It missed him.
The smile brought on by its memories faded.
More than anything else, it wanted to hear his voice.
More than anything, it wanted to see him.
Why... hadn't he come yet?
Had the human who made it uneasy still not left?
Would he... be all right?
A long time passed before it happened to find the answer in a voice it had gradually grown familiar with.
He... was gone.
At first, it didn't really understand what