Heh.
This shadow is starting to look more and more like...
A monster.
It even eats people...
How is it not a monster?
Child's Mom tugged at the corner of her mouth.
Her expression was strange.
But...
It really was the shadow.
The rain... the child's strange behavior...
What else could be the cause besides the shadow?
She really hadn't guessed wrong at all.
"Mm!"
The mushroom-headed little girl nodded vigorously.
The sight of her mother being swallowed by the shadow had been so terrifying that the mushroom-headed little girl couldn't help trembling all over.
"Anna."
Child's Mom reached out and took her daughter's hand.
"It's okay."
"Mommy's just fine, isn't she?"
Being eaten by a monster...
Child's Mom almost laughed.
Even when she was Anna's age, she'd never imagined being eaten by a monster...
She had imagined herself as a princess who'd been lost among commoners...
That was the kind of fantasy ordinary girls had.
Wasn't it?
Her child...
Was really something else.
Child's Mom's mouth twitched slightly.
But what was the point of this?
Imagining herself as a princess lost among commoners made her happy.
Obviously,
imagining the shadow didn't make the mushroom-headed little girl happy.
The mushroom-headed little girl clutched her mother's hand tightly.
As if confirming that her mother was really there and unharmed.
After a long while...
The mushroom-headed little girl nodded.
Mm.
Mommy was just fine.
The shadow hadn't eaten her.
A relieved smile appeared on the mushroom-headed little girl's face.
"Anna."
Child's Mom reached out and flicked the mushroom-headed little girl on the forehead.
The mushroom-headed little girl instinctively raised a hand to cover her forehead.
She looked at her mother, confused.
Why had she hit her on the head?
It hurt a little.
The mushroom-headed