A Sudden Wake-Up Call
The woman smiled as she watched the children walking away.
Until they disappeared from sight.
The woman withdrew her gaze.
The smile slowly faded from her face.
She looked at Ox-Nose.
Her gaze was more complicated than ever.
There was even a hint of distance in it.
She knew...
She knew that she was the only one who could see Ox-Nose.
Now, the more time she spent with Ox-Nose, the less she could tell...
Was Ox-Nose just a figment of her imagination?
Or was he a special kind of being?
If it was the former, then there was probably something wrong with her...
She was abnormal...
So the woman instinctively rejected that possibility.
She wasn't hallucinating.
She didn't have... psychosis.
The woman preferred the latter possibility.
Deep down, she had quietly accepted that it was the latter.
Ox-Nose was a special kind of being.
And so she, who could see Ox-Nose, was special too.
Both were special, but the former was an outcast, someone shunned and attacked.
The latter was a remarkable person, a genius, someone with exceptional talent, someone admired and revered.
Before today, the only person the woman had ever interacted with in Ox-Nose's presence was the man.
Though he had been puzzled and confused, his generally accepting attitude had led her to misunderstand.
She had thought everyone else would react the same way he did.
But the truth had shown her...
They wouldn't.
The children's behavior just now had struck her like a heavy hammer to the head.
For a moment, she had felt dizzy.
Her heart had raced.
Her hands and feet had gone cold.
The children had looked at her with confusion, terror, and fear.
Their bodies had recoiled from her approach.
The woman suddenly