Story 17 ✐ text
The girl is only one in the world. That made her the God of this world...
She found herself on an island when she began to understand things around her. There was nobody else around. She had nothing to do. That was everything the world offered.
The island was small, and one could go around it in half a day by foot. All she could see at the beach was the ocean, the sky, clouds and the horizon stretching as far as she could see in a 360-degree view.
There was a mansion on the island, which seemed to be a part of an old and ruined city. She did not know why for what purpose those structures, which completely seemed to be unfit in the environment, were built there. She did not need to know why. And besides, the girl never wondered why because she realized that she had been there before.
There was a huge amount of preserved foods and daily necessities inside the buildings of the city, so she did not have to starve (although, she was hungry before she realized these were eatable). But she almost died several times because of sickness and injuries. In most cases, she almost got herself killed by eating either spoiled foods or plants and inorganic things around her.
She used the mansion as a residential area, and almost never set foot within the city. There was no particular reason to draw a line between the two places.
There were tons of books which she couldn't finish reading, even if she spent her whole life. They contained everything in this world. The stories written in the books were all about people. "People cannot live alone." There were many books with that written in them. However, the girl was alone. She lived by herself. Laughing, crying, things that were previously of value, none of them were needed. They were finished. They were completed.
The girl was the first 'average' person in human history. The average of the statistics is exactly the same as the sum of herself. That's why everything she does is correct. And at the same time, everything could be wrong.
The girl began to paint. Books, musical instruments, pictures. Among those things, painting was the tool that was most likely to create a person. But it didn't go well. She got tired of it many times. It didn't matter anyway, even if she got tired of it. When the season changed, she had enough. She finished the painting before long. She found out that she was more suited for drawing realistic scenes. As long as she was able to draw something that looked like it, it was fine. Drawing people (something that didn't exist there) might be hard to do. That's what she thought.
One day, the girl tried to light a fire on the beach because there was an episode in a book about a person who lit a signal fire after being stranded on an island. A white line rose up to the deep, blue sky. She thought, "What's this thing that's just like a cloud?" and she put her face near it. Her eyes and throat hurt badly. She backed off in confusion and gazed at it from a distance. She understood that it was useless. Likewise, she began to understand one thing after another. She understood what 'understanding' meant.
She painted a person. She painted people. These people were not always human. Some only looked like them, or they were entirely different creatures. So, she decided to add the figures of these people into paintings of landscapes she painted. She put up those paintings in the same places where she painted them. There was not a single place on the island she did not paint. The girl was with people everywhere. It meant that the girl and the people looked at each other every time she looked at the paintings. But the girl had no feeling achievement. "Would they be 'people'?" she thought. No, this was a "painting of people". They did not move. They did not think. They were simply there. Lonely? Finally, she could ask herself by finding the word. She was not lonely.
The girl spent a lot of time looking at the paintings. Looking at the people in the paintings gave her a strange feeling. "I want to talk to them." For some reason or another she thought about that. In a book, she found out a lot about talking to people. Inside, it was written that it was important how people lived their lives. The girl was interested in how the customs of talking to people worked and carefully studied it. It said that people spent time with each other over things like picnics and movies. Over the next few days, the girl spent time with the paintings. She wore a dress she found in the castle. In her head, to words like, "are you having fun?" she answered yes. Then, she touched hands with the people in the painting. It was oily. She then took out a blanket and spread it across the ground. A meal was properly prepared. It was a party to some degree. But due to the fact that there was no one else to share the meal with, there was much left over. The girl took the blanket, dress, and the leftover food and tossed it over a cliff like garbage, then slept. Thus the picnic ended.
The girl started drawing self-portraits the day after the picnic. Even though she had people she could talk to, there was no one except her in her world. That's why she put herself into the paintings. The girl put herself into all the paintings. In that world beyond, she and the people were laughing together. Looking at herself in the paintings, she felt strange. The girl couldn't really understand that feeling. Nevertheless, it continued to attract the girl's interest.
The girl is the only one in the world. That made her the God of this world. Something mysterious happened. It was the day after she repainted all of her paintings, hundreds in numbers. Those in the paintings had moved. But it did not startle the girl, because she had no idea of asking herself whether it was abnormal or not. From the beginning, she was trying to make "people". Did it work? The God looked inside the miniature garden. She looked closely at the paintings. The people in the pictures seemed to be having fun, smiling at each other. But the paintings were blurred. The world itself appeared blurred. Why, the girl thought. A strange feeling developed in her mind. She could not describe what it was. The people in the painting were smiling at each other. That was what she felt. She repainted them. She repainted them over and over. But the results were the same. She was at a loss. She began to be unsure of everything. The girl is the only one in the world. That made her the God of this world. So she put together all of the paintings in one building in the city. She felt as if everyone was smiling together. It made her wonder if the her in the paintings was also smiling. But the God was not the one in the paintings. There was no one else besides her in her world. She was alone.
This is the story I was finally able to write. It took a long time, but I'm glad I was able to complete it. If anyone would rather read it in a physical copy, I also wrote two copies of it onto paper, one in Japanese and one in English. I'm not sure if the English one is completely correct, but I did my best.
To all the people who helped me with it, and to anyone who took the time to read it... thank you.
She found herself on an island when she began to understand things around her. There was nobody else around. She had nothing to do. That was everything the world offered.
The island was small, and one could go around it in half a day by foot. All she could see at the beach was the ocean, the sky, clouds and the horizon stretching as far as she could see in a 360-degree view.
There was a mansion on the island, which seemed to be a part of an old and ruined city. She did not know why for what purpose those structures, which completely seemed to be unfit in the environment, were built there. She did not need to know why. And besides, the girl never wondered why because she realized that she had been there before.
There was a huge amount of preserved foods and daily necessities inside the buildings of the city, so she did not have to starve (although, she was hungry before she realized these were eatable). But she almost died several times because of sickness and injuries. In most cases, she almost got herself killed by eating either spoiled foods or plants and inorganic things around her.
She used the mansion as a residential area, and almost never set foot within the city. There was no particular reason to draw a line between the two places.
There were tons of books which she couldn't finish reading, even if she spent her whole life. They contained everything in this world. The stories written in the books were all about people. "People cannot live alone." There were many books with that written in them. However, the girl was alone. She lived by herself. Laughing, crying, things that were previously of value, none of them were needed. They were finished. They were completed.
The girl was the first 'average' person in human history. The average of the statistics is exactly the same as the sum of herself. That's why everything she does is correct. And at the same time, everything could be wrong.
The girl began to paint. Books, musical instruments, pictures. Among those things, painting was the tool that was most likely to create a person. But it didn't go well. She got tired of it many times. It didn't matter anyway, even if she got tired of it. When the season changed, she had enough. She finished the painting before long. She found out that she was more suited for drawing realistic scenes. As long as she was able to draw something that looked like it, it was fine. Drawing people (something that didn't exist there) might be hard to do. That's what she thought.
One day, the girl tried to light a fire on the beach because there was an episode in a book about a person who lit a signal fire after being stranded on an island. A white line rose up to the deep, blue sky. She thought, "What's this thing that's just like a cloud?" and she put her face near it. Her eyes and throat hurt badly. She backed off in confusion and gazed at it from a distance. She understood that it was useless. Likewise, she began to understand one thing after another. She understood what 'understanding' meant.
She painted a person. She painted people. These people were not always human. Some only looked like them, or they were entirely different creatures. So, she decided to add the figures of these people into paintings of landscapes she painted. She put up those paintings in the same places where she painted them. There was not a single place on the island she did not paint. The girl was with people everywhere. It meant that the girl and the people looked at each other every time she looked at the paintings. But the girl had no feeling achievement. "Would they be 'people'?" she thought. No, this was a "painting of people". They did not move. They did not think. They were simply there. Lonely? Finally, she could ask herself by finding the word. She was not lonely.
The girl spent a lot of time looking at the paintings. Looking at the people in the paintings gave her a strange feeling. "I want to talk to them." For some reason or another she thought about that. In a book, she found out a lot about talking to people. Inside, it was written that it was important how people lived their lives. The girl was interested in how the customs of talking to people worked and carefully studied it. It said that people spent time with each other over things like picnics and movies. Over the next few days, the girl spent time with the paintings. She wore a dress she found in the castle. In her head, to words like, "are you having fun?" she answered yes. Then, she touched hands with the people in the painting. It was oily. She then took out a blanket and spread it across the ground. A meal was properly prepared. It was a party to some degree. But due to the fact that there was no one else to share the meal with, there was much left over. The girl took the blanket, dress, and the leftover food and tossed it over a cliff like garbage, then slept. Thus the picnic ended.
The girl started drawing self-portraits the day after the picnic. Even though she had people she could talk to, there was no one except her in her world. That's why she put herself into the paintings. The girl put herself into all the paintings. In that world beyond, she and the people were laughing together. Looking at herself in the paintings, she felt strange. The girl couldn't really understand that feeling. Nevertheless, it continued to attract the girl's interest.
The girl is the only one in the world. That made her the God of this world. Something mysterious happened. It was the day after she repainted all of her paintings, hundreds in numbers. Those in the paintings had moved. But it did not startle the girl, because she had no idea of asking herself whether it was abnormal or not. From the beginning, she was trying to make "people". Did it work? The God looked inside the miniature garden. She looked closely at the paintings. The people in the pictures seemed to be having fun, smiling at each other. But the paintings were blurred. The world itself appeared blurred. Why, the girl thought. A strange feeling developed in her mind. She could not describe what it was. The people in the painting were smiling at each other. That was what she felt. She repainted them. She repainted them over and over. But the results were the same. She was at a loss. She began to be unsure of everything. The girl is the only one in the world. That made her the God of this world. So she put together all of the paintings in one building in the city. She felt as if everyone was smiling together. It made her wonder if the her in the paintings was also smiling. But the God was not the one in the paintings. There was no one else besides her in her world. She was alone.
This is the story I was finally able to write. It took a long time, but I'm glad I was able to complete it. If anyone would rather read it in a physical copy, I also wrote two copies of it onto paper, one in Japanese and one in English. I'm not sure if the English one is completely correct, but I did my best.
To all the people who helped me with it, and to anyone who took the time to read it... thank you.