Unthersee - The End

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Aurora?
So the girl whose body I seemingly took over is called Aurora?
I am called Aurora in this world and this time?
And who is that man in front of me?
What should I do? How would Aurora react in this situation?
I feel a fringe of panic overcoming me but I try to calm down and order my thoughts.
So, the man in front of me seems very worried about me and relieved that I am back. Maybe Aurora ran away and just disappeared for a while.

"I'm sorry.", I whisper with my head down.
The man stands up and walks towards me.
"I want to ask you what happend but I won't press you and I know you are always trustworthy and are going to tell me when you can handle it, my dear daughter. I am just happy you are back and in good health.", He says while looking at me with his wise and kind eyes.

Okay, two new important details: This man is my father and Aurora seems to be a reliable person.
I take a deep breath.
"Thank you, father."
It is a word I couldn't say for what feels like a million years and now resonates in my soul and mind, a word that wakes tightly sealed memories in places where the light was turned off for so long: father.

"Please Aurora, I can't see tears in your eyes! Don't cry! Everything is okay; you are home, you are safe.", The man I never saw before and nevertheless called father comes closer and affectionately lays a hand on my head.
I can feel the warmth of his touch radiate through my body.

"Let's eat something for now, you must be hungry.", The man in the light yellow garment points to his right.
I follow his hand with my eyes and discover a table made of wood but in a kind of airy way if you could say that.
The table top seems to float in the room and it looks like glass was inwrought in it because you can almost see through the wood.
On top of the table are many trays with delicious looking food and plates for two.
He invites me to go over there and sit down next to the table.
There are no chairs, only a pillow but as I sit down I realise how comfortable it is.

Suddenly the man lays his hands on the table top left and right from his plate and bows down his head while closing his eyes. A little bit confused I imitate his movements.
Then he looks at me again and starts to move the plates towards me and his eyes tell me to try everything.
Curious and a little bit sceptically I look at the food and realise that I really am extremely hungry.
I feel like the last time I ate was an eternity back in time.

The food on the plates looks very extraordinary. I can recognise some kind of roots and all kinds of vegetables, prettily decorated and presented.
A delicate, earthy but also very light smell crawls into my nose and makes me want to eat them even more.
On the other hand I never ate similar food; it looks completely different from what I used to eat and especially from what my mother used to make.

I want to grab some purple vegetables in a star shape but then I suddenly realise that I don't know how I am supposed to eat here.
Do I have to eat it with my fingers? And how? And how to I have to behave in general while eating so the father of the girl named Aurora won't suspect me?

To get myself out of this situation, I move the plates back towards the man.
"Please take something for yourself first. I am sorry I made you worry."
I really hope he will eat first or I will have a serious problem.

He sighs but puts some vegetables and flowers on his plate and smiles slightly at me.
Then he forms a cup with the left hand he holds the food with and places the other hand in front of the first so no-one can see how he actually gets the food in his mouth.
It looks really neat and decent.
After he ate a handful delicious looking something that could be some kind of like a potato, he says: "Please take something now! You must be hungry."

Because I feel like I got the basic table manners now I put a few things on my plate to.
I then smile at him even though I am so nervous right now.
I still can't believe how something like this could have happened to me and I have to pretend I am a girl named Aurora and can't allow myself to be found out.

But as the taste of the purple vegetable in star shape everything is forgotten.
I never tasted a similar taste in my whole life.
It's kind of sweet and sour but there is a flavour I didn't even know exists; a flavour I couldn't taste as the Merle that lived in her favorite books rather than in her real world.
I sigh in pleasure.

"You really must have been hungry.", My dad laughs. "Now that I see you feeling better, may I carefully remind you that the examination is in a few days?"
"Examination?", I blurt out without thinking.
"Yes, did you forget the examination? The examination that will determine our future? That will determine whether we will all die or survive, that is the only chance to save our planet Unthersee?"

A really hot flush comes over me. My brain refuses to work and all I hear is my blood that is being pumped really fast through my veins.
Did I hear correctly what he said?
I hope I didn't. I really hope I didn't. Please tell me I didn't.

How could he have said Unthersee?
And why would that explain perfectly why I thought everything felt so familiar?

I really can't think straight anymore and I feel like there is no oxygen to breath, even though I don't even know if the creatures on the planet Unthersee breath in oxygen since the author didn't write about this one fucking aspect.

I need fresh air like right now, so I stand up very abruptly and flounce out of the room like a storm.