Notlimah

Chapter 30: 5 year plan

“I don’t always have a 5-year plan. One thing you must always do in life is to keep your learning curve as high as possible.”

Yo-Yo Ma

Aleera took me out down to the shore where we could look back at the town across the lake where home lay while grandfather prepared dinner.

“Well, we’re here for however long.” Aleera sighed. Turning to me, she asked, “So, any more surprises today?”

Stopped for a second by the sudden changes in my life,...

Chapter 29: Don’t judge a baby by where he is!

“Don’t judge a man by where he is, you don’t know how far he has come!”

C.S.Lewis

"Where is he?" were the first words I heard from my grandfather as he burst through the front door.

"He’s fine. He’s resting." my mother replied.

It took my father, what felt like, half the day to find and bring grandfather back from wherever he had been. I was now more or less in control of my senses and able to eavesdrop on the conversation happening only n...

Chapter 28: No longer secret. No longer safe?

Chapter 28: No longer secret. No longer safe?

“Is it secret? Is it safe?”

Gandalf

Source of Mana! As if managing my hypersensitive state caused by Super Senses was not enough. Suddenly, my insides felt like they were glowing. Expel Mana started up all on its own, I couldn’t hold all the mana within me it was literally leaking out of me. Even though the Mana I was giving off was invisible to normal eye...

Chapter 27: Sensory Overload

“Life has become a state of sensory overload.”

Joseph Curiale

I was found the next morning still curled up in the foetal position on the floor in the main room. When they woke me, the light was blindingly bright whilst also showing more detail than I had ever seen before burned into my retina. Their soft arms as they lifted me to change me felt as if they would leave bruises behind with their strength yet left not a single mark. Their questions of concern lef...

Chapter 26: Usual Suspects

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist.”

The Usual Suspects

Life moves slowly here. Mother still weaves while Aleera helps and Father still sails and fishes.

I have yet to convince anyone that Fairies did it and I am still the prime suspect in the case of the missing pewterware. Which the family is still talking about and wondering where they are and what happened to them. I’m beginning to worry that ma...

Chapter 25 : Wielding water

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”

Loren Eisley

My Nighttime Ninja Baby Wizard routine has continued. Next up on my list was water.

“I will command all four elements before I’m one.” I thought to myself. I know it seems like a long stretch for me but shoot for the stars and I might just land on the moon. Besides I already had Ignite for fire I thought maybe I could get boil for water.

Although if I was going to go ...

Chapter 24: Playing with fire

“The one advantage of playing with fire . . . is that no one ever gets singed. It is the people who don’t know how to play with it who get burned up.”

Oscar Wilde

My Ninja baby practice has continued and now I am playing with fire or at least trying to. Many a night building and burning bonfires in my former life leave me cautious even if I am trying to do it magically.

I have left Mana Sense on all the time in the hopes of leveling it up and it is mo...

Canon Chapter 23: Equipped with his 5 senses

“The senses, being the explorers of the world, open the way to knowledge.”

Maria Montessori

Turns out my internal clock is wrong, not completely but wrong enough. It turns out I am not yet 1 or at least I would be in my old world but not in this one. There was more than one reason why everyone seemed fairly astounded by my Happy Birthday routine. It could have been the baby singing. It could have been the song. But actually, it was probably the date.

I ...

Non Canon Chapter 23: It wasn't my birthday!

This was an idea inspired by the French Revolution and the decimal time that they used in 1792. In practice, it was too complicated to use for this world. Maybe in another story on another world.

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

Nelson Mandela

I'm no longer falling over when I’m walking or running which is wonderful. The bumps and bruises might heal quickly but they are still ...

Chapter 22: It's my birthday!

"Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday to me
Happy Birthday Dear Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiii
Happy Birthday to me"

As I finished singing the song to myself I looked around at the rest of my family. Don't think they know the song but they are all looking astounded.

I love being a baby, I'm awesome!

They are happy with whatever I do.

I'm no Pavarotti yet, but it is fun to pretend.

Besides, it's my Birthday! 

Do...

Chapter 21: Weird or Normal?

Weird: Involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthly, uncanny, fantastic, bizarre. Or a strikingly odd or unusual character; strange.

Normal: Conforming to the standard or the common type; usual, regular, typical or expected. Approximately average in any psychological trait.

As I lie in my box looking up at the ceiling I catch myself contemplating my future on the eve of my first birthday.

I don't think I was ever going to be normal and I am perfectly...

Chapter 20: As a man thinketh

For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?

James Allen

For quick success sometimes you just need to ask Why repeatedly. At least that's what I have discovered regarding opening the dreaded door.

. . .

I'm talking!

. . .

I'm talking!

. . .

My vocabulary is limited and trying to keep things simply anyway but I now have enough to understand roughly what is being said and respond in k...

Chapter 19: Teething problems

"Watching teething babies is like watching over a thermonuclear reactor - it is best done in shifts, by well - rested people."

Anthony Doerr

Turns out I'm having teething problems in more ways than one.

First off my teeth are coming in and boy is it painful. I'm actually levelling my Pain Tolerance off of this.

Second they have nothing to chew on here to help with the pain, frustration and general annoyance that new teeth are.

Third and most imp...

Chapter 18: Practice makes perfect

"Practicing is not only playing your instrument, either by yourself or rehearsing with others - it also includes imagining yourself practicing. Your brain forms the same neural connections and muscle memory whether you are imagining the task or actually doing it."

Yo Yo Ma

I found myself being rather nostalgic this month. Remembering all the things I used to have and might be forever out of my reach here. No TV for starters although that might not be a bad thing....

Chapter 17: Temper Tantrums

""Temper tantrums, however fun they may be to throw, rarely solve whatever problem is causing them."

Lemony Snicket

Ha! Take that Lemony Snicket. My temper tantrum worked perfectly. It took having a loud tantrum every time I was about to be put back into my swaddling after each feeding. But it seems to have finally worked. I am no longer swaddled. Although it took them a while to get over the initial confusion that it wasn't food, sleep, colic or unmentionables. ...

Chapter 16: The very hungry baby

"You, like the little caterpillar, will grow up, unfold your wings and fly off into the future.

Eric Carle

I'm so very hungry! At 1 o'clock, I had one helping. At 2 o'clock, I had two helpings. By 3 o'clock, I had two helpings and went back for seconds. I don't know about eating apples, pears, plums, strawberries and oranges. But I would if I could. Unfortunately no teeth yet!

Still nearly constantly swaddled.

My mother seems to be a seamstress of som...

Chapter 15: No Prison can hold me

“Undoubtedly, philosophers are in the right when they tell us that nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison.”

Lemuel Gulliver

Awakening to pangs of hunger, something never felt before, I opened my eyes to a land of giants. I was so small in comparison. For the first time, I could see more than the walls of the womb.

Waking up like this was disorientating, my change in circumstances so great. I was no longer in the womb. It bears repeating...

Chapter 14: D Day

"Come with me, where dreams are born and time is never planned."

Peter Pan

It's Delivery Day!

I know this was the plan.

The time overdue.

My own Prison Break!

But I didn't realise it was going to be so painful.

In theory, I knew that delivery was going to be a challenge with all the pushing and squeezing through a narrow canal. But somehow I thought it would be more painful for the mother than the baby.

I don't know how much pa...

Chapter 13: Better late than never!

"A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to".

Gandalf the Grey.

I've been in here exactly 6 months now! Well past when I thought I would be born.

But I am a wizard!

Well, hoping to be one day and I am going to stick with Gandalf's line.

I will arrive . . .

precisely . . .

when I mean to!

Never late but hopefully worth the wait.

Although, 'Better late than never' and 'Better never ...

Chapter 12: Defeat is temporary, giving up is permanent

"For a hero cannot triumph all the time. Sometimes he will be defeated, and how he faces that defeat is a test of his character."

Cressida Cowell

I might not be a hero but this last month Magic is proving challenging for me.

I have continued to make great progress with my old skills and seemed to have capped nearly all of them to level 10. But when it came to trying to work out a way to minimise my mana pool I hit the problem I had worried about from the very start ...

Chapter 11: Sometimes you need a little magic

"And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."

Roald Dahl

I always believed in magic and now I've found it.

Somedays it is easy to forget who I was and only focus on the here and now. But as I start to stock the library in my mind fortress I reflect on all the books I've read. My Recall skill is working ove...

Chapter 10: Fortress of solitude

Day 100 of self isolation!

I’ve been locked in here for 100 days without being able to say a single word.

Without pardon or parole the length of my sentence is ambiguous and unclear

Unable to move properly, still gaining control over my limbs.

There have been good days and there have been bad days.

I have listened carefully to the world outside waiting for my day to come.

I have faced these blank glowing walls that undulate and I have rebuilt my own world...

Chapter 9: Old dogs, old tricks

Think my mother has had a drink or two. I know it's not good for babies but do they know it is not good for babies? Really enjoying the feeling but worried about my braincells.

I mean in my old world it wasn't until 1973 that fetal alchol synodrome became a thing and even then it wasn't until 1978 that it actually became recognised as a significant problem for the babies involved.

Either way I am drifting in and out of sleep a little quicker at the moment and with just a little bi...

Chapter 8: Home is where the heart lies

Approximately 10 cm meters above my head is where my mother's heart is and hence my home.

A mobile home to be sure but one I can't escape from.

Still here, obviously!

Think I'm having a bad day.

Fallen off the wagon, daily routine wise. Everything . . . is . . . just . . . taking . . . so . . . long . . . . to . . . level . . . up now!

The level 7 to level 8 is taking 64 hours for each skill. Now that might not seem too long. Less than 3 days really but break it ...

Chapter 7: Through the listening glass

So wondering what other skills I can get whilst I’m here to get me there. Bit stuck with nothings much else to do.

Over the last two months I have learnt a lot of songs but now I seem to have come to the end of my mother's repertoire. It has been very good for my memorisation skill and I am able to learn them quicker and quicker now. Sure that the continued development of my ears and my improving listening skill have helped with that too. Wondering how much my senses stat has gone up ...

Chapter 6: Everybody else does it

You see my kidneys must have started working, or maybe they have worked for a while and I didn't notice. Anyway working kidneys mean urine. Urine means pee and when you are trapped in a balloon it isn't going anywhere but back round in a circle. My very own water cycle.

Which is where my point that everybody else does it comes in. At least that's what I'm telling myself. I'm just being a little more direct about it.

You see back on earth the idea was that as dinosaurs had been aro...

Chapter 5: The world outside

I have the skill eavesdrop!

Yes!

This means that there are other prerequisites to gaining skills. Simply listening feeds into the listening skill but I’m guessing that I was able to listen to people who didn’t realise I was listening in order to gain my new skill. Another difference is the level of experience gained for this skill. I got 200 experience instead of the usual 100, so there must be stages to the skills. Beginner and at least intermediate but I’m still starting o...

Chapter 4: Swimming in circles

Like a fish in a bowl, I'm swimming in circles.

More accurately I'm rolling around and floating about but my new life has become a little bit repetitive. Unfortunately, unlike a fish my memory is lasting a little longer than 3 seconds and without any bright new ideas I'm left with a lot of navel gazing.

In my case, an excessive comtemplation of the new addition to life as I know it, my stats.

Looking at my stats again, now that I am level 3 I have 30 free points and I know t...

Chapter 3: Listening with curiousity

When was the last time you listened to someone? Listened, without thinking about what you were going to say in reply? Or waiting for your turn to talk?

Unfortunately, that is all I can do at the moment.

What’s worse I can’t even understand what they are saying. I’m literally listening to her heart and to her guts, as well as mine. But literally and figuratively I’m still in the dark. The only one I can actually understand, listen to and talk to is myself.

I’m conti...

Chapter 2: To spend or not to spend

That is the question.

I mean is it better to try and build a stronger foundation before birth, becoming a super baby. Or is it safer to stay as I am and grow naturally? Maybe here all babies are born super.

Is it better to keep it simple and not stand out or should I stand up and face the world as strong as I can be. Yet if I don't do something in here surely I will go mad. I need something to focus on, to hold to. For how ever long this may take.

But by standing out at birt...