# Chapter 3
That afternoon, I had just gotten home from school.
For some reason, my body felt incredibly tired that day. Maybe it was because school had been especially busy, or maybe I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. Either way, as soon as I got home, all I wanted to do was lie down.
I went into my room, changed out of my school uniform into my house clothes, then collapsed onto the bed.
I didn't even have time to play on my phone.
A few minutes later, I was already asleep.
I don't know how long I slept.
All I know is that I suddenly woke up feeling incredibly thirsty.
My eyes still felt heavy as I reached for my phone beside the pillow.
4:00 p.m.
"It's only four..."
I yawned, then got out of bed.
The house was pretty quiet. There was no sound from the television or any conversation coming from the living room. I walked out of my room with sluggish steps and headed for the kitchen.
As soon as I got there, I saw Mom.
She was standing in front of the kitchen counter, chopping vegetables.
I didn't pay much attention to her. Still half-asleep, the sight seemed completely ordinary.
I took a glass from the shelf.
"What are you cooking, Mom?"
There was no answer.
I glanced over at Mom.
She kept chopping the vegetables.
I figured she probably hadn't heard me.
I filled the glass with water and drank it.
Once my thirst was gone, I put the glass back where it belonged.
"Mom, I'm going back to sleep, okay?"
Again, there was no answer.
I didn't think much of it.
Maybe Mom was busy.
So I went back to my room.
When I reached the bed, I collapsed onto it again and started adjusting my pillow.
That was when I heard a sound from the front of the house.
Creak...
The sound of the front door opening.
I immediately turned around.
I assumed Mom had stepped out for a moment and just come back.
Curious, I got out of bed and walked toward the front room.
A few steps later, someone appeared in the doorway.
Mom.
But this time, she was wearing a coat and carrying several shopping bags.
As if she'd just come home from outside.
I stopped walking.
"Hm?"
Mom looked at me.
"What's wrong?"
I didn't answer right away.
Instead, my eyes slowly shifted toward the kitchen.
I still remembered it clearly.
A few minutes earlier, Mom had been standing there.
Chopping vegetables.
I had even asked her what she was cooking.
But now...
The kitchen was empty.
The counter was clean.
There were no vegetables.
No cutting board.
No knife.
Not even the tiniest scraps of chopped vegetables.
It was as if no one had been cooking there at all.
I began to feel uneasy.
I turned back to Mom.
"Mom..."
"Yeah?"
"Weren't you just in the kitchen?"
Mom furrowed her brow.
"What do you mean?"
"You were cooking earlier."
Mom stared at me for a few seconds, then shook her head.
"No. I just got home."
Then she lifted one of the bags she was carrying.
"See? Look. I just went grocery shopping."
I looked inside the bag.
She was right.
There were several freshly purchased ingredients inside.
Mom walked into the kitchen and began setting the groceries on the counter.
I was still standing where I was.
My mind tried to piece together what had just happened.
I came home from school.
I went to sleep.
I woke up around four.
I went to the kitchen.
I saw Mom chopping vegetables.
I asked her a question.
I got no answer.
I drank some water.
I went back to my room.
Then I heard the front door open.
And a few minutes later, Mom came home from outside.
I looked at the kitchen counter again.
Empty.
I wasn't even sure what I should tell Mom.
If I told her about it, she might think I was still half-asleep.
Maybe I had been dreaming.
Maybe I'd seen it wrong.
But there was one thing that made it impossible for me to dismiss the incident as nothing more than a dream.
I had really been awake.
I had really walked to the kitchen.
I had really taken a glass.
I had really spoken to someone I thought was Mom.
And that person had been standing only a few steps away from me.
I hadn't seen a strange face.
I hadn't seen anything frightening.
Just Mom.
Or at least...
someone who looked like Mom.
Even now, I still don't know who was actually standing in the kitchen that afternoon.
Because if Mom had just come home from outside...
then who had been chopping vegetables in the kitchen?