"Is this guy a cat?" I stroked my chest and muttered, only to realize that I could open my mouth.

I raised my arms and kicked my legs, and although my body was still sore, I was able to stand up! I staggered to my feet, and when I looked up, I saw the little fox coming and going, poking its head out of the hole in the roof and looking at me with watery eyes.

When it saw me, it squeaked at me twice and motioned for me to follow.

I hammered my legs, then turned into a fox and leaped to my feet, grabbed the drape hanging from the roof and swung it hard.

I don't know how many years the curtain had been abandoned, and as soon as I grabbed it, a layer of dust fell down in a swoop, and then there was a piercing cracking sound - probably because the curtain was too old and had weathered.

I hurriedly grabbed the curtain and jumped up before it broke, and then jumped to the roof of the house.

The sun had set, and I sat on the high ridge of the roof and beat the dust on my face, and the little fox on the side looked away, as if he could not bear to look at my gray face.