A young dark furry cat anthro awoke to the sound of his alarm ringing. He hated getting up so early for his school classes. He had to take all of his classes online, which meant he didn't have to get out of his pajamas, but he also still had to get up and log in.
He didn't even bother turning off his computer most nights, he'd just leave it in sleep mode. Last night was one of those nights he left his computer on. As he awoke, he groggily pulled himself out of bed to press a spacebar to get the computer out of sleep mode. He noticed something turned his screen on before he had the chance to wake it up. He figured it must have just updated and didn't shut back down after doing so. He hated the Doors operating system, yet there weren't many other choices besides the Pear operating system, or the Cougar one, which he never understood. He pressed enter to get to the login screen and saw his name, Luna, with a picture of him sticking his tongue out. He typed in his password and logged onto the computer. He had to get breakfast too, but he'd do that after logging on to his school. He didn't have to start the session, he just had to log on and tell the school that he was there.
The short furry cat anthro briefly sat at the computer and noticed one message request on the screen once he logged on. Luna didn't know who the person was. He figured they would just send a link of some sort, he could block them and not click on the link, and that would be that.
He accepted the request and opened up the message. He saw the owner had a strange picture of a brown hide horse anthro. He had no idea who this creature was, and he couldn't read the strange words they sent. He couldn't even try to pronounce the words. The message looked as if it were in the wingdings font. Luna's eyes scanned the message a few times in an attempt to translate, but to no success. He just figured the person sent the message to the wrong person. He closed the window without a second thought. His throat felt a little strange after he read the message a few times, but his throat was often dry when he woke up. He had better things to do than worry about a message though, and he could 'not' start his day on the computer.
He had to eat breakfast first! He walked out of his room and to the dining room.
Luna took a seat at the dining table just in time to see his mother serve waffles with cinnamon and blueberry syrup. She spoiled him for how old he was, but he enjoyed it. He'd repay her in chores, and she'd feed him, just as many mother-son relationships went.
"Morning." Luna's mother said with a smile.
"Morning." Luna replied.
Then, he felt something strange. He felt a strange tingling sensation in his head. He wished he could explain it, but he dismissed it as the sensation went away. The sensation wasn't painful. It felt as if something in his brain just clicked with a small spark of electricity which faded away instantly.
"How are you doing this morning?" Luna's mother asked as she sat down with her own plate of food, nearly identical to Luna's plate.
"I am doing fine this..." Luna paused.
He tried to think about the word he wanted to say next. He swore the word was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't think of what he wanted to say. He tried to think about the context of what he'd say, and he knew it had to do in relation to the time of day, specifically an early time of day. The sun shone through the large dining room window. They didn't even need the light on to see everything. "Today." He responded after a short delay. It was a bit strange that he couldn't think of the right word. Even once he said a different word, he couldn't think of the original word. He could barely even remember the words he just said.
"Did you get enough sleep? You sounded out of it for a moment there." Luna's father called out from the living room.
Luna never did figure out how his dad heard him so easily around the house, no matter where he was. Unless he had his door closed, Luna's father heard much of what Luna was doing and saying. "Yes." He shouted back with a frustrated sigh. Despite the fact that he shouted to him, his father would hear what he did, but almost never hear his response.
He was about to tell them that he was going to go back to his room so he could start classes, but he paused. He tried to think about the word that referred to himself, but he forgot it. He could tell something was strange. He wondered if maybe he did get enough sleep. He tried to remember the words he said a moment ago, yet he couldn't think of it. He knew his name; he knew ways to refer to himself, but not all of the words he swore he knew.
Luna's mother nodded. "Okay, well eat up and do your schoolwork. I'll bring you lunch later. Be sure to move around every hour or so!"
That was one good thing about school online. Luna didn't have to leave the house. There were a few drawbacks, but he would happily be lazy. Unable to think of a proper way to phrase a response, Luna just nodded and ate. He wasn't sure what the one word term for 'agreeing' was, besides outright saying he agreed, but he'd worry about it later. He had online classes to attend. He thought about other ways to say that he agreed, and while he came up with a few, they didn't sound right to say.
With breakfast done, the young cat anthro walked back to his computer and sat down. He got onto the online classes and turned on the camera to show himself. It was just a matter of time before class started. He hit the 'enter classroom' button and saw various small webcams set up all around the screen, with one large one for the teacher.
He leaned back and watched as the class started. The teacher had a larger webcam set up to show off their presentation, and Luna just watched and listened.
Luna couldn't get the thoughts about earlier out of his head. He looked outside and then at the time as he tried to recall what the beginning time of day went by.
He knew there was a word for afternoon and an evening, but he wasn't sure about any earlier than that. Luna half wanted to ask the teacher, but he felt silly. He was in his last year of school before college; he didn't want to ask such a weird question.
Luna opened up his messages and checked the message from the horse. He saw the strange language again, and he swore he could make out a few letters. He tried to type out a response, but no letters appeared on the screen. He had one window with the message open and another with his school and the teacher going through their presentation. Luna wondered why he couldn't type, but then he noticed the 'send' icon on the message box whited out. He ran his mouse over it and it said 'Speech to Text conversation only' on the message. Luna had to wear headphones for class. The noises outside his room could prove distracting. His headset also had a microphone so he could speak in class if needed. He clicked the message and decided to ask one simple question to the person that sent the thing he couldn't read.
"What?"
He then sent the message after one single word. He was almost certain the teacher couldn't hear him, but the teacher could still see him mouth the words, so he wanted to be as brief as possible while he continued to watch the class.
Luna then turned his attention back to the teacher, but he didn't have to wait long before he got another message from the stranger.
The next message was just as unreadable as the first. He could make out a few letters, but not enough to turn it into a complete sentence. "Luna does not understand." He said to the person sending the messages before he sent it again. He knew there was another word to call himself besides his name, but he couldn't think of it.
He was ready to tell this person they had the wrong number. There was no way they could have the right one when they're sending strange texts to someone they certainly would not have known.
After a brief moment, there came a text. Unlike the previous texts, this one was in a language that Luna could actually read. 'Is that right? Then what do you know?'
Luna tilted his head at the message that came in as clear as day.
Luna wasn't sure what the person meant. He wasn't sure how he could answer the question when he didn't know what the context of the question even was. He wanted to ask what the person said in the earlier messages, but he wasn't sure how to phrase it. The more he tried to think about certain words, the harder it was to think of the word. "You said some strange things. Translation?" He knew it wasn't a full sentence, but text speech was rarely made of complete sentences anyways.
'You wouldn't understand the translation.' The person replied.
Luna now focused more on the conversation than he did his schoolwork. He read the message, and then reread it. He scratched his head in confusion. "Try me." He said to the person. He suspected the person could be a troll, but if they were, they weren't a very good one. He lost attention over the school. The window for his teacher and the classroom was right behind the messages from this stranger.
The person sent another message in strange text as a response. 'Fi uoy elatnrtas sith, ouy rea a erdn.'
(Authors Note: This might not translate well when uploaded. Yes, I attempted a weird language.)
Luna sighed as he looked at the message. He saw repeating words and symbols, but he couldn't make out everything it said. He wondered why the stranger kept sending him a strange message. He figured the best solution was just to block him. "Blocking now." He then hit the block button. Just as he hit it, an error popped up on his computer that said he was unable to block the user. There was no indication as to 'why' he couldn't block the user. The system just said he was unable to do so.
"Huh?" Luna was confused. His computer never stopped him from blocking someone. If he couldn't block the person, the application should have just said so, not his entire computer! He knew something immediately strange was going on. He doubted the person was a moderator, or someone that worked for the Doors Company. He would have seen a special icon near their name.
'Sorry, but you can't make me leave.' The message responded. 'Now, keep talking.'
Luna tried the old CTRL ALT DEL function, but to no avail. He then looked at his computer's power button. He knew he was still in class, but he figured he could just say he was having network problems. He pushed the button on his computer to turn it off, yet it didn't respond. He then tried to shut it down, but an error came up saying that it was unable to shut down properly.
'You can't shut me out of your life.' The person sent in a message. 'I will always be here.'
Luna glanced at the router in front of his desk. He knew it was an extreme measure, but he wasn't sure what else to do. He grabbed the router plug and pulled the cord. He then realized he probably could have pulled the plug to his computer too, and he did that as well. He had to be doubly sure that everything turned off. Then, he could check his computer for a virus of some sort.
Despite unplugging the route 'and' his computer, neither turned off. He stared in disbelief and wonder. He felt as if he were in a living nightmare. He backed away from his computer, and then jumped as he heard a knock. He let out a yelp, and then turned around to see his mom poke her head through the crack in the door.
"Is everything okay?" Luna's mother asked. "The internet went out."
Luna turned to his mother. His heart beat rapidly, and he felt sweat underneath his fur. He wanted to say he was fine, but he had to think about the way to word it. "Doing acceptable." He said with a nod.
"What happened to your computer?" Luna's mother pointed at the screen. "Luna?"
Luna turned to his computer screen and saw it was off. He wondered how it turned off after such a long delay. He remembered the message, and he knew why it was broken, but he didn't want to turn it back on. He felt too scared about the messages, and about what was going on with his language. "Broken." He said, worriedly.
Luna's mother walked up to the computer and the router. She peeked at it, and then looked at the back. "What's this?" She plugged in the wire in the computer, and then she plugged in the one in the router. She jumped back as the computer and router turned back on. "Hey! It just looks like they were unplugged the whole time!"
Luna smiled innocently at his mother. His mother wasn't a computer expert granted, so he hoped he could get away playing dumb. "Thanks." He said with a smile. His computer started back up flawlessly, and the router connected back to the internet.
Luna's mother nodded. "Finish your classes sweetie. You know if you disconnect they get upset at that." She stroked his head before she walked away.
If there was one thing Luna could count on, it was his mother being nice. Unfortunately, once his computer started back up, the person messaged him again. Luna felt ready to shatter the monitor, but he'd get his parents mad at that.
'Hey now, I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm just having some fun. I'm doing some...testing.' The person sent.
Luna started up his classes and went back to attending, but he barely focused on his school. He looked at the message with uncertainty as he put his headset back on. His heart still pounded with fear. He just wanted this to end. "When it stop?"
'Just read the message and you'll know.'
Luna scrolled back up and read the first few messages in the strange language. He understood more of it than he did a few minutes ago, and he wished he knew why that was.
"Luna?" A voice spoke over the computer.
Luna recognized that voice. He spent so long worrying about his language and the messages that he totally lost focus on what he was supposed to be doing that day! He turned his attention back to the school screen and tried to think about what to say. "Ms. Simson?" He knew the teacher wanted her students to call her by her last name. The moment he said her last name though, he realized there was going to be a problem in trying to call her by her last name again.
"I would like to speak with you after this session ends, Luna. Please remain on the call once school ends." The teacher calmly instructed.
Luna knew what that meant. He heard from the other students that the teacher could tell when students weren't listening. He had a very good reason why he didn't listen, but he wasn't sure how to explain it, let alone get the teacher to believe him. He couldn't tell him that a stranger sent him strange messages and that his own language felt stifled.
Only moments after the teacher told him, he got another message from the stranger.
'It looks like language is quite important, wouldn't you say? Or...could you even say?'
Luna knew language was important. Without language, communication was hard. It was already difficult to think about some words, even if in reality it was only a small percent of the entire language. "Undoubtedly, language is important." He replied to the stranger.
'I'm surprised you're still able to talk in complete sentences. How well will you do with the teacher though, I wonder?'
Luna rubbed his head at the message. He could tell the person just toyed with him, but the effects 'would' wear off, whatever that person was doing anyways. He just had to hold out until then. He didn't want to respond to the person sending him messages anymore though. He was getting irritated that the person was clearly the one that changed him and toyed with him. Whoever sent him messages, and whoever cursed him made him feel as if his life turned into a living hell, and he wasn't going to stand for it. If he couldn't turn off his computer or close the messages, he'd just do his best to ignore them.
Once the class ended, the students quit the chat one by one. Luna stayed on; as he knew if he left, he'd get in a lot of trouble. He kept his eyes on the teacher with a frown.
"Luna, I can tell you've been very distracted all day. I'm not mad, but I don't think you learned a single thing from me today, have you?" The teacher asked Luna just as the last student left.
Luna paid almost no attention in class all day. He didn't even know what homework they had to do for tomorrow. "No." He said in a single sentence. The moment he said it, he knew he'd regret it, and in more ways than just from the teacher.
"I can tell. You're normally a very good student Luna. Something is distracting you, isn't it?" After a short pause, she frowned. "You also didn't refer to me by name. You know I ask all of my students to do that out of respect, and this is the first time you've broken that rule."
"Sorry." Luna said in a one-word reply again. He knew the teacher scolded him for not calling her by her last name, but every time he wanted to say her last name, he couldn't think about what that name was. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he lost it every time he thought he had it.
"Properly now. Say 'I am sorry Ms. Simon." The teacher said with a serious expression.
Luna opened his mouth to reply, but the moment he wanted to say even the first word, he couldn't get it out beyond his lips. It wasn't that he didn't want to say it, nor would he ever struggle to apologize to anyone. He just couldn't get the words out, and it frustrated him. He tried to think about how else he could apologize to her. "Cat apologizes, teacher." It sounded childish, but it was the most he could think of.
"Luna, what are you saying? I'm just asking you to apologize to me. If you can't, I'm going to have to talk to your parents about your behavior." The teacher said with a serious look. "You're not a bad student, Luna. I know something is going on with you. What is it?"
Luna felt as if he had to think much harder than he should have over how to explain himself to Simson. He couldn't even remember the teacher's name. His language felt so stifled. He noticed another message from the stranger, and it was just enough to distract him.
'You've only lost the ability to speak less than fifty words. There are thousands in the dictionary. You really can't think of a creative way to speak with her to make her happy?'
Luna wondered if that really was it. He lost more and more of his ability to speak certain words, but he wasn't sure how he lost the ability to speak some words, or the words he couldn't speak, as he couldn't think about what they even were. He wondered what he could do to make the teacher happy. "Personally, speaking certain words proves challenging." Even Luna surprised himself with that sentence. He wasn't sure how else to describe his inability to say some words. He understood what every word Simson said, but he just couldn't repeat it back to her without immediately forgetting what the word meant. He smiled faintly. Speaking a coherent sentence alone was enough to make him feel proud.
"You can't say some words?" The teacher asked with confusion.
Luna heard what the teacher said, and he understood it, but he couldn't respond in the same manner. "Indeed." He said with a nod. He knew the teacher's next question, but he wasn't ready to answer it.
"Why is that? Is this some sort of game you're playing with others, Luna?" The teacher glared at him. "You know I don't like games in my classroom, especially if you're playing them during class."
"A game? Absolutely preposterous." He hated how his language shifted, but when he could only think of some words to say, it limited his ability to speak.
'Now color me impressed with at least somewhat coherent sentences. Still fragmented, but understandable.' The stranger said.
Luna ignored the message and kept his focus on the teacher.
The teacher sighed. "Very well. Well, your homework is listed on the website. Take care of your homework and make sure to attend tomorrow on time. Do try to solve your...language barrier." With that, the teacher ended the call.
Luna felt a sense of relief. All he had to do now was ignore the person sending him messages and he could try to go on with his life.
'I'll start restoring your language if you talk with me.' The stranger spoke, as if they read Luna's mind. 'I don't want you going silent for the rest of the day. That's damn boring. Stay silent and I'm never going to restore your language.'
"Myself will learn another, then." Luna replied angrily. "Spanish, German, Japanese, something."
'The same situation will apply in other languages, just as it does for English.' The stranger replied.
Luna knew the more he spoke, the harder it was to speak again. He let out an exasperated groan. He read the scroll again, and this time, he managed to understand it better than before. "Temporary spell..." He said, accidentally sending the message to the stranger. "Reverse...backwards?"
'So you can read it better now. Hah. I think we've covered it before.'
Luna read the message after he spoke, and he understood it slightly better. He read the strange message multiple times, and nodded. He had several questions for the stranger, but he knew the stranger wouldn't answer them willingly. He continued to read the part about it being backwards, and he wondered if he had to read it backwards, or perhaps say the spell backwards. He could make out some of the spell, but not the entire spell. He was afraid if he had to say it entirely and if he had to say the spell in one go that he might mess up the words and never be able to say the spell out loud. He figured that if he just kept talking, maybe he'd understand it better. It apparently worked so far, after all. He wanted to say he would break that spell, but he couldn't figure out the right words.
'I don't want to keep dragging this on, but it'd feel as if there was no reward if you couldn't figure this out for yourself.' The stranger said to Luna after a short delay.
Luna wanted to just ignore the stranger, but he couldn't do that forever. He couldn't just say he wanted to go back to school either, especially if his language diminished gradually. He read the message again, and he decided to try something. "Uoy etah I." He said. He knew he said the word 'I' earlier, but he spoke it backwards. Surprisingly, he was able to say it.
'Hah. See? Creative thinking gets you places. Language is a fascinating thing, and with the right spells, we can learn a lot from the brain and how it processes language, don't you agree?'
Luna thought that there were all sorts of scientific studies on how the brain processes language. He wasn't sure about 'magical' studies on language, but he thought magic didn't exist. Then again, there were no other explanations as to how he lost the ability to speak some words; words that felt so few, but also were so significant to the English language.
"Disagree." He was still very much upset with the stranger for the things they did to him.
'I couldn't just use the spell on you. You wouldn't want it. Nobody wants it. Name one person that wants to be able to speak less of their language. That's why I had to use it without your permission. Look, spoiler alert, it's temporary. I can remove it, but only if I can study you for a few days. You can try to remove it yourself of course. The methods are in that spell, but if you think it'd be easier, I can do it myself, so long as you let me study you.'
Luna wondered what the stranger could possibly want to study from him, and how they'd do it. He had a feeling the stranger knew a 'lot' more about him than he wanted to know though, but he was too afraid to ask. "Okay?" He replied with uncertainty.
"I know, I know." The stranger added a 'laugh' emoticon. "What day is it today? Last a day or two with your language limited, and I'll give you a reward. How's that?"
"Good reward?" Luna asked. He was curious what the reward was, but he was unsure how to phrase the question, so he just went for the next best thing, and that was to ask if it was a good reward in the first place. Granted, it would have had to be a 'very' good reward to be worth losing much of his speech, or to talk in such a strange manner that few might understand him. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with his parents, or his teacher for that matter. Staying quiet without them was easy.
"It will be a very good reward. In addition to getting all of your language back, of course." The stranger replied with a smiley face emotion.
Luna wondered what the reward could possibly be. He wondered if the stranger could make it so he knew 'every' language in the world. If he knew how to speak every language, he could get a job as one heck of a translator! Alternatively, if he learned dead languages, he could translate old scripts and figure out what some of the messages really said. He could study ancient Egyptian language and figure out what all of those symbols pointing at everything meant.
At the same time, Luna wondered what would happen if he bowed out and backed out. There was no way this stranger could follow him everywhere. He could stop using the computer, somehow. He could stay offline and never get a mobile phone. He figured that the stranger would probably never restore the words he lost though, and that he'd eventually go mute.
It was then that Luna got an idea. "One minute." He said with a bow, not that he knew if the stranger could see it.
Luna decided to look up another kind of language. He might lose the ability to speak his language easily, or many other spoken languages for that matter. One language was unspoken though. He looked up the language, and smiled. Sign language! He took a class in it once, but he forgot almost ninety percent of it. He made a few gestures with the sign language letters, and then made them again without hesitation. Finally, he thought. He could finally do a language without losing the ability to say the same thing twice. He could do sign language for the next few days! He wasn't sure how he could reply to the stranger though, so he attempted a video call.
The stranger quickly declined the call. "What are you doing?" They asked.
Luna knew he wanted to show the stranger his sign language to agree to the terms. Then again, if the stranger realized how he was bypassing the restrictions of being unable to speak a language, the stranger would likely just mute him from speaking forever, and find some way to prevent him from using sign language at all! Not that Luna knew 'how' the stranger might do that.
"Can't think of the words to reply, huh? Cat got your tongue?"
Luna got another idea, but either way it would require a video call. He started up software to record the screen so he could get the face of the person who was doing all of this to him, a face which he might find 'someway' to get revenge on them later, somehow. "Show nodding agreement."
"I'll just take your word that you agree with it then if you're going to reply THAT. Okay, well I'll get in contact with you in two days. Have fun!"
Luna closed the message box and sighed. He knew he could get by trying sign language for a few days and pass it off as him trying to do homework. In addition, a new language like that wasn't a bad language to learn at all. Sign language worked in many places across the world, and a few hand gestures, as weird as they could be and not even be words, would easily tell someone that he couldn't speak. Even then, he didn't have to last forever!
At least, he hoped not.
Luna spent most of the remainder of the day in his room. The thought about his lost language made it hard to relax. In addition to that, he wanted to spend time learning some actual sign language, which was exactly what he was doing. He wasn't going to let this stranger toy with him freely, he figured. He was going to use this loophole of sign language so he could get back to some kind of normalcy, especially if the stranger was joking about the experiment. Luna's mind still couldn't comprehend 'why' the stranger did what they did.
After what felt like ages, Luna's stomach rumbled with hunger. School was long over for the day so he was free to do what he wanted. He was glad this wasn't a silly cartoon of sorts, otherwise losing his ability to speak would happen at the 'same' time as when he had to give some giant speech or something. He could just live his normal life casually. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with his online classes, but he'd just take it as it came.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Luna's mother poked her head in. "How are you doing, Luna?" She asked sweetly.
Luna thought it was do or die. With a smile as fake as he could get, he turned to her and used sign language to tell her that he was fine. To someone that knew sign language, that someone would question why he would want to stuff a pineapple in the orifice.
"Um...are you okay?" Luna's mother walked in. "What are you doing?"
"Signing homework." He explained, albeit in broken English.
"Sign language as homework, huh? I never thought they'd assign homework like that." His mother chuckled. "Okay, well you have fun."
Luna let out a sigh of relief as his mother left. He could get away with sign language with his mother and father. He just had to sit around and do nothing.
Just then, he got another message on his computer. He expected it to be from the stranger, but it was from his teacher. His heart sank as he read the message.
'Just a reminder to all students that tomorrow is speech class! Everyone must have a working microphone so you can give a speech on your paper you wrote. You will not get any credit for the paper 'or' the speech if you don't present it!'
Luna thought to himself a few choice words. He hadn't said these words aloud, but the words were anything but clean words. He remembered he had to pick a topic to talk about and he chose, in a twist of fate, 'the importance of language and communication' as his topic. He had the paper written up already, though he hadn't turned it in yet. The teacher wanted the topic turned in after the speech, so at the very least when he had to turn it in that he could alter it to say what he needed to say.
Luna popped open the word document and mentally read over the speech. He knew he couldn't say the same word twice, and he couldn't use words he already said. He wasn't sure what he already said before the speech, but he knew he barely said much, although it was enough to limit his ability to communicate properly. He put his head in his hands as he thought about what to do. He wished he had some way to get around this in a creative method. A few ideas floated in his head. He wasn't sure how those ideas would go, but he'd have to find out tomorrow, after adjusting his speech.
The rest of the day consisted of rewriting his speech and then remaining completely silent the rest of the day. Whether it was luck, or something else, he was able to write up his speech without much difficulty, although he struggled with a few right words every now and then. He had to take breaks often in order to think about how to phrase a sentence or two, even using search engines for synonyms, although even then they didn't always help.
Luckily, Luna didn't have to go outside or talk much at all that day. Whenever his mother or father disrupted him, he used his sign language to try to get him out of it. It was technically the truth that he 'had' to work on multiple languages, including sign language, but there was no way he was going to get away with doing that for the whole speech tomorrow. Losing the ability to speak was bad enough, but now it felt as if that a bomb was ticking down to the day he gave his speech.
The day came and went. While the rest of the day was as if nothing went on, Luna felt as if his world was crumbling around him. It wasn't the end of the world if he couldn't give his speech, but he knew he had to present it somehow. He made as many alterations as he was able to make, but it didn't mean that it would be easier to work with. In fact, he could barely alter the speech at all when he couldn't even understand most of the words. It didn't make sense. He could read what others said, and while Luna could read what he wrote, rewriting it was nothing short of a challenge.
As nighttime, and soon bedtime came, falling asleep would prove to be a challenge. Luna laid in bed wondering how he would handle tomorrow. He glanced out his window and looked at the stars with a sigh. His mind raced with unanswered questions. He felt as if he were in the topic of a horror story, some bizarre cartoon, or someone's strange fantasy story experiment where they wanted him to lose language to see how well he could handle synonyms, which was not as well as he thought he could. He eventually fell asleep, though it was anything but peaceful.
Luna awoke as his alarm went off. By now, waking up every morning like this had become routine to him. The difference was that he was going to struggle to say many words. He knew he could still talk, and he could talk in other languages if he absolutely had to, including sign language, but that was not going to help him much. He couldn't even contact the teacher and write him something because he wasn't sure how to write out the letters!
Luna got onto his computer reluctantly and started up the online classes. He knew he couldn't fake a sickness to get out of this, even if he looked the part thanks to the lack of sleep. He sat at the computer and groggily logged in. He spotted another message from the stranger.
'I'm looking forward to your speech today. Maybe if you do well, we can end this experiment a little early and give you the reward. I can bet you're looking forward to the reward too, aren't you?'
Luna fumed at the message. He had a few choice words for the stranger, words he never said, but words he would get in trouble for if he even mouthed them.
'You're at a loss for words, I know. :)' The stranger replied. 'I'll leave you to your speech.'
Luna's class started as normal and the teacher began to call on students to present their speech. Luna was thankful he wasn't the first one called to do his speech. He had his paper ready. He just had to read it and try as best as he could to talk about communication as best as he could, all without repeating words. He hoped for some twisted convenient plot twist or something to happen that could get him out of this situation. He was ready to unplug his internet and amount it to internet issues.
Luna was ready to bury his head into his hands when he heard the dreaded words from the teacher.
"Luna, do you wish to present your topic about the importance of communication?"
Luna wanted to shake his head and say no. He knew he couldn't be nervous though. Students got in trouble for not presenting their papers to the classroom. He opened up the word document, and tried his best.
"Vital communication presents plentiful difficulties." He spoke slowly with multiple cracks in his voice.
"Firstly, people substantiate their dialect acts superior among others. Second, many fail attempts, grow impatient, and refuse. Third, cultural differences. Fourth, technologies prevent proper conversations." There was much more on the paper, but he had to rewrite much of it. If someone looked at it with the proper ability to speak English, that someone would see a garbled mess of words.
"That is a very good start Luna. Would you like to continue?" The teacher asked calmly.
Luna couldn't say yes or no, he didn't know how to respond with words. He had a backup plan though. He didn't want to disrupt the internet before giving his speech, and he definitely couldn't finish giving his presentation under his current circumstances. His eyes glanced down at the router next to him.
Then, he saw the router suddenly reset on its own. Maybe it was just good timing. He wasn't going to kick a gift horse in the mouth. With the connection disrupted, and his speech partially given, he knew it would only amount to partial credit. Still, partial credit was enough to pass.
Just as his internet connection was restored, class resumed with the next person giving their speeches. Luna got two text messages as well. One text was from his teacher that instructed him to submit his papers, which he happily did. The next message was from the stranger, which made his heart sink.
'You barely put in 100 words. Heck, you've only lost about 100 words in total and it sounds like you're struggling so hard. Are you really so bad with your primary language that you can't get creative? There are almost 400,000 words in English!'
Luna sunk back in his chair. He glanced at the window briefly, as if he wanted to see if someone spied on him from there. He then looked up at the webcam and figured if the stranger was spying on him from 'anywhere' that it would be from there. He'd cover it up except he was in class. One thing was for sure, he knew he was not going to get any reward from this stranger. Not that he expected to get one anyways.
'Not sure if it includes everything that has 's' and 'ed' and 'ing' anyways.' The stranger replied. 'Still would be a lot. Anyways, you couldn't give that full speech, so I'm not giving you a reward.'
Luna didn't care about the reward anymore. He wanted this nightmare to end. His schoolwork was going to be significantly impacted, especially if he had to do writing or give more speeches. He didn't even know if he could do math right with how he couldn't read languages. He feared what if he couldn't read the same number twice. He didn't want to respond to the stranger anymore. After all, he'd lose more language if he did.
'This does feel a little too easy. How about you make a new speech? Tell me why you should have the ability to talk again. Convince me that you deserve to be able to speak the same word more than once.'
'Thou be tricking.' Luna hated how he sounded so ancient when he had to say it like that. He didn't even think it was a coherent sentence, but at least it should be enough to make sense. He had no reason to trust this stranger. He had no idea how this all happened. He just wanted it all to end.
'What reason do I have to trick you?' The stranger questioned.
'Why wouldn't foul play?" He tried to keep his composure. He was still technically in online classes, although he could tell the teacher was glancing at the screen now and then, very likely looking at him. He was the only one that looked visibly upset compared to the rest of the class.
'Because it's an experiment. It's an experiment nearing its conclusion. Just how much did you read the message at the beginning?'
Luna read it once when he got it, and then again, and then again. He remembered it said something about a temporary spell. He scrolled back up the history to read it, and his eyes grew wide. He could read the message much better than before.
'This is a temporary spell that is used to test how creative one is at their own native language. The spell wears off in a short period, unless the cursed one fails to speak one hundred and fifty words, in which case they are forever cursed to be mute.'
Luna read the message as clear as day. He wondered just how many words he spoke.
'When you speak the minimum amount, the curse is lifted. I wish to see how many are capable of doing that. Clearly, you have not broken the curse. You have until the end of today to do it.'
Luna knew that spell should be temporary, he recalled the stranger telling him as much. He wasn't even sure if he should believe the spell, but he didn't know what to believe now. He thought back on how many words he spoke. If he presented his speech, it would have been more than enough. He was ready to scold the stranger when the teacher looked at the screen.
"Luna, you seem distracted. Are you paying any attention to what I'm saying?" The teacher called out.
Luna's back immediately straightened, and his ears shot up. He quickly nodded to the teacher. "Listening." He said with wide eyes.
Then, he got another idea, if he truly had to speak a few hundred words, and creatively, maybe he could do it in class.
"Then maybe you can tell me the man who was assassinated that triggered world war one?"
Luna wondered when they skipped to history class. He thought they were presenting speeches. Now they are in history? He really wasn't paying much attention at all! "Archduke Franz Ferdinand." He replied. He wasn't paying attention to the teacher, he just knew that answer without hearing the teacher speak.
"That's very good. Of course, if you were paying any attention, you'd know we're talking about languages and how different they are in comparison to one another."
Luna would have rolled his eyes if his webcam weren't on. The teacher had such a strange way to make sure students paid attention. "Speech gets stupendously unusual around times." He responded.
"Your speech is a little unusual itself, Luna. But yes, it can be." The teacher went back to the lecture.
Luna let out a sigh of relief. How many more words was that? He tried to think about his vocabulary, but he couldn't think about the right words to say. He wasn't sure if it was because he just didn't know, or if it was because of the curse.
'Oh, you're getting there. A few more dozen words and you'll be free.' The stranger said.
'I'm actually very much looking forward to seeing you end this curse. End the experiment quickly, will you?'
Luna had enough of the stranger. He looked down at the time and noticed it wasn't even lunch yet. He knew he was in trouble with school already. His face was red underneath his dark fur as his emotionless face turned into a scowl. "Preposterously screwing over the public for personal amusement be devilish, fiend!" Luna shouted. He didn't care if the teacher saw him scream or not. He wasn't even sure if he had the mute button on his microphone in the classroom.
"Furthermore, being would decline, compensation or regardless. Feel torment, pain, misery! Restricting talking fully horrid!"
'You sound quite upset.' The stranger chuckled. 'But you are being quite creative with language. It seems to be true that emotions definitely help communication.' The stranger replied with a ding.
"Luna, what are you doing?" The teacher asked on the other screen. "You look as if you've been shouting at someone."
"Witch cursed thee! Limited vocabulary halts prose, except disables fluent English!" Luna proclaimed, as crazy as it sounded. "Insanity? Nay! Lack knowledge as how." Just then, Luna felt a small 'click' in his head. "And beyond that, it is..." He froze. He knew he said one of those few words before. "Wait. Wait. Wait. I can repeat myself!" Luna couldn't believe it. Had the experiment, or trial, or curse, finally ended? His thoughts felt more fluid, and he could repeat the same word, and more than once.
"Right. Luna, do you have a fever? Perhaps you should take the rest of the day off to relax." The teacher's eyes were wide, as were virtually every single student's.
Luna nodded. "Yes, sorry about that everyone!" He closed the class, and let out a sigh of relief. He then looked at the stranger's message box, and saw that they were typing.
'Well, experiment concluded. That was quite an explosive ending. You spoke a lot more words now than you did for the rest of the day! I am quite impressed. However, because I had to influence you to do so, your reward is just having the rest of the day off school. I also hope this has been a learning experience regarding repeating vocabulary! Start up the webcam again; let me see how excited you are! I'll leave you alone after I get one snapshot of your expression.'
Luna started up the webcam once more as requested. He didn't say any words to the stranger though. He simply gave the stranger a rather unfriendly gesture and closed the message box. Sometimes, words weren't needed to express his anger.
"Ugh..." He fell back against his chair. He had to do so much creative work to try to avoid saying the same thing twice, and now that he was free to say whatever he wanted, he just wished to repeat his words all the time now, if only to annoy the stranger. He still had so many questions left unanswered, but he could worry about that for another day. One thing was for sure, he wasn't going to accept random messages again.
