The first place that Koharu brought me to was the grocery shop for cooking ingredients where we took tea leaves, salt, and four or five different kinds of spices.

“Why are you only taking a pinch of everything?” I asked her while putting the things we had taken in the wrapping cloth.

“We don’t need much, and we should leave some for others as well. We can always come back and get more whenever we want,” she replied.

“These things are restocked continuously. The few number of people who bring them here cannot carry a lot on each trip. If we take a bigger portion and don’t use it up, there won’t be enough for others so we should better leave some for them,” she added.

“I agree, and this is very sensible. If only everyone thinks like you do,” I commented.

“Actually, they do,” Koharu replied.

“How can everyone here adopt this thinking? In my world, these items would have been gone on the first day. I wonder how your people have developed such a collective consciousness,” I wondered.

“I think this can hardly happen in your world,” she commented, “because your foundation of thinking is different than ours.”

“What is this ‘foundation of thinking’?” I asked.

“The foundation of thinking, also called ‘the root of thought’, among the people here is that we regard each other as brothers and sisters; we’re like a family. Until the people on your planet adopt this foundation of thinking, it will be impossible for them to love and think about others,” she replied.

After having said that, Koharu took me to the clothing area where there were many various styles of stores. I could tell that she really enjoyed exploring the different shops, and I was excited to see the exquisite designs of the garments, too.

“Why don’t you try these on?” I asked, pointing to some soft and silky garments with fine patterns that were quite different from the one she was wearing.

“Help me choose one! I’ve never worn this kind of dress before, but I would love to try one on today,” she replied with a smile.

“I particularly like that one displayed on the right,” I said, pointing at a dress.

The dress that caught my eye was creamy white with embroidered flowers in a pearl colour, nicely matching the colour of the fabric. It didn’t look excessive, and the fabric seemed soft and light. It had several layers, and its length covered the ankles like an evening gown. It looked elegant and beautiful and would fit a young sweet girl like Koharu perfectly.

“It’s pretty, I like it!” she exclaimed.

I handed it to her to try it on. When she came out of the changing room, I was stunned by her beauty. From a simple young and cheerful girl, she seemed to have transformed into an angel descended from heaven. The soft, waving fabric, decorated with studs and glittering sequins all over, made her flawless baby-soft skin glow even more.

“Oh wow! That’s beautiful, you’re so beautiful! Koharu, you truly looked like an angel,” I said, admiring her from head to toe, not knowing how else to describe the vision before me.

“Thank you for the compliment,” she said blushing a little.

“I think I’ll wear this new dress when I’m here and put on my old one when I head home. If I wore this walking through the forest, I could easily trip and break my neck,” she said jokingly.

“By the way, Koharu, I’m getting hungry. Where can we find something to eat?” I asked.

“We can eat in any house or any food store. Wait, I have an idea, let me take you there. Come, follow me,” she said as she took my hand.

We walked through the alleys towards our intended destination when Koharu suddenly stopped.

“Wait, someone is calling me,” she said.

“Koharu …” A voice called out her name in her mind as she walked past a house.

“Yes?” Koharu responded.

“Ah! It’s Uma.” She said and headed towards the house from which the voice had called out to her.

“Come, I’d like to introduce you to my dear Uma. She’s a relative of my mom. To be more precise, she is my great-great-grandmother,” Koharu said while taking me inside.

“She must be very old then,” I remarked.

“Yes, she’s probably around 700,000 years old now. Actually, almost all the people in this city are relatives of mine, if we go back generations,” explained Koharu.

“But she still looks young,” I whispered to Koharu when I saw her great-great-grandmother.

“Hello, it’s a great pleasure to meet you, Uma” I said as I greeted her.

“Hello Tim, my young man. I’m really glad to meet you,” Uma said with a warm smile.

“Koharu, it’s good to see you too, my child. Come here, I have something to show you,” said Uma.

“Come, you too,” Uma said to me.

“You’re so beautiful, my dear girl, and just the right soulmate for the chosen person. I want to make you even more perfect,” she said to Koharu while leading us to another room.

Uma’s house looked like a workshop filled with embroidery tools. Numerous rolls of fabric were leaning on the walls, while needles and spools of thread filled the shelves. She led us to a cupboard behind the desk. The upper part of the cupboard was a glass cabinet, while the lower part had several small drawers. She pulled one out in the third row from the bottom.

“Come here, look at this, my girl!” she said, pulling out the drawer slowly and revealing its contents.

Inside the drawer were two medium-sized boxes. She lifted the bigger box out, placed it on the table and opened it slowly. Inside was a gold necklace adorned with dozens of red gemstones, with a sparkling, deep-red one in the middle. The gem was surrounded with bright white diamonds, making the red gem even more prominent. The necklace was fastened around a flat wooden neck-like form. Next to the necklace was a pair of matching earrings with red gems also surrounded by diamonds.

“Wow … this is very, very beautiful!” Koharu’s eyes widened when she saw the precious jewels.

Uma closed the box.

“Excellent, I’m glad you like them. I’m giving them to you, young man,” Uma said as she placed that box in my hand.

“From now on, they are yours. And this will be the most precious gift you will give to your beloved one,” she said and winked an eye at me. I understood that this was her way of gifting the necklace and earrings to Koharu.

“Thank you so much, Uma,” I said gratefully as I took on the role of the new owner obeying her wish. I opened the box and took out the necklace.

“It suits you more than anyone else,” I said to Koharu as she turned and allowed me to clasp the necklace around her neck. I then took out the earrings and gently put them on her ears.

“Thank you very much, dear Uma,” Koharu turned to thank her great-great-grandmother.

“Don’t thank me, this necklace is his now,” Uma said in a cheeky voice and pointed at me.

Koharu smiled at me, and I gave her the Uma’s wink.

“Thank you, Tim,” said Koharu joyfully as she flung her arms around me.