grabbed a cup filled with fresh water and threw the liquid on his face. Suddenly, the man felt like he wasn’t the crazy one here.

“What was that for?” he asked. He might have been more irritated if the whole situation was less absurd.

“Oh, you didn’t want that?” the cricket curiously asked.

“No!”

“Sorry.” The response was conversational and plain, not particularly apologetic at all. And after the cricket said this, he resumed tending to the fire as if nothing had happened at all. The man wasn’t sure [i]what[/i] was going on anymore; after the cricket finished his job, he just stood there with a small smile, watching the flames. Was all of this some hallucination brought on by a lack of food and water? Finally, after a few minutes, the cricket spoke up: “this’s real.”

“...what?”

“You’re wondering if this is all real or something. Right?”

“...right.” Seriously, [i]what[/i] was going on here?

“YES!” The cricket literally jumped for joy, grinning like a child opening birthday presents. “I did it!”

“[i]What[/i] did you do?”

“Oh, I can read minds, but only a little.” He made a very small gap between his thumb and index finger, as if to illustrate his point. “Like your ‘hallucination’ or ‘water’ words from before, not like whole thoughts and such. I’m practicing to get better though!” This last part, he said with great enthusiasm.

The man’s eyes widened, excited by the possibility he just imagined. “Maybe you can practice by helping me with my memory? I can’t seem to remember anything about myself.”

“Nah, I’m not that good. I’unno anything about you, like why you were on that beach so long,” the cricket responded with a shrug, “just thought you might be cold.”

“Uh...thanks. Was the smoke you too?”

“My fire made the smoke, so yes?” For once, the cricket was the one who sounded confused.

“Never mind.” The man supposed it was better to focus on one mystery at a time, and this cricket could probably help him with an easier one. “Could I have some more water please?”

“Sure!” The cricket then grabbed a clay bottle, poured some water into the cup from before, and splashed it on the man’s face again.

“I meant to drink.”

“Oh,” was all the cricket said before filling up the cup once more and giving it to the man.

“Thank you.” Despite the absurdity of what had happened to him, the man couldn’t help but appreciate that he had ended up somewhere safe, at least for now. Whatever had happened, things certainly could have gone a lot worse for him, so he supposed it was time to solve another easy mystery. “So, what’s your name?”

“I’m Clark! I’m a cricket. Did you know that?”

“...yes. So what are you doing out here by yourself?”