[#CreativeAwards2025 #FantasyNovelCategory] Maaaaaam! Episode 5

Episode 4 is here

The sky suddenly turned dark. As Yuki was preparing rain gear for her younger brothers, thinking it might be a squall,

"It's coming!"

Mam suddenly grabbed Yuki's arm.

"Ma, Mam?"

Without caring about Yuki's confusion, she tossed her aside with a swing. All the rain gear she had prepared scattered everywhere.

"Maaaaaaam!"

Yuki screamed in mid-air. As she landed on the ground with a thud and rolled her eyes,

"Maaaaaaam!"
"Gah!"

Zou fell on top of Yuki.

"That hurts!"
"Sorry... no, Mam suddenly..."

While Zou, dizzy from being thrown, was making excuses, Mam's loud voice could be heard.

"No time to be spacing out! The Ochakana have arrived!"

Saying that, Mam continued to throw Sato and Yuta.

"Zou! Get up!"

Pulled by the arm by Yuki, Zou stood up in a panic.

Thud!

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Yuki managed to catch Sato, but couldn't bear the weight and sat down hard. However, catching a four-year-old child is a heavy burden for a ten-year-old Yuki. Even so, she used herself as a cushion to keep Sato from hitting the ground. Despite Yuki's tearful efforts, Sato cried, "Waaaah!"

"Sato is such a crybaby!"

When Zou scolded Sato for seeing Yuki feeling down,

"O-cha-ka-na~♪"

Yuta came falling down while shouting that.

"Eek!"

Poor Zou ended up being crushed under Yuta. Yuta was smiling broadly and pointing at the sky. The sky had darkened because a swarm of Ochakana had arrived. In the direction Yuta was pointing, a massive swarm of Ochakana was swirling.

"Well then, tonight is a feast."

Saying that, Bon quickly packed fishing hooks into the tube hanging from his waist. They were fishing hooks specifically designed for Ochakana, refined into a thin shape to fit the tube. When hunting Ochakana individually, fishing hooks are better. If you use a net aiming for a big catch, even someone as strong as Bon would be dragged up into the air by the rampaging Ochakana.

"We're going Ochakana hunting now!"
"Yes! Mam!"

Sensing Bon's intention, Yuki pushed her younger brothers into a gap in the rocks.

"Nooo! I see Ochakana!"

Zou and Sato held down the squirming Yuta, saying, "Not now!"

🐟🎣🐟

Like the Oyachai, the creatures in the water were also affected by the ridiculous war and moved their living bases to the sky.

During the war, people fleeing the flames of war jumped into the rivers. But the rivers were boiling from the war, and the people who entered the water lost their lives one after another. The fish also floated up, showing their white bellies. The regretful expressions of the people and the white bellies of the fish remained in people's memories as a sinister scene.

Before long, rumors began to circulate that the water had been contaminated by the grudges of the people and the fish. Shortly after the war ended, it was said that the fish, unable to live in the water contaminated by grudges, began to flee. Eyewitness accounts of fish splashing up and swimming toward the sky were everywhere, but few people believed them.

If you have time to talk about dreams, think about tomorrow's living.

That feeling was probably stronger. However, one day, suddenly, all aquatic life jumped out of the water. Not just rivers, but swamps, ponds, and lakes. The sea was no exception.

Splash... Splash, splash, splash!!!

Every day, aquatic life jumped into the sky. People all over the world could only watch this bizarre sight in silence. One day, after such days continued, one floating in the sky came close. When one person instinctively reached out, they caught it easily. Realizing it was far easier to catch than dangling a fishing line, the people suffering from food shortages were overjoyed.

"Hey! We can catch all the fish we want!"

Food is floating in the sky. Everyone began overfishing, as if they didn't want to miss this chance. Everyone was happy that the fish were easier to catch than the feral Oyachai. However.

“Gyaaaa!”

The aquatic creatures floating in the sky, just like the Oyachai, immediately turned feral. They must be desperate in this crazy world, too. To protect themselves, they couldn't just let humans grab them easily. The law of the jungle in the water was inherited as is; the small are eaten by the large. If they were eaten more than necessary by humans, they wouldn't survive. The aquatic creatures in the sky, regardless of size, all began to change into ferocious faces.

At first, they could be caught with bare hands, but it gradually became difficult. Some had their fingers bitten off, and some lost their lives. Just like in the water, they had to be fished with hooks, harpoons, and nets. The countless types of aquatic creatures, or rather, aerial creatures, were soon collectively called "Ochakana." They all had such ferocious expressions that it made you want to call them that.

🐟🎣🐟

After finishing loading the fishing hooks into the tube, Bon jumps over to where Yuki and the others are, shouting, "Hup!"

“Gya!”
“Gya!”
“Gyan!”
“Ochakana!”

Bon covers the children and points the tube toward the sky.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Bon takes down one Ochakana with every shot. Once Bon had taken down only as many as they could eat, they slowly picked up the Ochakana from the ground. The Ochakana didn't seem to care that their companions had been shot down, and they moved the school along. They must have thought that since Bon had hidden and shot them down, they had naturally fallen out of the school. When the school disappeared, the blue sky appeared.

“Yahoo! Yummy, yummy!”

Yuta claps his hands in joy. Yuta loves minced Ochakana. The other children are also all smiles. The pain from being thrown around earlier is gone.

“Next, we need Oyachai for the minced Ochakana soup.”
“Mam! I’ll go get the Oyachai!”

Bon grabs Yuki by the collar as he starts to run off enthusiastically.

“Gya! What are you doing!”
“If a slowpoke like you goes alone, you’ll get your head bitten off!”
“That’s mean! Mam!”

When Agu went off to war, the three younger ones were small. Yuki is the only one who remembers the departure. Agu had told Yuki, "Take care of Mam," before leaving. Yuki's somewhat misguided actions stem from that promise to Agu.

“Don’t say unnecessary things to the kids!”

When Bon gave Agu a whack on the head, Agu said "Ouch" with tears in his eyes. After that, Agu and Bon hugged tightly and lamented their parting, but... Yuki was so busy engraving the promise with Agu into his brain that he didn't see it at all...

While feeling happy about Yuki's feelings, Bon throws a hoe with a swish.

“Oyachai! Kaha!”

Yuta and Sato find Oyachai spinning with dizziness under the hoe and bring it over with big smiles. Zou prepares a portable pot and,

"Big brother!"

calls out to Yuki. Until now, Yuki had been the one to prepare both the ingredients and the pot all by himself. However, only the eldest son, Yuki, could start the fire. While he had no talent for hunting, Yuki had a talent for cooking. Bon highly valued that. To Yuki, who puffed out his cheeks thinking he should be protecting Mom and his younger brothers as the eldest son, he

"It's because you're here that I can hunt with peace of mind even with children in tow."

smiles. Yuki laughs shyly.

"Yum yum!"

Yuta shouts, unable to wait. Sato, with teary eyes, says he's hungry.

"You can't eat without me, can you!"

Zou hands the flint to Yuki.

"Thanks!"

Yuki thanks his younger brother and begins to cook. Bon's gaze as he watches him is nothing but gentle.

Episode 6continues

Click here to read "Maaaaaam!" from the beginning♪