"Gasp! Haah, haah... What, what the?"
Jennovice sprang up from his bed, totally drenched in sweat. A nightmare, It was a nightmare. It's not like it was the first time he had seen a nightmare, but the vividness was concerning, it was as if all the events were happening in reality.
The events, the boy tried to think, for some reason he was unable to remember most of the dream except the later part.
"I think I saw something like a flashback, but what was it again? Haah, I can't remember shit."
The boy could not figure out anything anymore, but a part of him was saying that the dream was not completely meaningless.
After using up nearly all of the brain cells he had for deciphering the meaning of the dream, the kid finally came to a realization.
That day was one of the most dreaded days for students, Monday; Jennovice grabbed the school uniform shirt, which had not encountered any water or cleaning material for at least a few days, that was partly because he would not let anyone enter his room without his permission. He ran through the stairs, coming across an astoundingly beautiful woman, who did not look more than 35 years old. She had glowing platinum blond hair over her mildly pinkish tinted skin; her loose-tied strings of hair were flailing down and touching her shoulders. Wearing rimless glasses on her nose and packing up lunch boxes, she looked at the teen's way.
Jennovice was genuinely struggling to put on his black pants while brushing his teeth. Nearly falling down after every failed attempt, he looked back at her.
"Good morning, Aunty. I got up a bit late."
The older lady just smiled back a bit, she stared at the kid who was barely eleven years old but had the maturity of an adult, always thoughtful of his actions and never rude to anyone. She always thought he would be a little bit rebellious, just like his sister, but he was always the complete opposite of her. "Seems like your sister is also up, and it's also time for your school."
Jennovice glanced towards the clock, gasped, looked here and there, grabbed the sandwich from the table, picked his backpack up, and ran towards the door, followed by his bed-headed sister who followed the same formation.
Zoe, Jennovice's older sister. She was a year older than him but due to her some issues with her cognition, she was in the same class as him. Jennovice did not pay any attention to her and started to walk out of the house.
Outside the house, a car was parked and the face of a good-looking man of late thirties popped up from the driver's window.
"Hurry up kiddos, or you are going to be late."
"Should you really be picking up the student of your school personally? You are going to get a bad reputation."
The older man laughed out loudly at Zoe's words and unlocked the door for them.
The inside of the car was needlessly beautiful and comfortable. It was not too big but had enough space for a family of four with a dog to travel comfortably.
Settling themselves comfortably, Zoe again initiated the chat.
"So, you don't think picking us up every day would make mom forgive you, right? After all, you forgot your marriage anniversary, that itself is a crime, you know.
"Trying so hard to show your usefulness won't be worth much, uncle."
His tanned face became bright red in an instance and his voice started to shake.
"Wha, what do y,you mean kids? wh, why would I do something like th, that?'
The kids started to laugh out loudly.
-------
The beautiful blond woman looked outside the window toward the smiling children. Seeing them she felt an unexplainable sense of satisfaction.
Suddenly she heard the shelves quiver. She quickly turned her head back and to her not-so-surprise, it was not a mouse but a grown man trying to hide behind the small shelves.
"Sire, the attempt to hide is futile with your frame."
A middle-aged man in his late thirties or early forties crawled out of his little hiding place trying his best to not knock out the plates, with an awkward smile hanging.
A very normal-looking man with no distinguishable feature except his very well-built stature, he was wearing a perfectly fitting shirt with a thin hooded cardigan on it.
The huge man of six feet was standing in a corner of the room like a guilty pup that got caught by his owner trying to steal a biscuit. He looked at the woman who genuinely looked quite tired dealing with children and two grown man-children every day. Seeing her, the man dropped his head even lower and with a very low voice uttered, "Sorry. I won't do it again."
The woman was caught by surprise by his sudden apology. She hurriedly shook her head and denied, "What are you saying, Sire? You don't need to apologize. I'm not angry with you, my lord. I just meant to say that you don't need to hide like that when you come to see Jennovice."
With a minute of silence, the man soon followed, "I don't think I deserve another son."
She expected that answer. He had always been like that. From that answer, one could totally see how low confident that man was. Although it was not known what actually he did to think that, but it was sure that he repented for it.
"Sire, Jennovice is very different than children of his age, he has the aura of an experienced man in him, maybe it's due to the fact that he lost his parents very early, but he tends not to rely on people because of his quality. If you show him such a low confident side of you, there is a high chance he would not want to stay with you." She became stern, it was evident that this thing with the man had been happening for quite a long time.
The lady's name was Akira Daves. She was acquainted with Jennovice's parents before they died in a fire, and she was also the one who took him in after their death.
Zoe was already five years old when Jennovice came in but surprisingly they got along so well that Akira did not have to worry. Zoe having cognitive disorder made it quite hard for her to talk with other kids of her age so her getting along with Jennovice made the Daves quite happy. That was one of the reasons Akira was unwilling to just give up on Jennovice.
"Heh, it is just a selfish wish for my daughter."