Amdo had decided to continue with his trip, no matter what. It was still his duty to fulfil his job. He lodged in a 5 star hotel, joined a scuba diving crew, even tried a hand at sky diving. It was everything he had planned to do with Malad. Hence, it was no wonder, he told himself with a sigh, that the sky seemed to dim into a dull blue so dark that no mixture of black with blue could paint, the sea was just a chaos of wandering creatures, haunting him, chasing him. The 5 star Hotel only reminded him of Malad's surprised and sweet smile when they got the suite. Everything reminded him of Malad. He could see her in the clouds, taunting him with a lady-like figure that followed him everywhere, hardly resembling the beauty and kindness of the lover he had shunned.
But what for?! A mountain that hardly deserved its name; a valley, which he could probably jump into and still survive; a river, which was hardly a stretch of gutterly, streaming water. While all tourists gathered around, taking pictures, admiring the view, he sat on the edge of a stone, skulking and scoffing.
"The view is not that bad, you know." Said his trip adviser, approaching him with a softness in his eye. "But if your eyes seek what is not to be found in the outside world, they will only be dissatisfied."
"What gives you the impression I'm dissatisfied?" Denied Amdo.
"Well, let's see: your creased forehead, crunched eyebrows, steaming nose, quivering lips, etcetera, etcetera don't make you seem too happy." Was the wise reply which Amdo recognised.
Hence, chuckling, he finally admitted to what he had done, leaving out some, not really, many details and any names and locations, etc, that could be unsafe to inform a stranger of. However, the fatherly look of this old man with grey hair and twinkling green eyes made him feel guilty quite quickly.
The old man's advice was but one: "Don't waste your time here. Go get the girl before it's too late." He added with a laughter, "haven't you heard it in the movies enough already?!"
Amdo's only reply was to smile, nod, and run.
When he finally reached at Malad's house, after a few taxis and a long flight, Malad's car was gone and her sister and mother sat sadly in the doorstep, conversing animatedly of any prospects to get Malad 'back to her senses'. "If only we could know what happened to..." her sentence was cut off as she saw the man marching towards their home.
"It was you, wasn't it?" She asked accusingly, pointing her index finger at him while her eyebrows furrowed into a deeply creased frown.
"That's slightly rude, but yes." Was Amdo's modest reply. "And I'm sorry; deeply and truly sorry."
"Your sorry won't bring her back." She replied while her eyes filled with tears, "my baby sister, I don't even know where she is, how she is doing, what she is eating for the past two days and it is ALL because of YOU!"
"What, where did she go?" Amdo worried, her frown now transmitting to his face too.
"Well, we would not be sitting here having a nice little chat if we knew!" She replied, fuming.
"Frustration and anger do not get us anywhere, Marguerite." Said Malad's mother, surprisingly scolding her older daughter, while making a bun out of her long brown hair. "She said she was going to travel."
A few moments passed in silence until "of course," cried Amdo, before slumping onto the doorstep himself, covering his eyes with his hands.
A few moments later, Marguerite, or Margaret, could hear silent sobs, increasing in pace with every passing moment until she could bear it no more and slumped on his side, trying to comfort him with a sisterly hug while her mother patted his head as if he were a five year old.