Her short orange peach hair bounced as her cloudy white eyes looked through my own, "I wanted to show you this."
The flash that I last saw before I went unconscious jolted me awake. "You awake, Little Keiko?" a deep voice that of a man asked with the heartfelt joy of a father. I turned to the rear view mirror, his orange locks bounced slightly when he turned the mirror to me. "Is it hot back there?"
"It's cold enough as it is, honey." Mom shivered with a glare at the man.
"Haha, alright alright. I'm just asking." he chuckled. An idea struck me, 'dad?' I didn't let my surprise let out. Mom looked out the window as Dad asked, "Are your eyes alright, Keiko? Does contact lenses sting?" he started to fluster.
"Honey, she's fine! Don't mind your papa, Keiko." Mom held his shoulder and turned to me. "Rest for now, we're still far away from the airport."
"That reminds me, remember the Kilends?"
As they conversed, I settled in with my silence while I watched the man driving the car. I was sitting behind his seat, relying on the rear view mirror to keep an eye on Dad. I observed them as they talked about the plans Dad had in mind.
"You mean Lushya and Robert? Are they in the city?" her tone excited and expecting.
"Yeah, but it's just Robert. He said Lushya and the kids are in Wuxi City right now." at that, the stars in Mom's eyes disappeared. "We were chatting each other yesterday and planned to meet for dinner. Should we all go? I want to introduce our big Keiko to Robert," he grinned as he stopped the car at a red light.
Dad expected Mom to responded immediately, but she remained silent. "Hm? Yui-kun?" Dad blinked through his green-framed glasses with the smile.
Mom limped, "Hngh... Lushya isn't here..." feeling dejected as though she was a child whose parents told her she wasn't allowed to sleep over at her friend's house.
"Hahaha, don't be so sad, honey," Dad said amusingly. "At least they're close by."
"You wouldn't say that so happily if I and Keiko were a City away from you." Mom glared. Dad chuckled, seeming to agree to Mom's statement.
"Haha- ehem," he cleared his throat. "Anyway, Keiko, do you still remember your uncle and auntie Kilend? They were the people we were with the most back in Shaanxi Province."
I blinked multiple times; I couldn't remember anything. I let Mom answer for me as I looked out of the window with a bead of sweat. 'How am I supposed to answer that when I literally have amnesia,' I thought as I admired the orange hue of the sunset in the sky. 'It's almost night..'
"Keiko doesn't remember, Kei." Mom lightly chuckled at Dad. "She was 3-years-old the last time we saw them. She's almost 15 now!"
"Ehh, already that old, huh?" I perked up at the word 'old' -- 'Hey- hey! I'm STILL 14, you know?! Still young!' Mom punched his shoulder a little harder.
"Oww!"
"Then what makes us, huh? Ancestors?"
"Eheh heh... Sorry, honey." The light turned green and Dad continued to focus more on driving. There was a comforting silence that fell the atmosphere in the car. Without a thought more about the future, I let myself relax.
The sun finally set, and nightfall devoured the city skyscrapers. "We'll wait in the hotel." Mom said.
"Whaat, you're really not coming with me?"
"Isn't Robert YOUR college friend? Just go, me and Keiko will catch some sleep in the hotel," Mom emphasized and waved her hand in dismissal.
"Okay..." Dad discontentedly agreed as he drove the car up speed. Another comfortable silence. It went on for hours. My eyes wandered until it fell on the clock.
The ticking sound of the clock rang out: 8:54:23... 8:54:24
25
"Kei, slowdown!"
26
"Don't worry its the highway," he reassured.
27
"Kei..." she sighed, she stopped.
28
Mom looked ahead and saw the intersection of cars. The traffic lights were broken...
29
"Kei,"
30
"KEI, WATCH OUT!!"
The ring spiraled as the truck crashed to Dad's side with me sitting behind him. I stood there, witnessing the crash -- "This..." -- around the sidelines as the wailing sounds of the authorities' cars came. "...is pure nightmare."
"I know, right?! Geez, talk about bad luck--" little me grumbled but stop when she saw my expressionless face.
"Maybe, if we agreed to Dad's plans... would he be here now?" little me stared at me, tears flowed down, there was no whimper, though my heart ached. Dad... I don't know him well... and that hurt.
"Keiko?"
I don't want to forget him. How could I? Forgetting him was out of my control... stupid Keiko.
"Keiko... plane... landed-"
Why does life have to be so cruel?
Mom must be really devastated... No wonder I cried so much last night. Who wouldn't when they found out that the most loving and cheerful person in their life is gone now?
"Keiko, wake up." little me said with a chillingly calm voice, I turned to her then Mom's voice rang out. I blinked, my eyes blurred Mom's face, I blinked more until it cleared. "Come on, Keiko. Let's get down the plane." she pat my shoulder and stood up to gather our bags. An attendant came to help her while I tried to focus hard on regaining balance.
My head was spinning. Standing up was no option: I might crash to a stranger. But slowly, I stood up, balancing my posture. Puke came up my throat but got swallowed. 'Blegh- ugh...'
Moments after that painful experience, I finally regained balance and walked as I held my forehead. I still wanted to puke.
We headed towards the Baggage Claim center. "You wanna go to the bathroom first, Keiko?" Mom asked, concern clear in her words.
"No, no. This will subside sooner or later," the grin I tried to show was quickly covered as I tried to keep the puke in.
"How about this, go to the restroom while I get us our things. Then, we'll meet back at the exit," she pointed at the exit and directed me to the restroom which was behind me.
I swallowed it again, "Alright... if you insist, Mom." No more hesitance, I walked fast towards the restroom, found an empty stall and puked it all out. Some bystanders showed their disgust when they saw me leaving. I sighed in relief, I was a bit bothered by their stares, but what do they know?
Washing my mouth and gurgling, I left the restroom and searched for Mom. She waved her hand above her head, "Keiko, over here!" with her other hand she covered the edge of her lips and yelled.
I sighed in relief. For a second there, I thought I got lost or worst: left behind...
'Geez, Keiko, stop the depressing thoughts.' I shook my head and ran towards Mom. There was a big transparent trolley with all our bags inside it. Once I arrived I asked, "What's this?"
"Some of the workers here are giving out these trolleys to passengers with 4 or more belongings," Mom explained as she pointed to a reception behind her. I nodded and pushed the trolley out the building.
"Where to now, Mom?"
"Now... Now we find a hotel, then tomorrow we either rest or travel to Gunma by train." she said while walking towards a taxi, I stayed as she talked with the driver. I thought to myself of the decision.
"Na, Keiko, let's go," Mom called out, her hand stretched out to me. I stared at it for a while, dazed; remembering the dream. She and Dad was so close... they may look as though they were arguing, but it wasn't the kind of argument that one would be afraid of. It was a kind of argument that a child would see through as funny.
I pushed the cart forward and helped Mom load our stuff into the trunk of the car. "There! Phew," Mom relieved as she wiped away the sweats on her forehead. "Okay, sir driver! We're ready to go!"
"Sure sure, get on, ma'am!"
Did I hear it right? The man was speaking a different language, but I understood it. Mom and I sat at the passenger seats, our eyes locked outside the window. I averted my eyes and turned to Mom, "Uhm, Mom-"
"Aish, traffic this late in the afternoon?!" the driver cursed then turned to us, "Sorry, ma'am. We might be here for a while..."
"Ahh, it's okay. We can wait," Mom smiled as she spoke in Japanese. She then turned to me with a raised brow, "Did you say something, Keiko?" now she was speaking Chinese.
I shook my head, "Nothing."