While watching the younger version of myself run into the small wooden house. I heard Sekito's voice in my head.
"Yo guys, what you are currently seeing is a fragment of your own memory. You are free to do whatever you want. But there are only certain ways to pass this trial. You must overcome your memories. To do that, you gotta uhm… ah yes, you need to interact with your memory itself."
Interacting and altering memories? Isn't that dangerous?
"No, it isn't, just think of it as an escape room."
"Well that's dope, you can read my mind." I reacted.
"This is a place I created, so I have ownership of all of you guys. Sooo… don't think of anything inappropriate, I can see it."
I have to alter the world am in and when I do so, I get cast out of the imaginary world.
"The memory am showing you is from your own emotions. This means the things you are seeing are your problems and events that are holding you back. By the way, you can't exit until you are finished. You don't age in your memory either. I'm gonna go get some more sleep now, enjoy."
I look completely normal, but it doesn't seem they can see me. I can touch things and hear things.
The gate is open and I walk in. That treehouse, Lan and Ken built. It had a hole in the corner due to Ken accidentally jumping too hard and breaking through the floor. Lan pulled him up while I tried to push his leg up from below.
Opening the front door and looking around. The place gave me a nostalgic feeling. All the varieties of flowers mother would put up on display. Orchids, lilies, chrysanthemums, Irises, and mom's personal favorites, Periwinkles and Myrtles. She told us that they represent sweet and pleasant memories.
At the entrance, under the shoe rack was a box. Lan would collect pretty rocks and store them in his special box. Shiny pretty ones, to complete black and a bunch more.
I inspected the shoe rack and found the old box I remembered. My eyes lit up as I got exhilarated from seeing what was inside. Galena! Sphalerite! Cinnabar! Among the things in his collection, are quartz, scheelite, and flint. Wait, wait, I'm not here for Lan's rock collection. Gotta focus.
I continued down the hall, I stepped into the main room. Mother, Lan, and Ken, they are all sitting there. Lan and Ken eat watermelon and Mother makes a new vase for her flowers.
The younger version of me ran into the room excited and took one of the watermelon slices. Me sat down and started eating. Ken looked annoyed at me and Lan tried his best to persuade him not to do it.
Ken spit the black watermelon seeds on my face and laughed.
"Hey, that's mean!"
Me started to chew faster and spit the watermelon seeds back at Ken.
Lan sat there smiling as he watched on.
Mother intervened and stopped both of us. Taking away the watermelon slices.
"No more watermelon for you guys if you don't start behaving!" She said sternly.
Mother's voice. I remember her soft tone, her caring words, her compassion-filled voice. Hearing it once more made me soften up. Mom… A single stream of tears rolled down my cheek. That is not what am here for. I wiped it off and continued exploring.
I went into my old room. Three beds, messy room riddled with clothes. Ken's fighting posters and Lan's books. I sat on my old bed. I looked over to the side. It was the window I always looked out. At night when the moon was up. I peeked out the window, waving goodbye to Mother. She would wave back as she walked into the city.
In the morning she would return, she would give us food, hugs, and her warm smile. She often came back with bruises and marks on her body that made us seriously worried. She would always reassure us that she was just clumsy and fell a lot when walking.
I knew she was lying, Mother wasn't clumsy, she got hit by other people. The marks on her body were on weird spots where falling normally wouldn't injure. Her neck marks were what that ticked me off. Normally a person wouldn't injure their neck by falling normally, a person had to hurt mother.
I didn't tell Lan or Ken because I knew they would try to seek revenge and get seriously injured. I didn't like Mother getting hurt by other people, but I didn't like that she lied about it. She lied to protect us. But she lied.
That day she didn't return. The day was the all three of us waited at the entrance but you never showed up. I felt betrayed. Mom left us, she abandoned us. I can never forgive her for lying, for forsaking us. Our father wasn't even home most of the time. He wasn't even a part of our lives.
Seeing Me run into the room and hop onto the bed, jumping. Mother, did you care for any of us? If so, where were you?