Chereads / Schadenfreude : The Tangled Serenade / Chapter 2 - Chapter 1 : Hiraeth

Chapter 2 - Chapter 1 : Hiraeth

"Mommy! Mommy! I met someone at the bluebell field today!" Little Emilia grabbed her mother's hands and gave her the flowers wreath proudly. "Emilia, what did i said about picking the bluebells?" Emilia pouting. "It will angered the fairies."

"But...but...the fairy said it's okay, because they had plenty! He also said that sharing flower is sharing smile, so it's okay for me to bring them home!" Her mother smiled and wiped Emilia's round face with a towel. "Alright, alright, but you still need to plant them again. Go back to the field tomorrow, say sorry to the fairies, plant them and never do that again, alright?" Emilia nodded.

"Now, tell me about this fairy of yours." Her mom fetched Emilia a glass of milk and some cookies. Emilia's eyes twinkling. Those are her favorites. "Hif nom wos Eynad."said her with mouth full of cookies. Emilia's mom giggled and let her enjoyed the cookies, before gave her the milk.

"What is his name again?"

"Reynald. And he's so pweety!"said Emilia, excitedly. "Especially his eyes, they're green! Like the stone we found yesterday!" Emilia's mom gasped. Her smile faded. She looked around, cautiously and gestured to Emilia to remain silent.

From the drawer beside the table, she took a paper and a pencil, write some words and gave it to Emilia.

(Mom) Emilia, for now, keep your voice down and write everything that you want to tell me on this paper. DON'T MAKE A SINGLE SOUND. Do you understand?

Emilia nodded. Her mother began to write again.

(Mom) Are you sure his eyes look like the stone we found yesterday?

She nodded again and Emilia began to write.

(Emilia) What's wrong, mommy?

(Mom) Could you describe him more? What about his hair? Or something unusual from him?

(Emilia) Black hair, with black and gold robe and hat.

Emilia's mother remain silent for a while. Her face became pale.

(Mom) Don't speak to anyone about this, okay?

(Emilia) But why?

(Mom) Danger will come if we talked about him, especially his eyes.

(Mom) Do you understand?

Emilia didn't answer the question. She looked at her mom with gaze full of questions.

(Mom) You will understand when you know about it. But we really can't talk about it right now.

(Mom) Remember, talking about his eyes is forbidden anywhere, even here.

Emilia didn't budge. She looked at her mom as if she demanded to be answered, right here, right now.

(Mom) Please, at least promise me you will not talked about it here.

(Emilia) I promise.

(Mom) Good girl.

"Now let us prepare for dinner, shall we?" said Emilia's mom, throwing the paper into the fireplace. "What do we have today?" Emilia's mom smiling and showed her two big fish. "Your favorite, grilled fish!" Emilia gasped in disbelief. "You're going to the village?"

"Yes sweetie, i bought this from the market. Fortunately, there's still plenty of fish in the stall. Better enjoy it while it last, right?" Emilia looked down. It's been a long time since she saw a fish. But, the village is a dangerous place. People's been missing. The cause is still unknown. Scientist have give up. They do all experiments and researches to no avail.

"Mom, they still didn't know why the people are missing?" Her mom shook her head. "Not yet, sweetie. C'mon, your dad will come home soon. We didn;t want him waiting right? He'll starving."Emilia nodded. "Alright."

The next day...

"Ahh! It's you again!" Emilia turned her head. In front of her, stood a boy, the boy from yesterday.

(Emilia) "Where do you live?"

(Boy) "Why?"

(Emilia) "I live here since i born and i never saw you."

(Boy) "I play here since i was born and i never saw you."

(Emilia) "Don't copy me."

(Boy) "I'm not."

(Emilia) "You are."

(Boy) "Did I?"

(Emilia) "..."

Emilia walk away, leaving the boy and start to plant the bluebell seeds.

(Boy) "What are you doing?"

Emilia didn't answer the boy and keep planting.

(Boy) "Hey, I asked you."

Emilia remain silent.

(Boy) "Hey! Don't ignore me!"

Then tomorrow, the next day, and the day after, the boy is always there. Nagging, bother Emilia with a thousand questions just to be ignored. But one day, his words were different.

(Boy) "Hey. I come here to say goodbye."

(Emilia) "..."

(Boy) "Still no answer?"

(Emilia) "..."

(Boy) "At least i've got to see you. Even if only for a month."

(Emilia) "You know me?"

(Boy) "Your name is Emilia, you lived with your parents in a small shack in the forest, your father is a fisherman, used to fish in the mountain, now move to the sea because of economic problem, and your mother is a long hair brunette, often tied her hair in pony tail style."

(Emilia) "You're a bad man. Goodbye."

(Boy) "What? No! Everyone in the village know it!"

(Emilia) "Liar. Mom and I didn't even go that often."

(Boy) "..."

(Boy) "Well, you're right. From your perspective, I'm the bad guy."

(Emilia) "What's perspective?"

(Boy) "Err. How to explain it?"

(Emilia) "Whatever, have a nice trip."

(Boy) "Glad i'm not around anymore, huh?"

(Emilia) "I didn't say that."

(Boy) "So you want me to stay?"

(Emilia) "I didn't say that either."

(Emilia) "But how did you know about me?"

(Boy) "When the time comes, i will know about it. So, when i got your information, i rushed here to meet you."

(Emilia) "That's really weird."

(Boy) "You'll know about me when the time comes."

(Boy) "But, you can't see me then. It'll be a long time for us to meet again."

The boy tuck a bluebell flower between Emilia's ear. He look at her, smile and kiss her palm before he left and disappear. Without her knowing, when she got home, she lost her memories about the boy, alongside with her family. They never talked about the boy ever since. There are no missing people in the village ever since.