Disclaimer: Red River in its entirety belongs solely to Chie Shinohara. The character Nadalia, Amber and Moses belongs to me.


Lost

"Greece?! No freaking way! Are you telling me that we get to dance atop grassy hills with goats and donkeys dressed in togas and eating cheese?! "

She said to her friend standing next to her, though whether "she" was really a "she" could be brought to question. Her friend, dressed in a pretty spring dress clasped her hands on the girl?'s shoulder and the two exchanged a moment of pure solemnity. As soon as the girl quieted down, her friend spoke up in a reprimanding tone not unlike that of a teacher.

"One. Goats and Donkeys do not wear togas nor do they eat cheese. Two. There is more to Greece like its architectures… food… the Greek Gods!"

The friend looked so in rapture at the mere thought of all Greece's culture had to offer she was simply doing all but drooling. Looking slightly annoyed, the girl stepped in.

"I didn't mean that the goats and donkeys wore togas and ate cheese!"

She said in an irritated tone. The friend, suddenly brought back to the ground by the whiny voice didn't miss a beat.

"Well… that is not important. The important thing is that we are going to beautiful Greece, courtesy of our school's writing program, completely free of charge, and that is all that matters! Kya~"

And off she went again, flittering in some unknown realm where the Greek gods and goddesses made themselves seen. Nadalia let her friend be. It was a real stroke of luck that the two best friends were going anywhere this March Break.

Her friend, Amber, came from a picture perfect North American family; lawyer father and a stay at home mom with a darling younger sister. The family loved each other and supported each other through the hard times as well as the good. The family pitched in with the housework when Amber's grandmother died and Amber's mom couldn't function for grief. That time, not one of the family members said anything but quietly worked behind the scenes to ensure the mother's comfort while she grieved. When Amber's younger sister learned to read, the family had a little bowling party to which Nadalia was invited and attended, if reluctantly. And so Amber had bloomed in such a household so full of tender love and encouragement into a smart, happy young woman and Nadalia was grateful to call Amber her best friend… most of the time.

Sometimes, Nadalia found it unbearable to be Amber's best friend. Amber was so naïve sometimes, it'd be good for her to see some of the world away from her safe bubble of a family not that Amber's family was unpleasant in any way. Nadalia used to have a perfect family just as loving and caring as Amber's so she understood somewhat how Amber could be so very naïve and innocent. Nadalia's dad was a paediatrician and her mom was a photographer for a garden magazine. Nadalia even had an older brother named Moses and he was her best friend.

Nadalia closed her eyes and she could see it…

Her mom had insisted on having lunch out in the gardens of the Museum near dad's workplace. It was their annual picnic, just the four of them. Moses was entering University soon and would be away from home so mom had made him his favourite and his whole face lit up at the sight of the chicken. Mom wiggled her eyebrows and told Moses to stop drooling or she'll have to dress the chicken in a separate room from now on. Nadalia laughed. Dad walked in then and he looked tired from work but he smiled happily at his wife and kids. Moses was starting to look a lot like Dad Nadalia thought…

Tears threatened to pour down Nadalia's cheeks from the sudden rush of emotion of longing for that better time and she furiously did her best to blink them away. It was just too embarrassing to start crying in the middle of the halls at school not to mention detrimental to her image. Not that she cared what people thought, or so she tried to believe. Thankfully Nadalia was in the middle of returning from the office after dropping off the attendance and there wasn't anyone in the halls that might've caught her off guard. Jamming her hands in the pockets of her denim jacket, Nadalia slowly but dutifully trudged back to English class where Amber was sure to have arrived ahead of her.

Greece… a different world than this painful reality she now lived in… dare she even dream?

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this! This is my first time working on a fanfic and much constructive criticism would be appreciated. Please review~