Sakura's eyes popped open. She was amazed to see that her room was not pitch black, but only faintly dim.
Yawning, Sakura whispered, "Must've been a crazy dream."
"Sakura? You lazy girl! Wake up!" a voice called from outside her room.
The moment she heard those words did she realize who it was. "Touya! Stop bothering me! Go wake up yourself!"
"I did! That's why I'm telling you to wake up, DUH!"
"Well then…alright! I'm coming out! Stop fussing about!"
"Who said I was fussing? Isn't it you who's fussing?"
"Touya!" Sakura screamed.
"Kids, settle down," her father said from outside the door. "Sakura, breakfast's ready. Come down before it gets cold, alright?"
"Yes, dad."
Sakura yawned, stretched her arms, and made her way to the washroom. Suddenly, she started to remember her dream again.
"How come I remember so clearly? Everything is so clear in my memory…Natashi, the church, the Dark Chamber…everything! Oh well, I shouldn't worry that much. It's all just a fancy dream." Sakura mumbled to herself.
By the night, she soon forgot about her dream, and feel into deep, deep sleep.
Sakura awoke again, even more astounded this time that her room was pitch black once more.
"So…it's not a dream?"
Sakura stared at the darkness and dared not to step off her bed, but yet her curiosity pushed her to leap off. Before she knew it, she was tumbling down a tunnel of darkness.
BUMP!
Sakura landed, knowing that she would be safe now. Quickly, she reached forward, feeling for a doorknob, but there was none. Horrified, she started screaming, "Help, help! Is anyone there? Is anyone there? Help me! I'm a traveler! Help!"
"Is that you, Sakura?"
She recognized that voice immediately. "Natashi, help me out of here! There's no doorknob!"
"What, of course there is one!"
Sakura heard a CLICK behind her, and she saw light seeping through. She turned around, facing the door with the doorknob. It was behind her.
"Heh heh, oops." Sakura said, blushing.
"Oh, it's no big deal," Natashi replied.
"Do you come here everyday?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact I do! Hey, where's your flashlight? I thought I told you to bring one!"
"Oh, sorry. I just…forgot."
"How could you forget? It's so important!"
"Sorry…"
"Oh well, it's no big deal. It's a true coincidence isn't it?"
"What's a coincidence?"
"Meeting you here again."
"Oh! Yes, it is a true coincidence! You must truly be blessed now that you've welcomed me twice already!"
Smiling, Natashi replied, "Let's bring you around the city, before you wake up again, like last time."
"Alright…"
Grabbing Sakura's hand, Natashi ran out of the church and dragged Sakura to a store called Sustantivo.
"Come on, let's go in!" Natashi exclaimed.
"What…why? Okay…alright..." Sakura said, feeling clueless and awkward.
When they stepped into the store, her awkwardness vanished, because she was too busy looking everywhere, trying to grasp all the sights. She saw a beautiful bed, lined with silk and fur trimmings on the edge and draped over by a beautiful brown fur canopy. Beside the bed was a beautiful elegant table that looked ancient, made by beautiful wood, except that the wood was purple. There was a beautiful purple and brown carpet that looked antique and seemed to match with the bed and the table. Scattered around the room were a few futuristic orange chairs made from plastic, with little yellow lights that lit up on the back of the chair. The legs of the chairs were silver and turned red once in a while. Also scattered around were some mini vases that looked very antique, but were made from plastic. Draped on the walls were beautiful orange silk curtains that hung strange paintings with unusual designs on them. One had green and grey squares all over it of each and every size. One had random blue and pink lines. There seemed to be endless things to see in this store.
"Hola! Bienvenido Sustantivo!" a voice boomed from inside the store.
"What's he saying?" Sakura whispered.
"Oh, that's Genoa. He said, 'Hello! Welcome to Sustantivo!'" Natashi replied.
"Yes! That's what I say! I am Genoa! Genoa is me! Welcome here!"
"Oh, that's how Genoa always is, don't mind him." Natashi told.
"Hi, Genoa," Sakura said, smiling.
"Hola! Who are you, missy?" Genoa replied, pointing to Sakura.
"Genoa! You don't talk to people like that!" Natashi scolded.
"I am very sorry," Genoa replied. "I'm not much good at English. I need many to learn."
"Oh it's alright," Sakura answered, "my name is Sakura. Genoa, what does Sustantivo mean?"
"Sustantivo? When I young age, my elder say Sustantivo means amazement!" Genoa replied.
"He means that when he was young, his mom or dad told him that Sustantivo meant amazement," Natashi whispered to me.
"Oh! Well this store certainly is amazing!" Sakura replied.
"Thank you much!" Genoa exclaimed.
"Oh right, I haven't introduced anyone yet! Genoa is my father's cousin's wife's friend's son's friend's cousin's neighbor's friend's father. You can call him my friend. Genoa has a really nice store. He sells antique furniture here, but usually I just hang around here because it's comfy." Natashi explained.
"Oh…"Sakura replied.
"Go on! Make you a home!" Genoa exclaimed.
"He means make yourself at home." Natashi said, laughing.
Sakura laughed also. "Alright," she replied. Quickly, she leaped onto the antique bed. It was so comfy she could immediately fall asleep, but instead of ding that, she did the exact opposite…
To be continued…