Before going back to my apartment that afternoon, I managed to pass by the house with 'Sasagawa' written on the wall that fenced it. By this time of day, the house is supposed to be lit up with bright lights and a man with spiky pallid hair would be watering the flower bed that his wife used to keep. A boy with shuffled dark brown hair is also supposed to be sprinkling water on the beautiful flowers with the blue sprinkler he was holding. The boy would admire the magnificence of the flowers and his father would compare them with his late wife. The boy would smile and muster all his hazy memories of his mother then agree with his father.
But now, as the sun sank into the western horizon, the house was empty and lifeless. The lights of the house were not lit, the gate and the back and front doors were all locked, the boy and his father were not watering the flower bed and a young man was standing across the street, peering into the house as a gentle breeze blew his wavy shoulder-length dark brown hair and the scar that went down from his lower lip to his chin slightly twitched as he suppressed a tear.
I jumped up the wall surrounding the house and my feet landed on the front lawn within a second. I made my way into the house by unlocking the front door with the key duplicate that managed to survive with me for two years. I switched on the light and found the interior as how it is supposed to look. I congratulated myself for somehow maintaining the house that was my home clean. My father used to mess it up but a certain trait I inherited from Mama kept him from totally doing so. But now that Papa is not here to do it, I had the urge to scramble it myself but I would just end up tidying it myself too. I walked on towards the place where Papa and I keep the gardening tools. I picked up the blue sprinkler and filled it with tap water and went to my mother's flower bed. The pretty flowers have not yet withered because I have been taking care of them secretly for the past two years. I held up the handle of the sprinkler and let the water flow from the spout onto the plants. Even though it has been a long time since Mama died, Papa still took care of the flowers in order to preserve her memory. Mama was, and will always be, the flower of Papa's life and Papa was, and had always been, the refreshing brightness of Mama's life. Now, I keep on taking care of the flowers to preserve both their memories. But my cleaning the whole house was a different thing; I keep on doing it, hoping that the man who used to jumble it would come back and mess it again soon.
I've stayed too long; someone in the neighborhood might notice the lights. I thought, glancing at my watch.
I stood up and returned the sprinkler to its place. As I walked towards the front door, I suddenly felt like going to the living room. I shifted my steps and walked to where I felt like going. When I entered the said room, the first thing I saw was our family picture taken a week before Mama died. My feet reluctantly took me to the picture and my hands took it in them without me thinking about it. My fingers wavered upon the glass that was embedded on the frame and tried to touch my parents' faces as if they're really there. I sneaked the picture into my bag.
"This belongs to me too, anyway. So technically, I'm not stealing anything." I muttered to myself.
I went out of the house and jumped on the fence.
"Hey you!" I heard a man's voice shout upon seeing me on top of the fence.
I quickly jumped off and ran away.
"Come back here you thief!" I heard the man holler as he chased me.
I ran as fast as I could until I looked back to see that the man who mistook me for a thief has surrendered the chase.
~END of chapter 6~
Author's note:
I thought about naming a certain species of flowers but I did not know what to mention. Anyways, Hana means flower and Ryo means refreshing brightness, that's why I wrote that mushy sentence. XD
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