Howdy! xD
Seeing the updates from my two of my favourite authors on this site gave me the boost to get this chapter going. omo. I'm hoping the feeling will last and the next chapter would come sooner. Hahaha. We'll see. :B
There I was again, sitting on that tree branch. I only remember trying to look over the fence below me and waiting for something. Waiting for what exactly, I do not recall. This dream reoccurs from time to time and I notice that it usually happens on those quiet rainy nights where I slept alone in my bed. Though not always, but noticeable enough that sometimes when I expect it to happen, it does.
Never an unpleasant dream to have considering how all I see is just my little back on that big tree and occasionally hearing my younger self humming with the wind. However, sometimes I do wonder, was there something I was missing? There is a feeling that I should be doing something, sitting there waiting as I was.
When I awake from this dream, a lingering feeling stays within my chest; undecipherable and curious. This feeling, it doesn't bother me but I do want to know what it is. To have a dream that could affect me in such a way was definitely something I don't think I should take lightly. Maybe it had a hidden meaning to it that I just couldn't see? Or was this me in the past? What was I doing then if it was?
Looking through my family album, the scene doesn't seem to resemble any part of my parent's old house. Such a tree did not exist there when I was around that age. Seeing pictures of my deceased parents as I look through the photos, I can't help but reminisce on the good old days. Alyssa was my hero then, an example of what I wanted to be when I grew to her age. Mother was always chiding me whenever I followed Alyssa around and got myself in trouble. Father however, would just laugh and mess up my hair. Sometimes he would whine and say "Why didn't you bring me along?" or "Why always Alyssa?".
He was weird that way.
I take a minute to just breathe in deeply; concentrating on how my chest heaves from the action. My mind wanders as I simply release all tensions restraining my body. A sudden epiphany strikes me the moment I look at the cover of the photo album once more and from there my thoughts travelled.
Perhaps Alyssa would have another album with her? It's unlikely for only me to have all the family photos.
And if that house did exist and I was there, then wouldn't Alyssa know something about it?
She is much older than me so she should know more than I do about the places we went to back then. My age at that time was so young. I probably didn't take much care to my surroundings.
"Mommy, we should be leaving!"
Glancing over my shoulder, Shizuka could be seen with a pout, her hands holding unto the handles of her tiny backpack. She was standing by the door, next to her shiny black shoes, staring straight at me. I find it surprising that she seems willing to go when she had been whining just the day before. Something about having to go to school while I had my day off. I understand a little about her feelings on this matter but I couldn't just simply let her skip a day of school now can I? And with a reason like: so I could spend my long awaited day off to play with my daughter? The school would never allow such a thing. Lying on the other hand would be setting a horrible example and who knows how many of these kinds of day offs I would get in the future? I can't simply pull her out of school every single time this happens. To give her this one chance would not help me or her in the future.
Grabbing my keys and slipping my feet into my shoes, I pat her head to stop her pouting. She averted her eyes away from me, holding up her shoes towards me. 'Help me put on my shoes and I'll forgive you', was the message she was sending. She knows how to put them on but wants me to do it for her. So I humour her, pecking a cheek as I do. The lift of her lips afterwards tells me she is in good spirits and that's when I know everything is all right.
Buckling her in, she surprises me with one of her own on my right cheek. A light slap follows and then she pulls my head to the side so that my other cheek is facing her where she repeats the action yet again. Satisfied, she huffs through her nose and pushes my shoulders so that there is much distance between us. Waving her hand in a sort of dismissive manner, she gestures for me to continue what I was supposed to do before she interrupted me.
It was these little things that could keep me cheery for the rest of the day.
"Good morning."
"Why, hello there beautiful. What a lovely day it is for you to finally call your sister. Though I had hoped you would call at an hour that wasn't so ghastly."
"Oh, right. I sometimes forget the time difference. Should I call later then?"
"No, no. I am up anyway. Besides, having you call must mean it's important. You rarely call me. I shouldn't miss this opportunity. Ohohoho."
"Well, not really and I do call you…sometimes…I think…"
A light cough.
"Anyway, there is something I needed to ask. Was there a time when we were kids that we would visit a house with huge trees behind?"
"Huge trees? My, that's very little to go on Na-chan. There were probably a few we might have visited. Didn't our house have lots of trees too?"
"The trees look different than the ones we had. Much bigger. Wait…. I think they were maple trees. The green ones. There might have been red ones but I don't quite remember."
"Ahhh…you must be talking about Yori-sama's house. "
"Obaa-sama? They had another house?"
"She had another house. It was her mother's I think. That would make it our great grandmother's place. She only went there when the old man wasn't around though. There was a time where she would bring us there when he and Kuro went on one of their business trips."
"Oh. What happened to the house then? How come I've never heard about it?"
"Well, right after Yori-sama passed, it was decided that the house would go to her sister or something like that. I wasn't made aware of the details and you were quite young then so I don't think you would have remembered either."
A sudden exclamation came from the other end of the phone and startled the younger of the two.
"What? What's going on over there Alyssa?"
"I suddenly remembered something I received a few days ago. I was so busy I hadn't had the chance to fully go over the whole thing but I think it had something to do with the house. Damn, your timing is incredible. You sure you're not psychic? I could use some numbers for this casino dinner thingy I have to attend tonight."
"No, I have not suddenly awoken to any mysterious psychic powers so unfortunately, it's just a coincidence."
"Are you really, really sure? Try predicting what colour is my underwear right now."
"Alyssa.."
"Shhhhh, okay. I'll go read this letter now and get back to you later with the details. Bye, my cute little sis."
Natsuki was not surprised when she heard Alyssa hastily end the phone call on her side. She was however surprised that it would only take five minutes for her sister to call her back.
"Today might just be your lucky day or something. I think I know a few of the numbers I'm going to use tonight. 15 and 8 sounds awesome right now."
She could hear cackling coming from the other end.
"What was in the letter?"
"Apparently, the house is now under our possession; us being the only grandchildren of Yori-sama and unfortunately, the only living descendants of her family line."
"What about her sister? You mean…."
"Yes, she had passed away peacefully last year. We did not hear of her funeral because they could not contact us. The reason is the same for this rather late letter of notice. Why they sent the letter to me and not to you, they did not mention. Maybe it's cause I'm the older sister."
Some more cackling was heard and Natsuki rolled her eyes.
"But still, it would make much more sense if they had sent the letter to you since you're still living in Japan. Germany is way too far for me to go and collect the keys and check out the house. You know what I'm trying to say, right?"
"That I have to go and collect the keys and check out the house since my sister is too lazy to move her ass?"
"Exactly. You forgot to put 'sexy' before the ass though."
Ignoring her comment, Natsuki remarked,
"Well, I was curious about the house anyway."
"Oh right, you never did tell me why you wanted to know. Anything to share with your bored yet wise onee-sama, hmm?"
"Nope. I just want to check something out. Anyway, I think it's time you get back to your sleep. The beauty needs her beauty sleep, yes?"
"Way to steer the conversation away. I do like the beauty comment though. But I do not need beauty sleep to look beautiful. I always am! Mwuahahaha…. Nevertheless, I do like some sleep. That's why I will let you off now. Be warned that next time I will not let it slide and I will get you to tell me!"
And with that, Alyssa hung up on her end and she was left staring at phone incredulously. The next second, her fax went off and she found herself staring at a copy of the letter her sister had received.
After a talk with the lawyer and getting the okay in the form of a set of keys, Natsuki drove off to her destination. Humming to herself, she notices that the neighbourhood is one that is filled with all sorts of houses; distinctive of the individuals whom reside behind their doors. Spaced generously they were; taking up quite a bit of land that one might think that the area housed people of the well-off or old money kind. Land was not cheap. No, not here in Japan.
"16, 17…18. Ah! Here it is."
The lone house stood out in the sea of mish mash houses. No two houses here were the same and yet it gave off an appearance that was not like any other; so distinct it was. And to be deemed super special out of a crowd of special was a feat in itself.
Her first impression was that it was imposing. Despite its smaller size (the neighbours did have rather large houses), it could not be rivaled in terms of presence. It was not grand in the sense that it was large. It was not designed to impress nor was it a product of exuberant riches. Shiny it was not. Polished it was not.
Majestic.
The house oozed unrestrained dignity. Standing nobly on the ground on which it stood, it exuded a sort of power which pulled towards her. Enamoured, she could not look away. Though wooden gates blocked half her view, she could still see the top half of the house peeking out. If only just seeing this got her captivated, then what would she feel when she brought herself inside beyond the gates? Pure excitement shot through her like that feeling she got the first time she ever built a bike from scratch.
There was just something about traditional houses that brought out the curiosity in her.
Unlocking and pushing past the front gate, the sight left her speechless. A sense of déjà vu washed over her, giving a brief confirmation as to the address she was supposed to visit. Before entering, she had some doubt as to whether this house indeed belonged to her grandmother but now that she had the feeling that she'd been here before it was quite clear that this was indeed the house.
The house was old, well kept but old. Her grandmother's garden still surrounded the compound, enveloping the area with a healthy green. A sudden feeling of warmth spread through her pores as she took in the sight. Somewhere in her subconscious she remembered of a time where she had seen and helped her grandmother tend to them. Of the summers she used to spend at this house.
She circled around the house, going through the garden slowly. Every step she took, a tingle coursed through her and it felt like pieces of a puzzle was coming together in her mind. A picture of her past. She had a sense that she knew each part of the garden just as soon as she saw them. Her feet picked up their pace, her fingers nervously twitching at her sides unconsciously as the more steps she took, the more prominent a biting feeling resided at the back of her skull.
A glimpse of red was all it took for her legs to be unshackled; uncontrolled. She ran like her life depended on it, panting and huffing when she was done.
So there were red maple trees here!
They were beautiful but her mind did not focus on it for longer than a second. A brief acknowledgement. Her eyes barely moved as she tried to catch her breath, taking only a single blink to moisten them and then go back to staring. A cog turned in her head, setting into motion a moment of clear thought.
In that dream, she had been sitting on a green maple tree didn't she?
Where had it been?
'Left. Turn left and you will see it.'
Her mind had known it but she was too confused to have understood what it was trying to tell her. Unconsciously, her body moved as if it had remembered and she turned to the left. There, her vision seemed to focus only on one spot. On that one tree. That one splotch of green in between two red maples.
The shape had been identical but she could not be so sure. It had been something she was trying to remember from a dream after all. But why was she focusing on that one green maple tree? It all seemed too unreal and weird. There were a few there but her mind seemed to be set on that one, her feet moving towards it before she even thought of approaching it. A hand reached up and caught a branch. Testing it, she brought her other hand up and let herself hang, lifting her legs off the ground to see if it could stand her weight. Deeming it safe, she carefully analyzed the tree for a way to get up. Finding a foothold upon the tree, she climbed up and sat on the branch.
She didn't know what she was trying to accomplish by sitting on that tree. Perhaps to see what was on the other side since in her dreams she could not? Was she trying to seek an answer? That that something she was waiting for could be there? It certainly did not hurt to try.
But now she did know that the dream was real. This place did exist and she did sit on this very tree a long, long time ago. Her mind told her so. Her heart told her so.
And it was beating very fast for some reason.
Thumping in her ears.
"Natsuki?"
She looked up from her silent contemplation.
"Shi-zu-ru?"