Since every newborn came into the world with only one side of a declared parent, our last name was our mother's.

In my arms, still gently stroking my back, was the person with a last name of a girl that I would never be able to forget.

Peggy Peyrel.

An undisputable feeling latched onto me the second I fixed my eyes on her tender smile. Karma found its way at last for my punishment, setting my heart ablaze by guilt.

My mouth agape, to say something to her, the inkling feeling of wanting an end to my curiosity. But she beat me to it.

"I hope we'll meet again, Charis," she said before entering her car.

The somewhat coincidence event stupefied me. The questioning identity that baffled my mind was left unsolved. Peyrel waved at me before her four-wheel vehicle reversed towards the gate then disappear in the distance.

By fault, I too wished the same; for our path to cross again someday.

My hair swayed rhythmically on encounter with the breeze. Some of the strands twirled on my face before awareness queued in that I was still standing in the open. I trod back towards my new home and quickly locked the door.

The house seemed to be equipped with motion detector like some of the street lights I had seen throughout the entire day. My feet started roaming around, inspecting each corner.

Decent would be the proper word to describe the house. There were three bedrooms with one occupying a bathroom in it, a kitchen connected to the dining room, and a single guestroom.

I sat on one of the still dusty couch, finally attending to my appetite while my eyes stuck on the scene outside through the window. As I munched on the two piece of bread put together, my lips started quivering. After all I had been through, a single memory from a sandwich successfully gave triumph to my dismal.

The sandwich lost its position from my hand as I wrapped my knees together, sagging and weeping. I curled myself into a ball, lay on the couch and cried myself to sleep.

***

The sound of birds chirping woke me up from my discomfort position on the couch. I sighed, looking around with my puffy eye. The living room was fairly lit by the sunlight coming through a chink in the curtains. Thick dust and amass of cobwebs registered into my sight.

My despair had yet to leave me be, but I pushed myself up. The life and people I once had in the past would want me to move on.

I decided that I wanted a new life—a new beginning.

By afternoon, the inside of my new home was relatively clean. It still needed some scrubbing here and there, the sheets and curtains probably had to be washed. But for now, looking at the dust and spider dome free was more than nice to me. All the work also somehow got my mind off the sadness.

During arranging my supply of food on the kitchen drawers, I found a few packs of flower and vegetable seeds. Instead of dwelling on the instant melancholy, a smile turned in on my lips.

As soon as I opened the door to go outside, the wind grazed my skin in a gentle greeting. I closed my eyes for a moment and breathed in the refreshing air.

The open space between the house and the wooden fence enclosing the property was broad. No wonder my mother called it a barn. I wandered around, pulling off the dried vines from the side of the house along my way to the backyard. Two huge tanks of water were abundantly filled. Not far from where I stood, there were five sets of solar panel glistening under the sun.

Everything I needed was here. My mother had planned everything for us.

But where is she?

I continued to pull off the trailing vines until I reached the fence. It turned out that it had spread from the dense forest. Instead of cutting it off, I threw it over.

Satisfied with my little cleaning up recreation, I went back to the patio. I collected some of the pots with dead plants and replanted them with some of the flower seed that I had found earlier.

At the end of the day, I was satisfied and somehow happy with how the house had turned out. I took a bath and sadly only had a clean shirt and my underwear to put on. It was the only spare cloth inside my backpack.

Then I went to the kitchen and prepared dinner. I made a simple salad and ate silently at the diner table. Everything was going so well until exhaustion suddenly took hold of me. At least tiredness was what I believed to be the cause of it.

With my mind spiralling out of the normality, I dragged my feet to my bedroom. Consciousness had left me before my head even landed on the pillow.

***

The sound of glass shattering forcefully jolted me up. I grasped my head, the abrupt move from lying to sitting up made it throbbing with pain.

But I was more alarmed by the unusual sound. I heard the glass sound creaks slightly. However, I couldn't figure out where it originated from.

Carefully, I got off my bed and grabbed the bedside lamp. Truth be told, it wasn't something that could even make up a weapon at all by how light it felt in my hand, but it was the only thing I got.

I tiptoed towards the door, when I peeped at the living room, the lights were on; signalling the presence of someone or something moving. But I didn't see anything.

"Probably a bird crashed into the window," I mumbled to myself.

Still cautious, I padded to the living room. The window next to the door was shattered.

As I was about to turn around, there was a shadow coming from behind me. It was happening so fast and all too real when I suddenly felt a cold metal touching the back of my neck.

The whiff of hot breath coming close to my ear made me gasp. Following suit was a low gruff voice breaking the eerie silence.

"Try screaming and I'll slit your throat!"

My eyes boggled up in shock. That voice, I knew who it was.

To be continued...

***

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