The woman is smiling at me, with eyes closed and crouched down to my face. I'm wondering why she is happy like that. While she was happy, I'm scared to death. I can smell the blood on her clothes. My hands are shaking and I can't speak a word. I'm staring at her and wondered how she managed to answer the questions in my mind, and she answered me again,
"Yes, I can read your mind, my dear!"
"Mother, please stop. You're scaring him", Marie said while laughing. "And gave us that wild boar so we can start cooking", she's talking about what mother is carrying.
"Wild boar? Is it not a dead body?" I'm still talking to myself.
"No, it is not! Do I look like a murderer?" my mother asked me. She looked at the other kids and speaks, "Children, do I look like a murderer?", she asked all the other children. "No, mother!", they slowly answer altogether.
"Now speak up. I don't want to speak with you with your mind. It makes me tired", mother requests.
"I don't know what to say. I just need to leave now", I shakily answer.
"Where are you going? We are preparing a feast because you arrived at last. And in your condition, you can't survive a day alone", Rick said.
"He needs to rest. Is that right?" the mother answers for me. "Go now, have a rest and we'll wait for you later", she added.
They all looked at me and it is like they are waiting for me to leave.
I looked down, turned around, and started walking slowly toward the house. I had multiple emotions at that time. Scared, because of the fierce lady. Sad, because I might feel alone again. Shy, because I can't even help them with anything. Tired, because of my body. But I also felt happiness because someone might accept me as their family.
I reached for the doorknob and opened the house door. I entered and as I was about to close it, I glimpsed at them once again, they were still looking at me. And the fierce lady is waving for me as if she was waving goodbye. I didn't reply to any action, I just closed the door and went back to the room again.
I sat down first in the middle of the bed. And I slowly lay down on the bed and felt something hurting in my hips. I just continued to lie down and endured the pain. I feel tired even though I didn't do anything at all. Maybe because I was in pain.
I continue to think. The what-ifs and why is. I didn't find any answer in my mind. But I'm sure there is something different in this family. I'm sure that the mother has the power to read people's minds. But, what if the other children also have? Does the father also have power? What kind? Looking at the ceiling and questioning these kinds of questions in my mind.
Then suddenly, the door is forcibly opened by a strong kick. My eyes widened in shock. It was the mother.
Her body is burning in flames and holding a big axe and staring at me while smiling like a devil.
And she shouts, "Why are you here? What is your purpose here?!".
"Is this the reason why she waved goodbye earlier? Will she kill me here?" I'm questioning myself while being afraid.
Then, she raised the axe like she was ready to attack. I told myself that I must defend myself. But before I was getting my guard up, she already rushed jumping towards me, swinging her axe and she shouted angrily, "You... Die...!". All I can do is just scream "HELP!!!!".
"Wake up!", a voice coming from my side. Even if it is dark in the room, I still knew by his voice that it was Frost waking me up. " The dinner is ready. They are all waiting for you." Frost said.
"Oh, it was just a dream" my fear slowly subsided as I learned that it was just a nightmare. A very disturbing nightmare.
"Thank you for waking me up. I had a nightmare." I said to Frost.
"Is it still about mother? You're just thinking too much". "Mother is a very kind person. She and father provided us with all of this. They considered us as their own. Without expecting anything in return. They give us a home that we don't have. A family that cares." he explained.
I was relieved by what he said. Maybe I'm just scared but hopefully, I make up for them.
"Let's go. Dinner is waiting. We are already hungry", he stood up and invited me.
I woke up and stood beside the bed. I'm still too shy to go out of the room.
"Let's go, come on. Don't be shy", he shouldered me while dragging me outside.
As we approached the living room, I noticed that it was a warm ambience. The living room is lit up by a bunch of candles. There are candles on the table, and some are inside the metal lamps hanging on the walls.
"Everyone, this is Dey." Frost introduced me to the people in the living room as we got outside the room.
"There you are. Come on sit beside me.", Marie offered me a seat.
There are a lot of foods on the table and some bottles of beer. It is really like a feast. There is a big plate full of grilled spare ribs. A big pan with soup. Crispy fried "Pata"(pork leg). A large pot of rice. A chicken with sauce in a serving pan. And also a large pan of cooked vegetables. And a basket of different kinds of fruits. All the foods smell delicious. Suddenly, my stomach growled. They all laugh at me. "Come on now, let's eat already", None added.
I sat beside Marie. I still feel uncomfortable. She scooped me rice. None placed a big grilled spare ribs on my plate.
Jojo, who's on my other side, gave me a bowl of soup. It was "Sinigang"(Tamarind Soup) I'm sure, because I smelled the aroma coming from the soup. "That is delicious, mother cooked it," Jojo added. "Thank you," I replied.
"Don't be shy, eat all you want. This feast is for you", Jojo said while pointing at the other food on the table.
They start eating and I hold the spoon and also start eating. I spooned the soup and tasted it. That was so delicious. I don't remember when the last time I ate "Pork Sinigang". I sipped again. And again. It feels like I don't want to stop sipping the soup. Jojo was right, it was so delicious indeed.
I saw other children eating grilled spare ribs. They are eating like it was their favourite. It also looks and smells delicious. I grab the grilled spare ribs on my plate and start eating it. I was not disappointed, that too is so tasty. The meat was so tender that it was breaking loose from the bone. That was the tastiest grilled pork I ever tasted. Or maybe because that is the first time I ate wild boar meat. Maybe the meat of wild boar is tastier than pork, that was what I'm thinking at the time. I don't know, but the taste is really exceptionally delicious.
I saw the mother staring at me. She is still smiling and she looks happy just by watching me eating. She is not eating at all. As our eyes met, I spoke shyly, "Let's eat po Madam" I invited her with respect. (In the Philippines, we added "po" and "opo" to give respect to the person we are talking with)
"Oh, I'm okay. Just eat and feel at home", she replied.
"The food is really delicious, I really love it. Thank you po", I said as I complimented the food.
"Yeah, I know. Do you remember that I can read minds?", she smiled.
"Mother, I can also read minds. I read his mind that he liked the food we cooked", Rick added.
"In that case, we all can read minds, hahahaha", None added.
Then, they all laugh. Maybe they just want to say that I'm so obvious that I like the food.
"Go ahead and try this fried pork leg," the father said and he threw me a part of the leg he's been gnawing. I bite a little on the pork leg he threw so I won't get embarrassed.
"So, how's that?", he asked. "This is also delicious", I replied and bit another.
He was right, that is also delicious.
"By the way, my name is Rey and this is my wife Sita" he introduced himself.and the woman beside him.
"From now on, you can also call us Mother and Father,'' he added.
"Thank you, Father", I accidentally replied.
"Now you're talking, hahahaha", he laughed.
Actually, they all laughed. "I told you!", Marie said to me. "You will also become our brother. I told you that father never made a mistake when he said who's joining the family", Marie added.
"Welcome to the family, son", father raised his beer like he's toasting for a celebration.
They all welcomed me. But Mother's welcoming message is the most impactful to me as she said,
"You don't have to be sad anymore as long as we all are here completely",
"You will never be beaten anymore. No one can harm you now as long as I am alive"
"And, you will never be alone anymore. We are all here for you, and you are here for us",
mother said simultaneously.
There was salty water entering my open mouth. I didn't notice that I was already crying for joy.
"Thank you so much to all of you!" I said while I was crying out loud and proud.
They all stood up and reached for me. Hugging and patting me.
"You're home my son" Mother speaks with love.
I’m so touched and started crying louder and started hugging her like a child.
End of Chapter 3
Thank you for reading Chapter 3 of my ongoing book.
This is a fictional story I've been building. I do have the twists and plots for this story but still need to be polished. I'm planning to release chapters every week but it still depends on what the story is accomplished.
If you like my story, please follow me cause I might post other chapters to different communities around Hive PeakD.
I'm still working on the poster for this book. I will update every post upon completion of the poster.
Thank you so much for having interest in my story.
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And expect more in the next chapter.