Absquatulate

"What?" Mark exclaims, she is definitely a lot crazier than her wife and he didn't expect that this woman would just burst into their house and tell him she is his son's wife. That is totally absurd. Unknown to this woman, his son had passed away 20 years ago.

"What the hell are you talking about? My son died when he was 5-years-old" Mark stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

The woman glanced at him with a shocked expression, seemingly not believing the statement he uttered. "W-wha- how come? That's not possible," she says as she stands up from her seat, blanket sliding down on her back. She slowly approaches Mark and the man nervously stumbles back, not knowing what this crazy woman will do.

She grabs his collar and said, "N-no! you gotta believe me, I am your Jason's wife. L-look, here's my wedding ring." She desperately says as she shows him the wedding ring, it is not glowing. Mark cannot believe what he is seeing right now, he had a thought that maybe he was just dreaming and that the woman in front of him is just a mere illusion. But no, no matter how many times he blinked and slapped himself, the woman is still in front him with a perfectly laid wedding ring on her finger. That ring, how mysteriously it was in this woman's finger. It is from his past grandmother that should be passed to the wives they will marry. A Knight family heirloom. His wife is currently wearing one. Maybe it was just a fraud or it happened to be an exact replica of the ring. Either way, the woman seems to be telling the truth judging from the waiting stare she was giving to Mark.

Mark slowly touches the ring-- it was true. That was ring from their past grandmother. He starts to question to himself about this woman's identity.

"This is not happening, am I in a dream? Why do you have that ring? And how come you know our son's name? Who are you?" he can't help but throw several questions, eager to know the answer and to subside the feeling that burns in his chest.

"I told you, I married your son."

"But my son is dead…"

"What's happening honey?" Maria came back from the kitchen with a tray of hot chocolate. She curiously looks over to his husband and the woman. She saw that the woman is holding her husband and she realizes the woman is wearing a ring identical to hers. The thoughts from earlier surges up again as she hastily puts down the tray on the small table in between them and slaps the woman's hands from her husband. Maria then grasps the woman's hand, taking the ring off on her finger. Roxanne is trying to shrug her hands off from the woman. "Get your fucking filthy hands off to my husband!"

"Wait, mom, why are you doing this?" Maria stopped on her tracks and looked at the woman with widened eyes.

"Mom?" she said disbelievingly.

"Yes, I am married to your son. Jason." Maria's mouth hangs and was rendered speechless as she looks back at her husband, waiting for an explanation about this commotion.

"Don't look at me, I don't even know what's happening. She is claiming she is our son's wife and I told her our son died when he was just a kid. But this woman unexpectedly shows the ring. I don't know what to think anymore," Mark said exasperatedly. Maria seems convinced enough and glances back at the woman. She releases her hand and sits beside her husband quietly. She glanced out her fingers, and there is no doubt in her mind that the ring she's wearing is the real one. Roxanne must have been wearing a replica yet that still won't be enough to answer her question.

"It just impossible. Our son is dead from a car accident when he was just 5-years-old. How in the world will he have a wife? And you even know our son's name. We never talked about him to everyone in this village after that tragedy nor brought it up again. What is your intention lady?" Maria scans her facial expression, observing what emotions she portrays. Roxanne on the other hand, grits her teeth a little in annoyance. Eyes going from left to right, not making eye contact with the couple. She unknowingly scratches the back of her head. The former therefore concluded to herself that this woman in front of them is lying judging from her exhibited behaviors. Maria was about to catch her red-handed when the latter spoke unceremoniously.

"I want my husband back…"

The couple are left speechless after Roxanne blurted that out. They can feel the pain on the woman's voice as her eyes cast down the floor, tears threatening to fall down. The couple decided to let Roxanne tell everything to them even though they are still reluctant about her reason.

"Believe me, I am your daughter-in-law. We have several pictures from the day your son and I married to the day we bought our house. That is also the last day I saw Jason." Roxanne pulled out a series of pictures from her purse and the couple cannot believe what they are seeing. It's them with their son, a grown-up one beside a beautiful young lady who is the same person in front of them. They look so happy together. They are all smiling in the picture. Jason was snaking his arm onto Roxanne's shoulder and also Mark to Maria. Both of the couple's lips tighten and decide to play along on what their supposed daughter-in-law is saying.

"Can you tell us now what exactly happened?" They motion her to sit down and she takes a mug and stare at it blankly, the steam coming out from the hot chocolate mesmerizing her.

"I don't know, it's like I lost all of my memories. The only thing I remember is that a week ago, we are in our new home. Jason invited you guys to come over and see the house. At first, we are all happy but that's also when Jason started to act strange. At first, I thought he was just stressed about his recent work but it was much worse than I thought." She takes a deep breath, her back completely slouched into the sofa. She holds the mug in her hands but she doesn't bother to take a sip. "When you guys left, he became aggressive. He suddenly wanted a divorce. Out of fucking nowhere."

"Of course, I didn't want it. I know something was up so I tried to calm him and tell me what is going on but he was so stubborn. He decided to sleep in our guestroom to cool off his mind." She paused for a moment, uncertainty flashes her eyes and looks straight to the couple.

"A-and then the next morning. I was knocking on his door. But there are no sounds. I didn't even hear his voice. I started to panic but luckily, I have the spare key on my pocket. When I opened the door, I saw nothing. The room is empty. His clothes and everything related to him is gone. I thought he left me without a goodbye. I was angry and the only thing I could think he went is to you mom and dad. And now you all are telling me that he was dead when he was five. This is some kind of joke. Are you guys hiding him from me?" The anger in her eyes becoming more eminent, like a tiger ready to pounce the couple if they didn't tell her where they hid her husband.

"We don't know any of this Roxanne, maybe you should sleep. We could ask the police tomorrow." Mark suggested and signaled his wife to play along.

"Y-yeah darling, you should sleep. You look exhausted and tired. I promise we will find Jason."

"Really?" Roxanne said with hope in her voice. The couple nod reassuringly and stand up. They walked towards her and patted her back. Roxanne smiles sincerely, looking at Mark who's standing beside her. She then reached out for his arms, wrapping hers with his to balance herself as she slowly stood up. Mark then grabbed her waist as she continued to hold him. The couple then walked her up to the guestroom and bid her a good night's sleep before turning off the lights.

Once the couple got to their bedroom, they started to talk and pace around.

"What are we gonna do with that woman?"

"I don't know, she's clearly out of mind."

"Yeah, I think she escaped from an asylum."

"Well, I guess we should call the police and the hospital first thing in the morning."

"Good idea, I don't want a maniac in our house."