"Even though her heart was unstable"

[December 13th, 2021]

"How are you feeling so far?" The therapist asked with a little smile.

"I'm better. Thank you." Aurora answered.

It was one of her regular sessions. She hated them at first; Talking to strangers about her problems. But now she was used to it. She had gotten her radiotherapy session first before coming to the therapist.

"Ms. Ann." She called the therapist. "I'm dating a friend."

"That's great!" Ms. Ann encouraged the teenage spirit. "Does it improve your thinking in any way?"

"Yes… I guess. Hm. It does."

Ms. Ann nodded slowly.

"But I see you're missing something. That might be?" Ms. Ann caught on, the anticipation in her eyes.

"Oh.. You noticed." Aurora chuckled. "I wanted to go on a trip."

Ms. Ann narrowed her eyes in confusion as she read her reports again.

"Your parents informed me that you hated trips. What's the sudden change?"

"It's because I forgot the reason why I hated trips." Aurora laughed. "They say it's because I fell and hurt my ankle… But since I don't remember the pain…" Aurora mentioned. "I forgot everything that wasn't last month." She reminded her therapist.

"Hm. That's fair. Where do you wanna go?"

"Where do you think Uncle Matthias will let me go?" Aurora asked. "I have cancer… Plus it's cold. So, I was wondering if he would even allow me a trip." She sulked a little.

"Then, let me ask you. An adventure, or a peaceful trip?"

"An adventure!" Aurora exclaimed in excitement. "With all my friends!"

"Adventure, huh? So… You wanna go camping?" Ms. Ann suggested. "A campsite can be very therapeutic. It's not a hardcore adventure. But you won't be staying in hotels. Most campsites will provide an Inn.. So you wouldn't have to worry about freezing either." The therapist spoke in Aurora's sense of humor.

"Alright. That sounds great!... But will he-"

"Don't worry about that. I got it all covered."

Aurora smiled bright before leaving her room. Befriending her therapist was her best decision in a long time, or in the long time she remembered.

Plus, Ms. Ann was a close friend of her doctor in charge, Dr. Matthias. So it was all good.

She could sense a trip. A fun trip. No more tears, just fun.

She sat in the car with her dad and grabbed her phone the first thing. It was bombarded with text messages.

"Tch." She sulked.

"What is it?" Her father asked while keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.

"They all ditched me yesterday and now everyone's texting me. I'm very suspicious of them. I bet they did some project, keeping it a secret to me." She said as she sulked.

"Hmm.. What could they have done?"

"Maybe prepared for the upcoming events… There are so many. Graduation ceremony, Christmas, my Birthday." She counted them down.

"You remember your birthday, Ms. Sweetie?"

"Not until Ethan told me the other day." Aurora said. "I hate that it's after Christmas."

"Why so? You get gifts twice. Isn't that lucky?" Her father chuckled.

"Not that. It's just… Christmas is overhyped.. Then my birthday is like… forcing everyone to hype" Aurora explained in her words.

"That's fair."

"But I guess.. This time-" Aurora stopped, biting her lips lightly to stop talking. "Nevermind."

Her father didn't push her to walk. Besides, he could already tell it was something pessimistic. No need to push her only to get pessimistic words out.

He drove her all the way back to their house and decided to leave for work.

"Okay, sweetie. Go straight inside, alright? I'll be visiting my editors now." Her father asked her politely.

"Okay."

He then got a ring on his phone. He grabbed it and checked it whilst being seated in his car.

"Aurora!" He called her from a distance as she walked towards the house. "Pack your stuff for the trip today, xoxo Ann." He repeated the message. "What does that mean?"

Aurora smiled brightly as she ran inside without much explanation to her father. He was confused, but if she was happy, it must be something good. He drove to his work with a light heart on that note.

Aurora ran inside, grabbed her mother's hands who was trying to cook, and hopped like a bunny. "What is it?" Her mother chuckled, seeing her daughter this much happy after so long.

"I'm going on a trip!" She exclaimed in joy, continuing to hop.

Her mother loosened her hands from her grip and patted her head lightly.

"Shouldn't you be packing then?"

Aurora rushed to her room. Before packing, she had to inform everyone.

She typed a long, exciting message in the group chat only to be informed that her therapist had already let them know beforehand. Wow, befriending her might've been Aurora's best decision.

Ethan even took a leave of absence from his work just to attend the little camping session.

If Ethan was ready, there was no reason to drag it.

Ms. Ann had selected the locations, train tickets, and the entire schedule herself. She wasn't going to accompany them but she made all necessary preparations.

Aurora opened her closet. They were going to be at the foot of a lake; in the middle of a forest, according to Ms. Ann.

She had booked a small cabin for these admiral campers that opened its stairs to the lake foot.

It was also in the middle of a forest, in between mountains so Aurora was happy.

She was sure it was gonna be a hell of an adventure.

She had to pack all the comfy clothes and other necessities. She first made a list of the things she would need in a camping site.

Huh… What would she need exactly?

She didn't remember most of her travelling experiences-ALL of her travelling experiences. So, she wasn't sure what to pack.

Okay, she needed to make a list.

1. Toothbrush (No one wants a nasty breath)

2. Hairbrush (No one wants messy hair… Maybe)

3. Sunblock (SPF!!!)

4. Insect spray (No one wants to feel itchy)

5. Clothes

6. Shoes

7. Water Bottle

She was out of items. What else did camping trips need? She was as clueless as a baby.

She ran back to the lounge to find her mother. However, she wasn't there. She sighed and took off towards her mother's room.

"Mom, mom, mom, mom." She muttered continuously.

She stretched her arm to her mother to show the list in her hand.

"Hmm…" Her mother took a quick look at her list and nodded. "This seems fine enough. Take some painkillers too, alright?"

8. Painkillers.

She quickly went back to her room and started packing her things, leaving the toothbrush, the hairbrush, and the clothes she was going to wear tomorrow.

It was going to be cold but she took only a few cardigans and jackets. Most of her clothes were turtlenecks anyway. Plus, how cold could it even get?

She packed her bag efficiently though she had no previous memory of ever doing so.

Maybe the mechanisms that her body learnt stayed. That was a relief. At least she didn't forget how to write or talk. That would've been a misery.

She stuffed all her stuff inside and zipped it tightly, leaving the bag next to the bed foot.

She then grabbed her phone and texted her friends.

"You guys done packing?" She texted casually.

"Gonna do it later at night." Ethan replied first.

Makes sense, he was probably at work. He would only get the time at night.

"Done." Sean replied, of course he was efficient.

Lucy didn't reply. That suggested she might be sleeping like always. Hopefully, she would wake up till early morning, when they have to leave.

"Yeah, I'm still packing." Giselle replied.

Aurora was curious about such little things. What would've they packed? Would their bags be the same as her? She tried to stay as minimal as possible because more luggage is more chaos.

Though she didn't remember any of her past trips, she was sure it was going to be chaos. Her instincts said so. The mechanisms were great afterall.

She was suddenly reminded that she kept a travelling journal, because she loved travelling so much, until her alleged ankle was torn.

She swiped her hands through her little bookshelf in search of the journal. Maybe she could catch on something before the trip. Maybe an extra thing to pack and/or remove.

The journal stood there, with colorful crayon markings. She wondered how old it was. Or, maybe she was just into childish stuff.

She opened the journal to dive into her travelling experiences.

[December 13th, 2020]

Aurora sat beside her father on one of their crazy adventures, along the course of a river, in a boat.

Her father paddled the boat vigorously but it didn't make a difference to how old his muscles had gotten and how slow the boat was moving.

It was like riding on a turtle, forcing the already slow guy to take in your weight and walk. Then you could yell "WALK FASTER" at it, while his slow walking is completely your and nature's fault.

Maybe his weak muscles could only write in their current state. No wonder his books were best sellers.

The genre he chose to write never really clicked with Aurora. Because on one hand, he would be writing children's books or physics books. On the other hand, he wrote psychological thrillers. She couldn't understand the connection between it.

Despite writing gore and thrillers, he was what Gen-Z calls, a Boomer.

No. no. He was intellectual. Maybe more than others his age. But, the level of his boomer was beyond understanding. Even for Gen-Z.

As he rowed the boat vigorously, thinking it was fast as hell… but really… It wasn't, he laughed hysterically bragging about his skills.

"I was the best boy scout at my age." Her father bragged. "Children should respect nature and go out on these adventures more often! They're so thrilling." Mother-nature probably wanted him to keep it to himself.

"Okay, dad."

Aurora was really bored at this point. Moving slowly like a turtle while hearing constant boasts wasn't the type of adventure she wanted.

"By the way, when are we going home?-"

"There's no home for us campers! We must find or build a home!"

Yup. Exactly why she hated trips. She was already pissed about the last ankle breaking scenario.

For her father, this trip was rehabilitation and an apology for the last chaotic trip.

It didn't look therapeutic, even with mother-nature in the vicinity. It felt like a chore.

The camping adventure didn't seem pleasing, rather scary.

Plus she forgot her toothbrush so her father made her use nature's toothbrush. First an apple, nature's toothbrush. Then a twig from a persica tree. Not fun. Not fun.