Memories

Chapter One

"Natalia, where are you?".

A girl was carrying a lamp in an empty town filled with dust and dirty clothes on the ground, like no one, had been there for a million years. And everywhere she goes, she'll be hearing strange noises around her surroundings. As if she's in a nightmare where no one ever wants in their life.

And that girl was me…Jasmine, and right now I'm in a dream, that nightmare that makes me wish I could see my family again. But then within a second, they all disappeared right after I touched them one by one. What's happening to me…why do I feel so lost?…

"Are you lost?".

It sounded like it came from the dark side, I turned over to look.

"Who are you?".

I shouted as I looked in the direction it was yelling at.

No one was there. No people..no nothing. It didn't respond when I questioned it back, but it did throw a doll at me. I cried and screamed out of shock that one of the eyes from the doll had been so chewed up…

I was so scared that I quickly grabbed the doll and looked at its face. It was Natalia's doll, called "Pinky", the one that she loved and cherished the most. But then how come the doll is here?. Did something happen to Natalia? I wondered to myself.

About 10 minutes later, while walking into the darkness with a lamp. I came upon a tall building with a staircase that led to nowhere but a small hole that can fit me in easily.

So I decided to climb the staircase and crawl through the small hole while carrying the lamp and the doll with me. It was a struggle that the lamp was a bit too big for me to carry, however, I'm just an 11-year-old girl who is trying to escape from the nightmare and find my lost family. I need to find a way to meet them after all those years have passed.

If I remember correctly, I have been stuck here for 10 years because I had nothing to eat from the rain. And now… it's my time to be brave and walk through this darkness while those creatures are staring at me being bloodthirsty. They can't come to me, well…at least that's what I thought. But the lamp kept me safe and every time the fire went out, I'd always try to be fast to keep the red, orange, and yellow going, using the two boxes of matches that I found in the building. Without the light, I would have lost hope and without hope, I would've been dead by now. Thinking about it… it reminds me of my mother's words that she used to tell me…

~Flashback~

"Jasmine, do you remember that book that I gave to you?. It was a beautiful story that I took a copy of and kept in my document, while the original one was being burned by your grandpa. He hated it like he hated his son who disrespected his wishes. But you and I know your father wouldn't do that, right?".

"Yeah but I don't get what grandpa's wishes are about".

"Well his wish was for his son to protect his beloved daughter, which is you. But your father refuses to let it happen".

"However, just remember that if we lose the star and it fades, It will come back just like this fire. Hope will bring us to a new step while the star guides us people to the end, where there will be a door opened for the awakenings."

"Okay..but does Dad love me?".

My mother scratches her head and smiles and puts her two hands on my shoulders.

"Of…course your father loves you, so don't think about it too much or else you'll have stressed".

She was lying to me, including my soul. My father will never love us nor will he listen to grandpa. He left us like we're pieces of trash because of his affair with his "Mistress", who he believes is more beautiful than my mother. He fell for her beauty and body shape but he never knew the mistake he made without taking a step back and thinking could cause him to regret it. I cannot believe he would fall for the lies that she tells him.

Not even his brain is stopping…

I heard it all by eavesdropping on her talking to a man on the phone. It doesn't sound like my father at all and that was when I thought about it…she was after my father's money and was using my father like he was the money dropper. Even though it wasn't my fault that all of this happened…if he wanted to deny to my mother that he loved her more than anything he would've made it seem more real than his selfish needs. My mother knew everything but yet still cared about him like she doesn't want to let go of him.