One

Lily waits in the car while Monica locks the door of her house, turning the key several times back and forth before turning and walking back to the car. The sound of her boots echos in the air. She's wearing a leather jacket over a dark top and blue denims. Lily looks over her shoulder as Monica hurries towards the other side, and sits on the passenger seat before shutting the door.

Lily grins at Monica, and then glances to her watch. 10:05. "It will be a long ride. Ready?" Says Lily, now thinking about the whole day she has to drive through, and her anxiety kicks in.

"Ready," Monica gives her a thumbs up, as Lily starts the engine and pulls onto the road. " I wish Adrian could come with me. But my little brother has so many assignments to do. We never took this much stress during school did we?"

Absolutely, Monica's 17 year old brother had to study and some projects to do. He has a fair complexion with too many pimples, yet he's adorable. It would have been good to have him. Only if he could join them, Lily thinks.

"You're right. It'd we so much fun, if he could come with us. I think Mrs. Morris must be sitting on her armchair outside in the lawn, waiting for us. It'd be so nice there," Lily says while driving and looking back and forth at Monica and the road, her chestnut hair coming on her face, and regrets bringing up Mrs. Morris immediately, because she knows Monica must be going to make a joke out of her, too. But that won't hurt, would it?

"Yeah. What if she's a dead soul, waiting for us to arrive and then she's gonna scare us while we're sleeping?" Monica says in a deep voice. This girl is no doubt Lily's soul-sister. She knows all the ways to lighten every moment.

Monica tucks a strand of Lily's hair beside her ear. Monica mocks with her both hands in the air, and Lily pushes her back, laughing. The last time she had gone there- into that large house, it was clean and shiny as ever, like someone was still living there, but nobody did other than Mrs. Morris. She's grown so old, yet she's so faithful to her father, you know taking care of that house and all that.

"Yeah, she died the day I was born, so I'm immune to her supernatural powers," Lily decides to play along.

"Like I'm going to believe that," Monica chuckles while waving her hand dramatically in the air, and then brushes invisible dust off her jacket.

About the time of sunset, Lily and Monica reach almost there: Lily's Grandma's old farmhouse. Well it looks more like a mansion, to be honest. Monica has never been in a mansion before, unlike Lily, who had came here many times during her childhood, but never in her teenage years. It is a long-time-no-see for her.

The road is paved with stone, and the grass across the big lawn is fine and trimmed as ever. And the mansion, stands there proudly, calm and magnificent. It is painted grey, a mediocre shade, the large and tall windows rest high up there, nothing like a farmhouse, which is way more than enough to explain the wealth Lily's Grandmother had.



The sky gets dark and clouds begin to clutter over the house, as they park the car on the side.

"Woah, Lil. This is... wow," Monica says as she looks up, taking in the view in front her.

"Great, isn't it?" Says Lily while taking the bags out of the car's back seat. "Are you going to help me or what?"

"Yeah, sorry," Monica whispers, more to herself, and hold onto one of the bags. "Hey, what about Mrs. Morris?" Monica recalls what Lily had said in the car, but the woman who was supposed to welcome them doesn't seem to be there.

"I think she must've forgotten," Lily says, wondering about the fact how loyal and dedicated caretaker Mrs. Morris was, but soon forgets about it.

Lily and Monica carry the luggage to the house, Lily behind Monica. As they near the gate, they find the gate open.

"Now I'm sure she's inside." Lily says and pushes the bag further into the house, only to see a pretty large hall. The lights are on. The aroma of spices and herbs are filling the air.

"Lily, something's cooking," Monica says and closes her eyes, taking the fragrance in.

"It's coming from the kitchen. It must be there," Lily points towards their right, and they set aside the luggage against a wall before rushing to the kitchen.

An elderly women, wearing a red apron, her mostly white hair pulled into a bun, is cooking something. Delicious.

"Mrs. Morris?" Lily asks, and the woman turns, revealing the same old and wrinkled face, which rushes with all the memories of her childhood into her mind. "It's you!"

"Oh, Lily dear, you've grown so tall," the woman's eyes well up with tears, and she doesn't hold back. Instead she smiles like a crazy woman in her 60s and caresses Lily's cheek. Lily introduces Monica to her, and she says hi. "It's been so long, Lily. Why didn't you come?" says Mrs. Morris.

A hint of sadness washes over Lily's face as she hugs the woman. "I'll tell you later. What are you cooking?" Lily changes the subject.

Mrs. Morris's attention shifts to the ramen cooking in the hot pot, now heavy steam rising from it.

"Ramen, and it's done," Mr. Morris says, before turning the gas off and covering the pot with its lid.

"Ah, I'm very hungry," says Monica as she strokes her belly with her hands.

"Are the rooms ready to move in, Mrs. Morris?" Monica asks.

"Yes, girls. You go upstairs and take right, there are many rooms there. I'll be coming there with your ramen!" Mrs. Morris says cheerfully.

"Oh, that's so sweet of you! Monica, let's go," Lily says, and starts towards the hallway. The girls pick up their luggage and drag it upstairs.

"Wish we had a lift," Monica says, as sweat drops from her face.

"Yeah, it's heavy," says Lily.

Reaching the corridor, they find three rooms, one after another. The first room is very large. The walls are high, painted violet, elegant curtains cover the window. The furniture is violet and white, not a sign of dust. The bed is just like the one they had seen only in dreams.