Dream?

"Am i dreaming?"

"Huh?"

A woman that looks like she is in her 30s, with her black hair being tied in a low bun neatly. While wearing an old apron with an old stain, that seemingly can't be washed out.

She gives off an elegant aura, as if the apron was out of place and didn't fit or should be wear by such people of such aura.

Her clear light brown eyes looked confused as she stared the person in front of her. Without stopping her action, she put down two small bowls of seaweed soup on the table.

She then sat on the seat as if not expecting any reply, she started to eat.

A few seconds later, the same voice finally voiced out his confusion.

"Aren't you dead, mom?"

Cough! Cough!

The woman coughs as she almost choked. Her hands quickly grab the glass of water beside her and quickly drink it.

After swallowing the water, she sighed, feeling relief.

Her gaze then darted to the person in front of her as she stared him with a perplexed expression.

"Why did you say that?" A soothing voice with a hint of anger came out of her mouth.

Her brow furrowed with the unexpected questions from her son.

There's no answer, as they both stare at each other. One was confused while the other was furious.

"This kid,do you want me to die?" She asks as she raises her voice in frustration.

Snapping her son out of his thoughts.

"I know that you are mad about the school, but isn't that a bit too much for you to talk to your mother that way?"

Without realizing the other party's expression, she continues to scold him.

"I give birth to you and raise you with more enough food and roof over your head, and now just because we moved away, you are going to disrespect me,your mom?"

"Mom?" The boy muttered slowly.

"I can't believe this, i thought we already told you the reason why we did that. And we can't really help as your dad had been transferred to abroad for his job. Since he no longer with us here, we had to live near his company so in case anything happened, they could assist us. "

She sighed while shook her head in disappointment.

"I know that's it hard to move away from your friends and all, but yo - "

She abruptly stopped talking as she felt a hand pinching on her cheek.

Her son, who was previously sitting in front of her, had now standing beside her and pinch her cheek.

"Wha -"

"Mom?" The boy speaks while pinching and squeezing her face.

"Is this real?" He asks as his hands still squeeze his mom face.

She looked confused and shook with the sudden act. Without waiting for him to stop by himself, she quickly pulls his ear.

"Ahh!" The boy groaned in pain as his mom pulled his ear to the side.

He instantly let go of his mom's face as he tried to free himself from the pain. Odly enough, he didn't try to push his mom away or pull her hand away from his ear.

As if accepting his fate.

After giving a good scolding and beating, she finally let him free from her grasp.

"Ouch! It's hurt!" The boy cares his ear, trying to ease the pain.

"Oh? So it did hurt, i thought you said it's a dream. " She asked sarcastily

"It's hurt..." he mumbled

Her eyes widened as she saw tears coming out of his eyes.

The boy quickly hugged his mom.

"It's really hurt!" He then started crying like a kid while hugging his mom.

Feeling confused and perplexed, she didn't move or push him, as if she was a stump and stayed rooted in place as she let him hug her.

Feeling guilty, she hugged his son back, with a thought to comfort him. But the crying becomes even worse.

"UWAAHHHH!!"

...

A few minutes later, after calming down, he sits on his seat with puffy eyes and a snort on his nose.

Her mom just stared at his son in disbelief while handing him a box of tissues.

"Thank you." Upon receiving the tissues, he quickly used it to blow his nose.

With a sigh she then push a plate of omelette towards him, picked up her chopsticks, and grabbed one of the thick omelette that had been cut. She then put it on his bowl.

Without shifting her gaze, she speak "eat, tomorrow you have to go to school." she then continues to eat her meal.

The boy stared at the bowl of rice with a thick layer of omelette that looked like a long rectangle with an uneven cut.

His eyes started to be blurry,and he pursed his lips.

With unhurried,his hands slowly reach the chopsticks and then pick up the omelette.

He exhaled a deep breath before slowly opening his mouth.

And he took a bite.

...

His eyes jolt open, and he saw a familiar view.

A room that he has been living in for the past 15 years.

He quickly sat up and looked at his surroundings.

His messy desk, his wardrobe with his clothes hanging on the door, his stack of comic books on the floor, his worn-out basketball , a few unopen boxes stacking each other in the corner of the room. And his piled of unwashed clothes on the floor.

A normal room with a hint of youth.

His view started to get blurry as he quickly closed his face with his hands.

And sigh in relief.

"Thank you, thank you so much," his voice became shaky as he cried silently.

After a while,he stands up and makes his way to the bathroom. While he is on his way, he takes the time to look around with a faint smile on his lips.

As he was on the second floor, he quickly made his way to the bathroom that was on the 2nd floor without much time.

This house consists of 3 rooms, 1 master bedroom with its own bathroom and 2 bathrooms, each one on the first and second floor .

On the second floor, there were only 3 rooms, one of them being his room, while the other was empty and had become a storage room and a guest room. On the first floor was his parents' bedroom. The room was originally for a storage room, but it has been turned into a master bedroom with its own bathroom.

Since his mom was involved in a car accident a few years ago, she went into surgery. She can't bend her knee freely and often find it hard and sometimes even feeling pain. Therefore, his parents chose to turn it into theirs bedroom.

Reminiscing his parent condition, he felt his heart ache. And a wave of sadness hit him.

He quickly shook his head and wiped off the tears from his eyes.

As he entered the bathroom, he washed off his face. The small rectangle mirror reflected a youthful face.

A young man with his slightly wet messy black hair, a pale skin with a few small pimples on his cheek and forehead, and sharp eyes in dark brown that resemble black colour.

He has a soft facial structure with still baby fat on his face and his skinny body.

"Damn," he curse under his breath.

I really did go back in time.

I remember i was in the elevator when it was suddenly dark. The elevator was stuck midway before it plummeted down and crashed.

His hand was treambling with the thought of it as he squatted on the cold ceramic tiles. He took his breath as he exhaled and inhaled while counting numbers in order to calm himself.

His hands were still holding on to the sink while he squatted with his head down. Supporting his body from immediately falls.

After a few minutes of calming himself, he stood up and splashed a cold water on his face. Then, he quickly takes a quick shower to fresh up himself.

Finished up showering, he quickly grabbed himself a towel and wiped his hair and body, then he quickly wrapped himself around the waist.

As he stepped out of the bathroom, he instantly met his mom, who had just arrived on the second floor.

"Son?" She was standing with a surprise expression.

"Mom!" He face instantly brightened with a wide smile.

He quickly walks closer to his mom, with still a wide smile on his face.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well, mom?" He asks with a childlike tone.

"Uh yeah, good morning too..." she replied with a confused face.

As she shook her head, she quickly spoke. "You wake up early today, unlike the usual." her expression becomes normal, but there's still a hint of surprise in her voice.

Mom... i can't believe this, i thought i never saw her again.

He slightly lowered his head, trying to hide his slightly teary eyes.

He quickly replied, " Well, I've been thinking about it for a while."

He lifted his head and looked straight to his mom eyes.

"I decided to accept it. It's true i was a bit mad, but thinking back, i thought it was actually not a bad idea. I could move out of my comfort zone and explore the world more widely, and i also hear that this new school have a basketball team" while he speak his light brown eyes was clear and his gaze was soft.

His mom was taken aback by the sudden change, but then she felt the sincerity from her son and felt relief.

"That's good to heard" she says as a warm smile appears on her face.

"Then I'm gonna go ahead first," She nodded as she made her way towards the stairs.

He watched her back as she disappeared, descending down the stairs.

His soft gaze is now turned sharp, and the warm feeling around him suddenly turns cold as if the heater suddenly breaks down in the middle of winter season.