Chapter 2 Back to the Past

In a small room in an old house, two kids whose ages are nine and six respectively, suddenly woke up early in the morning and were a bit disoriented as they seemed to be in a dark place. Both of them tried feeling around to know where they were currently. The nine-year-old girl thought that the place she was in is a bit familiar while she was trying to feel her surroundings while she waited for her eyes to adjust in the dark. As for the six-year-old boy, he thought that someone is lying beside him so he waited to adjust his eyesight and take a look at who was beside him. As both of them waited while lying down, they didn't notice that they fell asleep and the next thing they knew it was already morning and they are already being woken by someone shaking them as it was already morning. When they opened their eyes, they were shocked to see their mother who looks younger, without wrinkles on her face or any white hair on her head. "Ma," both of them called out in surprise but what surprised them, even more, is that they are back in the room that they were occupying when they were still living in their grandparent's house. "Get up, we need to talk," their mother said and it made them look at her with suspicion in their eyes. Both of them immediately sat up but the daughter started making her way to her bed's ladder as she was currently on the top bed of the double deck as that is where she sleeps. Once she managed to get to the lower deck, she sat beside her brother and both of them turned to their mother and waited for anything she has to say.

The three of them were silent for a while until the children's mother, Lia, opened her mouth and started talking. "While the two of you were sleeping, I took some time to think about certain things and have decided to do something that I should have done from the very start," Lia said. It made the children narrow their eyes and looked at her intensely as if waiting for a bomb to be dropped. "I decided that we are moving out of your grandparent's house. I want to start a new chapter of our life. I want to have a space of our own where we can move freely and you won't have to always compromise and you'll be able to have your own room," Lia immediately explained when she saw the intense stares she was getting from her children. "You also came back? I thought I was just dreaming but it seems like this is real," the daughter said in a whisper that only her mother and brother were able to hear. Both her mother and brother immediately turned their heads toward her and that's when the three of them realized that all three of them came back. "Yes, the three of us came back and this is real. I already checked a while ago and everything is the same. I even pinched myself to make sure that I'm not dreaming," Lia answered.

"Then, if we are going to move out we need to make a plan to make sure that we'll survive the coming days as we can't move out without any definite plans. We need to think about the place where we'll move in and how are we going to get the money for our daily expenses," Lia's daughter, Ran, immediately said. "We can start looking for a house that we can rent for ourselves. Then we can think of things that we can do to earn a steady income for our daily expenses," Lia's son, Zero, added immediately. The three of them went silent for a while and they were deep in their thoughts. "We should choose a location that is near our school so it won't be a hassle for us when we have classes. We should choose between First Park or Guevarra in Daraga. I don't want to stay in Sagpon as it is pretty far already," Ran immediately said after thinking for a while. Lia and Zero looked at her and they made a sound that seems thoughtful. "You're right, we can choose between the two locations. We can try looking around once you go to school when classes start. You only have a week before Ran starts Fourth Grade and Zero would be starting Preparatory level. We'll take a look later and tomorrow as today is Sunday and tomorrow we'll get you enrolled. Both of you need to start getting prepared as we have to go to church in a while. We better get started preparing while the others are still not yet getting ready," Lia said. With those things out of the way, Lia took both of her children and brought them to the bathroom to give them a bath and take a bath herself after she was done with them.

After taking a bath, the three of them chose the clothes that they would be wearing to go to church. After they finished preparing, the three of them went out of their shared bedroom and went straight to the kitchen to prepare and eat some breakfast. When the other people in the house started preparing, they were already finished and had cleaned the table and the dishes. They went back to their shared bedroom and roved their eyes on the small room that they were occupying. The children decided to open their bookshelf and took a book each and started reading they made small talk with Lia as they read and wait. "Ma, I want to study a foreign language, can we look for someone who can teach me?" Ran asked, Lia. Lia then turned to her son and asked if he was also interested which Zero gave a positive reply. "Alright, I'll look for those people who I remember teaching foreign languages. Is there anything else?" Lia asked. "Let me use my real surname, the one on my birth certificate," Ran immediately said it made Lia and Zero look at her surprised. "What? I'm not used to using Papa's surname anymore and I won't be using it anymore as he doesn't want to put it in writing. He only issued an affidavit that would expire so what's the point of waiting," Ran said and it made the other two realize that what Ran said made sense. Lia then turned to Zero to know his opinion about his name. "I think I would like to use your surname, Ma. I don't want to have some difficulties when it comes to my surname again in the future. This time, I also want to have our passports created as early as now so we can travel outside the country for vacations," Zero said. Lia looked at her children's pained and sad expressions with a sad look on her own face. It made her realize how much her children suffered because of her negligence and letting her emotions get the best of her when her husband left her and their children behind in his parent's house. Lia promised herself that she would do everything to let her children experience the things they didn't experience in their last life.

The three of them didn't notice that they were crying until they started sobbing silently as they don't want to be heard by the people outside their room. They hugged each other tightly to comfort each other. After crying silently, the three of them wiped the tears from their faces and started talking about the things that they want to do in the future. After their crying session, they felt lighter, as if a heavy burden has been removed. When their eyes don't look like they were crying a while ago, they started getting ready to go to church with the whole family. After the Sunday service, Lia informed her parents-in-law that the children and she would be bonding before they left to put their plan into action: to find a house they could rent and move in before the school year starts. The three immediately rode a jeepney going to Daraga so they could start looking around for a house that they could rent. While they were walking and looking around, they reminisced about their past and the roads that they traversed as they lived in First Park before but the children were already grown up by that time. This time they decided to look for a house to stay in earlier. While they were looking around, they were giving ideas on what they could do to earn an income and one of the things that they came up with is to sell food in the morning and barbecue in the evening but they need to find a house that is accessible and has a huge traffic of customers. After some time of looking around, they found the right house that they are looking for and it only costs Php 2,000 per month. It is still cheap as they are back in the past wherein everything is still affordable. Lia immediately signed the lease and decided that she needs to talk to her husband's family about her decision to move out of their house and to live in a separate place not just for her peace of mind but also for her children's easy school life as they won't have to endure too much traffic when going to school as the house they chose is just walking distance. Lia started planning how she would save money for the future expenses of her children especially when they reached high school and college.

Lia is thankful that her children managed to pass the entrance examination at Bicol University as she won't have to worry about paying a very high tuition fee for each of her children. After they have signed the lease, Lia and her children went back to Legazpi and went straight to the mall so they can relax and eat before going home. Luckily, she still managed to keep some money from when she was selling food on the street. Once they went home, Lia immediately talked to her husband's parents about moving out. She used the excuse that her children would have an easier school life as they would be near the school and won't have to worry about the traffic every day. They then came to an agreement that the children would visit every weekend. After the talk, Lia and the children entered the room and saw the relief in their eyes. They then changed into their house clothes and started packing their things as they decided that they'll move out tomorrow after she enrolled the children. This time, she'd enroll them herself so that she can change their surnames without letting any people know about the change. She decided that she'd also talk to the principal in person to keep everything under wrap and it won't leak until the three of them are ready to let everyone know about the change. The three of them finished packing their clothes and other things that they need to pack and take with them. They slept soundly beside each other and when they woke up the next day, the other people in the house felt that something is weird when they looked at the three of them. The three people are looking weirdly and didn't even notice the looks that they got from them. They just busied themselves with getting ready for the day as they have to go to school and transfer their things at once into the house that they are moving in.

Lia rented a jeepney that passed by in front of them when they were waiting for a ride to school, as it doesn't have any passengers. She loaded all of their things in the jeepney and the three of them were accompanied by her husband's father and younger brother so they could help them move the heavy things. Once inside the house that they are going to be living in, they started unloading the packed things on the floor and paid for the jeepney before arranging the things inside the house. The house that they chose has four rooms so it was convenient for the three of them as they each have their own room. After they settled in the house, they locked the house. They accompanied the father and brother of Lia's husband till they managed to ride a jeepney to go home before they proceed with the enrollment of Ran and Zero in the university. Lia also managed to talk to the principal and they came to an agreement about the children. After enrolling both children in their respective levels, the family of three decided to have a stroll inside the mall to buy the necessities they'll need and the ingredients that they'll use for their business. Once they returned home, the three of them immediately kept the things they bought and started getting ready for bed as they already had their dinner while they were outside. Luckily, the house that they rented has a refrigerator and gas tank for cooking courtesy of the landlord. They put everything in their places and washed up then went straight to sleep. This is their first night in this house but they are happy that the three of them are together again just like in the past but this time they took their first step toward independence earlier. The three of them fell asleep with a smile on their lips. While asleep, Ran and Zero's consciousness was pulled into a dark place.