Marphollow

' No one else can love you like I do, so you will come with me, either in heaven or hell!'

' Stop Summer!'

'Please!'

"Wake up…"

"Wake up…"

A young man, startled from a dream, turned his head from left to right.

" A nightmare, again. But, who woke me up? It's not mom's voice."

He sighed deeply.

' Love is forgiving. Love is healing. Love is honest. Love is…'

"That voice…"

 He uttered while tears kept swelling in his eyes.

The sound of car tires screeching to park outside of an old lake house grew louder and more often. Inside, people were starting to fill up the room.

It was already 10 o'clock and the light of mid-morning struck the room through the wooden window, lighting up a space from a wall which was full of happy pictures before, but now, it was covered with a full-length white curtain touching down to the surface of the old wooden tile floor.

" Hey son, why don't you go look for something to eat? It's anytime soon," a woman in her 50's said to a young man who was leaning on a wall and still trying to comprehend what was happening around him.

" I am fine mom. I could eat later," he answered tiredly.

" Fine, but at least a bite? I saw an ube polvoron and leftover marshmallow inside the fridge,"

" Ok."

He already gave up because he knew that her mother wouldn't stop until he ate something. He smiled sadly while standing, it was a trait that would forever be engraved inside him by a very special person he would be bidding a final goodbye to later.

The young man walked to the fridge without being bothered by people walking back and forth inside the house. Whispers were the only sound that echoed across the room.

He opened up the fridge and his face lit up a bit.

"Your favourite." He mumbled.

But even before he could pick up the polvoron, a girl hurriedly rushed from the stairs and grabbed it with shaking hands.

"This is mine. Let go," she hardly breathed the words.

He turned to see the face of the girl clearly, but to his surprise, the girl was staring at him with eyes opened as if seeing a ghost.

"But, this is…"

He stopped talking when the girl let go of the polvoron. She turned her back on him then harshly ran outside.

He followed the girl outside and nobody inside dared to notice them.

He searched for the girl everywhere and she was nowhere to be found. He gave up until he decided to just head to the lake and finally found the girl who looked so lonely at that moment.

He ran as fast as he could to reach her.

" Hey. You know you don't have to do that. Whatever you are going through, you can talk about it instead of…" he said out of breath.

" Hahaha!"

She laughed so hard.

" Why are you laughing?"

" You actually thought I would jump off the lake, didn't you?"

" I just thought…you looked so sad,"

" What? Of course, I am sad. Everyone is sad as well, or so I guess."

" Hah! Yeah, you are right. But to be honest, you scared me," 

Then he let out a deep sigh.

" You are really a good person. Let's play!" She said.

" What?"

" OK, whoever gets the most laughter with their joke is the winner,"

" What kind of game is that? And why?"

" Making someone laugh is challenging. Simple as that. Ok, I'll start,"

Then both exchanged jokes and laughed simultaneously. Sometimes, they didn't find it funny, which made them argue why the joke was funny.

Hours passed by…

" I give up. You win," the young man said while still laughing.

And the girl suddenly started to tear up.

" Hey. Whoa! What now? Stop. Why are you crying?" he said with full concern.

The girl didn't answer back, instead she hugged him.

" I love you… Marphollow. I am sorry. You have to listen to me…"

The girl didn't have a chance to finish what she was saying when heavy footsteps were barging towards them.

" Mr. Gail Patterson, you are under arrest."

The young man called Gail, still in confusion, didn't even bother to resist while he was being handcuffed.

"…. No please. Don't do this!" The girl cried more.

Gail and the policemen walked to the front of the house. His mother was also crying and pleading so hard to let him go.

But he was dragged inside the police car and left immediately.

The girl he was with at the lake stormed inside the house and rushed towards a stone-white coffin with gold a lining-edge.

" Why are you so selfish? You are so selfish. It's all your fault!"

She shouted as she heaved.

" Stop her. Bring her to her room," said an elegant woman, around the same age as Gail's mother but a little older, who was also trying hard to maintain her composure in front of many people.

" Why mom? Are you ashamed? Well, I am more ashamed! Why can't you just let everyone know that you are making an innocent person suffer by something that your daughter actually did. Let them all know that Summer is a crazy murderer and…" she was exasperated. 

Then the girl pushed the coffin so hard it broke off of its support and got wrecked on the floor.                           

" Ooops…and a dirty fucking liar!"

The coffin was empty!

Everyone was silent and shocked. Gail's mother passed out. 

"Shut up already!"

"No, I will never shut up! Well, I never wondered why Summer ended up like that, because you and dad are the greatest liars I have ever known." 

She uttered everything in tears.

The girl then passed out after being injected by a tranquilliser.