Chapter - 3

After admiring her mothers' attires in the closet, Ziya noticed a dress hanging out at the very corner which was a bit old-fashioned and does not seem to be her mother's style as it was a bit heavy with diamonds and looks kind of a traditional dress.

At first, Ziya thought, "maybe it's my mother's wedding dress. I can't imagine mom wearing such heavy clothes. It's just not her style."

To take a closer look, Ziya removed the dress to look closely at the dress and work of art done on that dress. Just as she removed the dress, she noticed that the side of the cupboard moved and showed the spiral staircases going somewhere towards the underground.

Ziya was now more confused as she had never seen this and as far as she remembers they did not have any underground basement or such in the house. She was now wondering what and where this stairwell leads to and if her mother or even father was aware of it.

There were a lot of questions running in her mind and to find the answers to those questions, she first had to go down those stairs and see for herself.

Ziya mustered up her courage and mentally prepared herself for the worst outcome. She then headed towards the stairs leading downstairs in a basement that she never knew existed till now.

After following the spiral staircases, she reached the end of the stairs and the scenery in front of her was very shocking for her. Ziya saw there was a secret room that opened after removing her mother's dress from the wardrobe.

Opening the door, she noticed that the room opened with a click and the view of different things involved. It was very puzzling as if it was a puzzle that she had to solve in order to see what her mother was hiding.

The room was very bright despite being in the basement. It was probably due to the choice of the colors on the wall. The room was painted beautifully in a turquoise blue color giving a calm and peaceful aura to the person making them relaxed. There was a big jigsaw puzzle that seemed to lead to a clue for the next level or next place to find the answer.

Ziya was very excited to find out what it was and started to piece the jigsaw puzzle pieces in place one by one with carefulness and precision. It almost took Ziya 3 hours to finish the entire puzzle which was a very beautiful picture of her mother.

Ziya was once again bursting with all the emotions making her confused, happy, and sad all at the same time. She was feeling more confused than the other emotions as to why her mother never mentioned the room to her before.

It was a lot to take in after the biggest shock of losing both her parents at the same time in an accident at a very young age. Ziya went back to her room, took her mother's portrait, and asked her the questions she had in her mind which she was forlornly looking to be answered.

Ziya cried until her emotions calmed down or slept weeping hard as it was all new and confusing. She was experiencing the feeling of betrayal, she felt that her parents betrayed her by not sharing everything and felt that she was not even trustworthy enough to them that they did not share with them.

Right now, Ziya was having all sorts of negative emotions such as death and now the secret room did a number on her. It indeed was a lot to take in at the same time one after the other when she just finally coped up with the death of her parents. Finally, hugging her parents' portrait tightly and crying, Ziya fell asleep.

The next morning, when Ziya woke up, she prepared her breakfast and took everything positively thinking at least her mother left her clues to follow and she will know what secret it is. Ziya had her breakfast and got ready to head towards her university where she studied her course.

It was her parent's dream to see her graduate with good GPA scores and pursue further studies and become a successful person. She has to fulfill their dreams and achieve success and make them proud even though they died leaving her alone.

Ziya was back to her cheerful self and put behind the sadness she had for her parents' death. She is undoubtedly sad, but she cannot reveal it and be sad forever. She must move on and what's better than to make your parents' wishes come true and make them proud. By the time her thoughts were sorted out, she reached the entrance of the university and made her way towards her first class.

It was almost the end of the academic year. The professor announced the end of the syllabus and there was an announcement for the exam dates on the main page of the student page of the course. It says the exam starts next week and will be a study week starting tomorrow. Today is the last day to university for any queries or problems with any of the content.

Almost all the lectures were finished, and it was a kind of problem-solving session or self-study. It was now the last lecture and Professor Ms. McKenzie came to my desk and asked if I needed any help with any of the content as she knew how hard the past few weeks were for me to cope with everything and wrap it up plus the studies which I missed.

"I am very grateful for your concerns, Ms. McKenzie," Ziya said. And further added, "Ms. Can you help me with these chapters in the last few pages? It's a bit hard to understand the concept. My friends tried their best to explain but still, I could not understand it. Perhaps my brain seems to be on a vacation", said Ziya jokingly.

Ziya has always been Ms. McKenzie's favorite student and when she heard of the pain she had to go through; the professor was heartbroken for her. Thus, she asked her if she needed any help. After listening to Ziya, the professor laughed a bit to see her student back to her cheerful self.

Professor replied, "It indeed is the tough part, I am glad you asked me, let me explain it to you. And the professor started explaining to her about the hard part of the chapter and how to memorize it or understand it."

After listening to the explanation, Ziya thanked her professor and smiled brightly and murmured that "it really was hard, so it just wasn't me being stupid."

The day ended with the problem-solving sessions and catching up to the lectures Ziya missed during her hard times. She thoroughly took notes of the things which were hard for her to remember and prepared herself for the exam.

Ziya went back home, even if her parents were not there anymore welcoming her, she still followed everything the same way she used to before her parents were dead.

Ziya greets the portrait of her parents saying, "Mom, Dad I am home."

"How was your day?? I hope it was fine. Anyways today in the university, Ms. McKenzie helped me with the problems I was facing in her subject. Also starting next week, we have final exams."

"I am very close to graduating and you know mom and dad, I miss you very much. And I have a study vacation starting tomorrow. Exciting, isn't it dad??"

"Mom, since I am having a study week, I will study well and help you with the chores too. I know you wanted me to help you clean your room and reorganize it. I will do it this week."

"Mom, Dad I am scared. There's less than a month left before I graduate. And I don't know what to do after graduation?? You were always the one to help me in this kind of situation but am stuck now dad. I miss you so much and I dearly miss your presence and warmth, I badly needed your hug right now."

With this, Ziya bid her goodbye to her parents for the day.

Ziya put her bag in her room, changed out of her clothes, and wore something comfy and easy-to-move clothes. After that, she went into the kitchen and started preparing dinner for herself. Since it's a reading week before vacation, starting tomorrow her friends will start camping in her home and will start their studies.

Ziya always liked studying in a group more than studying alone. So, besides dinner, she also prepared enough homemade snacks to keep her and her friends going while studying. Every time her mother used to make those but this time it's a bit different.

Ziya prepared by baking lots of different snacks like cookies, brownies, chocolates, and some other spicy snacks too like cinnamon rolls, Tostitos, and nachos chips with the dipping on the side along with protein energy bars roll to maintain the nutrition level.

Little did she know, Ziya was in for a big surprise tomorrow.

Ziya was done with the preparation of the snack and where she also made Mac and cheese for the dinner. She was happy and content with the outcome. Ziya had her dinner and cleaned the kitchen, hall, and dining room. After the cleaning, she went up to the study room to prepare the notes and organize the study materials for different subjects for the upcoming exam.

When she was done with the preparations, she called it a day and went to her bedroom to sleep. One last time, Ziya looked out of the window and towards the night sky looking at the stars and the bright moon wishing them "Good night," and drifted off into the sleep towards the world of dreams.