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Daniel418Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Lfmp82amS
“You,” she said, “Did you feel it too?”
“Yeah,” I replied.
“The energy,” she said perturbed, “You really felt it too, right?” pacing back and forth the room.
“I said it the first time, dummy,” I sat on the sofa, being the polar opposite of her state right now, “I felt their presence.”
“Right,” she put her hands on her head, still pacing around, “right, so, what are we going to do?”
“Uh, nothing?” I replied, “What do we have to do?” It’s no big deal.
She stood in front of me, “What do you mean?”
I gazed back at her as if she said something so dumb. Which she did. She said next to me on the couch, “Seriously, Daniel. What are we going to do?”
“I’m serious too. There’s nothing we have to do,” I replied.
She looked at me in the eyes and then scoffed, “What’s gotten into you? Siya might get hurt if we leave them be.”
It’s always Siya for her. I sighed, “Look, Dana,” I said with a pause, “Don’t be so naive.”
“I don’t understand, Daniel,” she said, “We are not cruel.”
We aren’t cruel? What is she getting at? I stared at her, cueing her to stop whatever she had to say.
“Daniel,” she called, ignoring my commanding gaze, “How about we start, you know, trying to, uh, go out there and– “No,” I interrupted, “Why do we have to?”
She sighed this time, “That’s not what you said when you left.”
“We did not leave. We were banished. We don’t have to go there.”
“We weren’t banished. People are waiting for you every day and night, only wishing you would show up,” she got up from the sofa as if to emphasize her point.
“Don’t be delusional,” I told her, “Nobody is expecting us.”
At least, that’s what I want to believe.
“I truly have no clue why you’re behaving like this. Did something happen at school?” she asked with concern.
“No, nothing. But the way you’re going on all about this Tasia thing makes me sick,” I scorned out of contempt, my words sharp. I was vexed due to her words.
“Don’t you think it’s time we talk about this? You’re never gonna get over things if you keep them bottled up,” she advised. As if she knew what was bothering me in my head.
“We’re far better off outside Tasia. Stop acting like we’re tied to it. And you better stop watching stupid movies and deluding yourself about how we have people waiting on us,” I almost yelled as she kept bringing up the topic I shut out a long time ago.
“This isn’t about being delusional. It’s our life. It’s something you have to decide on to end it. I’m just offering some help. Why don’t you see that?”
No, it’s drivel. She doesn’t understand what she’s talking about. I know it, yeah.
“You don’t understand Dana– “No, I do understand, Daniel. You want to run away, not wanting to make the decision ever. I’m telling you, I can see clearly than you could right now, trust me.”
She scrutinised my face, distraught that I didn't show any emotions she would have liked to see on my face.
“Did you forget what they told us? Did you forget your promise?”
“I remember them telling us nothing important,” I voiced, “nobody cares Dana. Just like how they did not for our father.”
I stood up and held her shoulders, “Don't deceive yourself and take a break from that nuisance of a school, alright?”
“No, Daniel,” she brushed off my hands, “The school or movies aren’t doing anything to me. Stop blaming everything else. It’s between us. We have to sort this out.”
She paused, taking a deep breath, mustering the courage to utter something I had always been petrified to hear.
“Tasia is our home. We have to go back.”
That’s enough.
“Dana, understand. It's not our home anymore. It's more like a prison. Our dad's here, successful and happy, we could be too.” I still tried to be patient, not making it evident I was horrified at that thought.
“No,” she yelled, losing her composure, “you think Dad cares about us? He is so tied up with money and fame that he has forgotten he had kids. You think he cares?”
“More than the people back,” I replied with wrath.
She nodded her head in disapproval. “No, no, this is wrong. We can't be hiding out here anymore– “We are not – “Dezmond, throw your pathetic excuses away and get back there once and for all!”
Silence.
“Dana, I told you not to call me that.”
“Enough is enough,” she said strangely calm, “Enough living as Daniel. You're Dezmond.”
My mind went blank. It processed nothing.
I heaved, “You know what, I need to be alone.”
“Alright,” she stated, “You can take the night. I'm meeting Siya tomorrow and you're meeting her with me. After that, we're gonna think of ways to enter the kingdom.”
“Dana, don't be so stubborn— “Fine I can go alone to Tasia then.”
She glared at me and rushed to get to her room. She slammed the door shut before saying, “Just meet Siya with me… so that I can try to believe that you meant what you said.” I knew it was a request, though it wouldn’t have sounded like that to others.
The sound of her slamming her room door reverberated in my ears.
I stood there, “Is it so hard to believe that I have changed?” I muttered in the empty hall. I plonked myself down the settee, lying on my back, watching the ceiling. It’s been five years, I thought we could forget it. Turns out, I was wrong.
Tasia existed… since the beginning. Just as long as this world. In fact, it’s a new world, connected by means inexplicable, to this planet. At least, that’s one theory. In any way, it’s our home, our kingdom. The region of mystical beings. Or that’s what we were taught.
I was born there. I lived there. It would have been my home, had I made some good memories. Anyway, what’s the point in thinking about them now?
There isn’t a memory I’m grateful for that I’ve made there and going back would be the last thing I want to do. I’m pretty sure that’s how it is to Dana too but now she wants to return. She’s been with me for as long as I can remember. We always seemed to have the same opinion and I don’t know when we began to conflict with each other. Has she always thought about Tasia this way? Or am I the weird one?
I don’t know.
She was the only one with me all these years. She’s my sister. She knows me. So why can’t she understand me right now?
I sat up. I need some time to think. I grabbed my jumper and reached for her room, which she shut violently. I knocked on the door twice and she didn’t open the door. I didn’t want to barge in after all that I had said, so I told her, “Dana, I’m headed out for some air. There’s cup noodles in the fridge, have some if you’re hungry. I’m locking the door, so if you want to head out, call me and use the spare key at home, alright?”
I didn’t hear a reply. I sighed and wrote whatever I had said on a piece of paper and stuck it on the fridge door. I wore my jumper and headed out, locking the door.
The wind greeted me with familiarity. I’ve been down the road so many times, but it’s the first that I’m here for consolation. I’m sure if I just walked this road, five, no ten times, then I probably would forget what’s making me messy.
I started walking down the lane. The sparrows chirped, the crows cawed, the children played, and I could even smell the food that was being cooked inside the homes I walked across. The sky slowly turned bluer and darker. It was all so beautiful and serene. Do I have to return to Tasia?
Do I have to go back to the cryptic sky, hushed discrimination, twilight rebellions, and lead a miserable life?
I’ve gotten so used to life here that I don’t want to think about going back. Why can’t Tasia be like this too? I’m not here for a break and go, I want to stay. Couldn’t Dana stay too?
Incidents from five years ago started flashing in front of me. Why doesn’t anybody listen? I know I’m an outcast, a pariah, someone they think they have to reform. But what harm does it do to just listen to me?
I ran down the road, hastening with each step. I hate that I was born there. I hate that I have something to do with a place so despicable as Taisa. I would have traded anything to be born in a slum to that place.
But why do I feel this way when everybody around me thinks so differently about it? It’s wrong.
I’m wrong.
That’s why I need to stop. Stop talking about it.
I halted. I get it now. What is my thought when everybody else has already decided?
I gazed around, taking in the view in front of me, normal houses, and the sunset. It’s all perfectly normal. Except me, who stands looking at it. As I looked around, I saw someone. Someone on the door, stepping out to close it, looked at me and smiled.
It's the same house. Who was that? Siya. Yeah, Siya, the new girl Dana always talks about and praises. The woman I was probably seeing was Siya’s mother.
I stood there frozen, not reciprocating her smile but just gazing. She eventually locked the door, and I stood still staring at the house. How are they related to this family?
The house wasn't anything exceptional. It looked just like all the other houses. Two stories, a parmesan outline, plants at the front, and an SUV in the garage. It was a normal house. So what could have bought them here?
There's no answer however I look at it. It could only be possible if they were werewolves just like them or vampires, like me. Either of them is unlikely, ‘cause I would be able to sense it if they were.
Which leaves with only one answer. But that's highly impossible that I wouldn't even consider it as one.
I walked across the house after reading the nameplate, “The Alvarez Residence.” I better get home with sweets and chips to make up with Dana.
It was around 6 in the evening when I reached back. The door was already open, so I thought Dana must have been out, but a familiar woman's voice inside made me think otherwise.
And there she was. On the couch, sipping her coke and having the cup noodles, watching her favourite soap opera. Two cups were already empty, but I wasn’t going to upbraid her.
“I thought you were out,” I said, folding my hands to show I was serious.
“I'm not a kid. I don't need to tell you every single thing like when I'm headed out,” she retorted, her eyes still on the television.
“Sure,” I said, sitting next to her, “I bought some chips if you'd like.”
I handed the white bag with the logo, which I was given at the bakery for the loads of junk I had bought.
As I put it on the table, she made a sound–the one that meant ‘yay’–and began to savagely rummage through the bag, looking for her favourite.
Once she found it, she yelped, “You're the best big brother!”
I smiled and sat next to her.
The woman and the man on the soap opera quarrelled and I turned to my sister, who was engrossed in the drama, looking rendered for their mishap in the relationship. She was engrossed in their drama as if she was also a part of it, and I slowly grabbed another pack of chips in the bag.
I munched on it, letting the blend of salt and spice melt on my tongue before saying, “I'll come with you… to meet Siya tomorrow.”
I let go of my scepticism and agreed to something I would have rather shunned if Dana had not advocated it. In other words, I was convinced.
“Mh-m,” she hummed, pretending to not fully listen, but I knew she heard me but decided against saying something to keep her limits. Which I’m grateful for because it would have made me uncomfortable. She knows me too much.
She looked at me and exclaimed, “Isn't that packet mine?” And gave me a side-eye. I took another fry as if to spite her. We both broke out laughing. The evening ended… as if nothing unsettling had happened earlier.
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