The Last Chapter ✔

Second

Nine

"Ai'Ben pick up the freaking phone. You dumb knobhead. Where are the hell are you dying right now?" I cursed out on the verge of throwing the phone straight into the wall.

"Oh God put yourself together Kornchid. Don't panic you are not going on a mission to commit a murder. It's a simple run away." I convinced myself sitting on the bed, breathing heavily. Yes just running away from home to fulfil my dream, to live my life.

I was tired. The change was needed. But the plan was not all mine to take the credit of. Thanks to Grandma. I thought chuckling a bit recalling our last conversation this evening.

"Luk, are you sleepy?" She asked brushing my hair lulling me to sleep while I rested my head on her lap.

I would never get any older in her eyes and I was always more than happy to snuggle up to her at every chance I got.

"Just tired." I mumbled feeling the warmth of her old, wrinkled palm warming up my body. And her beautiful smell. It reminded me of breathing in the fresh air, mixed with the fragrance of soil. Old and loose just like her skin, but homely. She was my home.

"You know when you were young you were such a naughty little kid. You Mae used to just give up on you sometimes when you pulled your mischief." She spoke probably fishing out the memory from the thousands of memories she had made in all her life. She sounded dreamy.

"Then all of you must get annoyed by me a lot." I slipped a sulky comment turning to face her.

"Yes you were back then very annoying but I used to prefer you more than your brothers. Don't tell this to anyone." Grandma winked saying that.

"But why would you? P' is so well behaved, the perfect and idol child. Why will you like me more?" I grumbled.

"Because I saw life in you. I saw the burning curiosity in your eyes when you looked at anything. You were different from everyone in our family. You wouldn't do what your father or brother did or told you to do." She said with affection.
"Wait let me show you something." She said shifting from her place and I quickly sat up curiously following her.

She leaned out to pull an old trunk from under the bed and opened it with quite difficulty for the lock that had got jammed, due to the lack of use.

"Here." She placed a small notebook probably 15 or 20 years old, it's sides eaten up by insects and the pages almost coming out.

"What is it Grandma?" I asked confused trying to decode the half eaten, half visible scribble on the cover.

"Ohh you really had a very poor handwriting back then. But I believe you had written it 'Adventure' although the spelling is awful." She said dusting the book delicately with her delicate fingers.

"I wrote that?" I asked flustered.

"Yes open it now." She nudged me. I nodded turning over the first page carefully to face a picture of a mountain covered with a fine sheet of white snow and from the page it looked like I had pulled it out from my book. I glanced up at Grandma who had a very sinister smile plastered on her face.

"Wait I have something else too." She said again searching something.

Although I couldn't remember when I had pasted that picture but I had no doubt either because those white mountains had always called me out.

"Hmm see this." I looked at Grandma again or to be more accurate at the small showpiece in her hand. And I remembered it immediately.

The small cottage beside the pine tree with the white land stuck inside the glass dome. There used to sprinkles splayed loosely on the ground and when you toss it those sprinkles would fall down like rain drops. And I used to stare at it bewitched.

The sprinkles were stuck to the bottom now but the memory still vivid.

'Home' the word engraved on the door of the hut.

"You had showed me this book and told me that you'll one day go there and live in a cottage just like this. And make it your home." She said smiling warmly now. "Did you give up on your dream?"

I couldn't reply to that. How to say that I had totally forgotten about that dream of mine? Too overwhelmed with my life chalked up in the same routine everyday.

"That was a 5 years old me who had that dream. This is a 22 years old man who has the responsibility of his family." I replied in a lifeless voice.

"But you are still that 5 years old to me and when you were staring at the picture just now I could see the desire yet gleaming in your eyes. Then who's stopping you? You know sometimes you need to disobey your parents and you are not new to this." She mumbled moving her body slowly walking to the armchair but I didn't miss the mischievous glint in her eyes and that little smirk playing on her pale, wrinkled lips.

And I was off to complete my dream leaving my home back with a long hug and a forehead kiss.
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Well I'm soooorrryyyy for the delay. The previous plot underwent a vast change and I'm still in the process of writing this new one, which I felt was better than the former. So it might take sometime before everything is under my control again but I'm trying to make it really quick.