Clouds River Valley

Chapter 11: Love (Part II)

None of the kids but only Emily knew what her dream was about even many years later after that adventurous night, not until one day she felt she could tell someone.

In her dream, Emily saw two strange but also kind looking faces, she then realized she was a baby in a cradle. "Oh Emily, my angel, papa and mama will always love you!" They said to her and then each of them kissed at her cheek. She then noticed the woman had tears all over her face, she said to the man next to her, "Joe, do we have to do this?"

"I am afraid so, for her safety, she can no longer stay with us," the man said, "you know how powerful the dark force in the Clouds River Forest is. Don't worry, I have checked, the managers of the orphanage are a very nice couple and they will take good care of Emily."

"Will Emily stay there as an orphan like other kids there?" The woman asked.

"I don't know, but I know they have been wanting to have a kid of their own, they are not allowed to adopt the children in the orphanage due to some state policies. Maybe they will adopt Emily. Listen, after you drop off Emily by their house, then you need to come back as soon as you can. When you come back, I may no longer live in the world, but there is one thing I would like you to keep it safe, as long as the thing is safe, I will always stay with you and protect you. The life of everyone who lives on the land, including Emily's is now in your hands."

"What thing? Don't tell me it's time to use that spell." The woman started to weep.

"If not now, when? We don't have time." Joe said, "Monna, do you remember the first time we met?"

"Of course, I lost my key in the coffee shop, when I came back to the coffee shop to look for it, you were waiting for me with the key in your hand. Why did you ask that? Joe, maybe we can find another way."

"Monna, in my heart the key is the bridge that connected us among all the people in the world, even though the key is no longer here, but it always means something special to me. When I use the spell, I will turn myself into a key, just like what I promised, as long as the key is with you, I will always be with you."

Meanwhile, the house they were in started to shake, even Emily could feel the cradle started to shake.

"Hurry up!" Joe yelled, he then covered a blanket on Emily. Emily closed her eyes when the blanket came to her. When she opened her eyes, she noticed Monna who looked calm was sitting in front of her.

"Shanny, did you have a good sleep?" Monna talked to Emily, Emily then realized she was in Shanny's body. She looked around the room and saw herself in a mirror, Shanny looked like around ten years old, around Mia and Sophia's age.

"I have something to tell you, "Monna said, "do you remember I told you that I had another family before I married your dad?"

Shanny nodded.

"Well, his name was Joe, unlike your dad, he was a witch, and he sacrificed himself to save Clouds River and everyone who lives here. We also have a daughter who lives in an orphanage not far from here."

"So you never loved daddy?" Monna didn't expect this would be the first question from her.

"Silly girl, of course I loved your dad, I still love him, a lot. Shanny, some people can only love one people in their life, but some can love two or even more. Each love is different and unique, your dad in my heart is as important as Joe, just like you and my other daughter Emily."

"Then why is she living in the orphanage now?"

"There was a powerful dark force years ago in the forest here, we had to fight with it and we couldn't take Emily's life so we decided to put her in a safe place, that's why we chose the orphanage."