Losing Game

Chapter 33 - New Semester

The night was a peaceful but also dangerous time. Most families would be fast asleep within the comfort of their own homes...but not them. This was his favorite time out of the whole day and she tried her best to stay afloat with her curious but also restless son. The apartment building they were staying at came with a playground in the back of it and that is where the two were currently located. He was swinging back and forth while looking up at the beautiful night sky filled with stars and a half "aten" moon. His mom always told him that the moon looks to be half or in its crescent phase because someone ate the rest of it.

Chao-Xing cherished all the moments she got with her son, even if it was him staring at the sky or anything else in such amazement. Some parents would question how she could work all morning and afternoon, pick her son up from school right when it finishes, help him with homework, and be up at night to play with him. Sleep was never her friend and due to her selfish reasons...it started to rub off on her son as well.

"Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think Auntie Hera has done a night sky painting?"

"I don't know. You could ask her when we head to Chiang Mai next month. We haven't been there in so long"

"I'll give Auntie Hera a - a big hug when I see her!"

"I'm sure she'll love seeing you again" she checked the time on her watch to see that it said 2am. "You have 30 more minutes and then we have to head back inside, okay?"

"Okay!"

It took less than an hour for him to feel sleepy. Chao-Xing can thank the playground for always being the most reliable thing for tiring out her son. Of course he tried to fight it and lie by saying he wasn't feeling sleepy at all but his slowly closing eyes and yawns said otherwise. She placed him on the bed and covered him with a blanket before going into the bathroom. After closing the door as quiet as she could, she went to the sink and opened the cabinets below it. A box that had her name...kept the secrets she was trying to hide. It was just yesterday that this box got a new addition to it. When she was at work, and her son was at school, a letter was dropped off at the front desk of the apartment complex. There was no name written on the front of it besides her address. That's what scared her the most because only a limited number of people knew where she was and how long she was going to stay at the residence. It was when she opened the letter and skimmed through it....that her heart dropped.

What was a simple forgotten memory turned bad really quick. The peaceful night sky he was remembering got replaced by the brightness of the sun. He couldn't understand what was being said around him but the screams of "please no" "mommy" "I don't know you" "someone please" "no no no" "I want to go home" and "where's my mom" kept getting louder and louder. To save himself from everything, he covered his ears and tightly shut his eyes. He was like a little chihuahua shaking in the corner...waiting for it all to be over. When it was at its peak loudness level...it stopped and he reopened his eyes. In front of him...was the younger version of himself. He jumped and took a quick look at himself...he was now the Saint he knew. He wanted to talk to him but a new chant began "why did you leave me" "was I not good enough" "WHY"

Saint shot up so quickly that he thought he pulled some type of muscle. His whole body ached and when he went to rub his eyes...he felt the dried and wet tears. His breathing was still on the heavier side and it wasn't looking like it was going to light up any time soon. That dream...no that nightmare...whatever you want to call it...it felt all too real for him. He looked over to see the time and read 3:35 in big red numbers on his alarm clock. "Great" he thought to himself. He had roughly four hours before he needed to be up for the first day of the new semester but after that whole thing...his body was already awake for the day.