Song of the Wolves

i. the mansion

The soft classical music resounded through the speaker as the car drove down an empty road. The road had gotten wet; the water mixed with the dirt and asphalt, forming puddles and making it slippery.

Heavy rain poured down over this small town two hours ago, and the rain lasted longer than the weather forecast prediction. She sat on the passenger seat, with her headphones on, listening to a shuffle playlist from the old iPod nano she held in her hand. It felt almost like one of those days when she used to go out for a drive, or even better, a late-night drive. Some night she goes out for nothing but a sense of peace to herself and a glimpse of the inspiration for a masterpiece she'd been working on. Some other nights she goes out, driving down the empty road to solely space reality, to have freedom for a few moments in the palm of her hand.

She's awoken from the empty fleeting thoughts the moment her iPod started acting funny, it's not new, obviously, and the battery could thank itself for lasting longer than it's supposed to with only fifty percent charged. She took off the headphones and now scrutinized the view outside to herself, spoiling the eyes with the familiar view she could've sworn she remembered it didn't look like this when she was little. Presumably losing track of time, but it was over twenty-five years ago since the last time she stepped a foot on that house.

Life changes, and people too.

Great grandfather wanted the family to live here in this small town, away from the evil and harsh world out there. To live a modest life, have everything just enough, and remain close as a family. Great grandfather came here when the state of affairs in our home country was critical. The war went on for many years, and as if it couldn't get any worse, it was exacerbated by the monetary crisis. He was sent here, to this country, to study with the hope of being able to have a good and proper life here.

He did. He met great grandmother, and life was as good, or even much better than expected. Grandfather was born here, their father too. Over the years, the world healed, and so did our home country, but what was built was far more precious to leave behind. As the children grew older, their father had a different notion, a contrasting view of life, and intended to raise his family in our home country, to return to our roots, where we belong.

Unlike others, to her, the life great grandfather had is fascinating as it could be. It inspired her to be where she is now. The study she pursued and as the river flowed it brought her on a journey of her career, a renowned writer with works copied, translated, and sold to all corners of the world.

As the way of life flows with the current, it brought her here again. A new memory unlocked, the home of her childhood.

"Are you sure you're okay with this? It's been ages since someone occupied this house. We don't even know if it's safe to stay the night here. What more to stay here on our own for the next couple of weeks?" asked the man in old vintage glasses sitting next to her, on the driver's seat.

Her brother.

Suppose one ever thinks they have the normal siblings' quarrel relationship. In that case, one is entirely wrong because they were never the kind of siblings who fought over the last piece of cake or who had a debate on who deserved to get the chocolate jelly for lunch dessert. Junwan, Songhwa's older brother. One out of very few people who love her very sincerely. When others would ridicule her for the stories of her odd dreams, of the fantastical and mystical creatures she met in her dreams, Junwan would always listen. The next day, he would ask her if they came to her dream again last night and draw them based on her stories for her.

"If you put it that way, it does seem like we're on a YouTube-er challenge jargon thing where we go to a long-abandoned mansion and stay overnight there, getting paid for it from counting the number of viewers and likes. But for us, it's minus the getting paid part and," Songhwa said as she wrapped the headphones cable, put a clip over it, and shoved it into her pocket. She inhaled deeply before letting a heavy sighed, aware of what she was about to say next. "the long-abandoned mansion is ours."