One Final Gloomy Day

Chapter 4: The Attic Window

It was only four hours after Monochro left that I managed to unlock my door using my lockpicking skills which I had learned from Lisa. I didn't try calling Father, Grey, or Lisa to unlock my door from the outside even if they passed it numerous times this morning. I was pondering in my room for the majority of the time before I even thought about hacking my way out.

I stepped out of my door. I was wearing a gray shirt and dark ash-colored pajamas. My messy long white hair got in my view but I didn't care about that. I walked down the wooden stairs to go to the kitchen. There, I saw Lisa and Grey sitting on the kitchen island chairs. Lisa and Grey sat on the side near the kitchen table while Father was cooking where meals were prepared. Grey and Lisa noticed me when they heard my footprints.

 "Hi, Meran!" Both of them said simultaneously.

"Afternoon, Miryan," Father said in his usual deep tone of voice.

"Hi." I fake smiled at them. Monochro had left for the city four hours ago but I managed to disguise the painful feeling I felt when he left me all of a sudden.

"So, your brother left today for a long vacation, right?" Father asked.

"Yeah, I kind of wanted to come to but he said no... Haha..." Grey laughed like he didn't know what happened earlier because he didn't know at all.

"Monochro did need that break though. He worked on the farm for several years. Didn't he just start at thirteen and never stop until now?" Lisa spoke the truth. "Not just that, he even grew his very own farm when he was just fifteen!"

My father proudly nodded as he cooked our lunch. I smelled the savory aroma of overnight marinated pork chops. As the meat cooked on the pan and the oil sizzled and hissed, Lisa and Grey continued talking about Monochron as I sat silently watching my father cook two things at the same time. First, it was the pork chop, but in the second meal, he was cooking eggs. I stood up and walked toward Father. He was smiling as he cooked the dish. 

 "Do you love the smell?" He asked. I could smell the soy sauce, spices, and the strong scent of rosemary wafting through the air.

"It's... nice," I replied. "I could tell it's marinated."

"With soy sauce, pepper, rosemary... And do you smell that sweet scent?" Father smiled at me.
"Sugar?" I asked. He chuckled.

"It's honey," Father said. "It makes the pork slightly sweeter." Then Father turned off the fire that was cooking the eggs and put them on a white porcelain plate. The sizzling oil resided and the only sound of hissing oil came from the pan covered by a lid where the pork was cooking.
Lisa and Grey's conversation became a louder one as time passed. Father was unfazed by it but I was about to snap due to their loud laughter. Father put his left hand on my shoulder and pulled me in closer.

"Lisa, Grey," He plainly said. "Mind if you guys talk less loudly?" Then Lisa and Grey toned down their laughter. It was less irritating now that Father had simply talked to them to tone down their voices. I couldn't remember a time when he was ever intimidating. It was only when his voice shivered when he disciplined us on what not to do when we did something bad was the only times he ever scared me, but now, I don't know where that went, or might rarely do it anymore.

"This is Monochro's favorite," Father said before he put the four pieces of pork chop on each plate that had the rice and eggs on top and put them on the kitchen island.
Silverware and porcelain items clinked and clacked again as I remember this was the third time I had eaten my major meal. I recalled the first time that ended in catastrophe. Oh gosh. I felt a minor wave of sickness pass over me. I stared at the food on my plate and slowly lifted a spoonful of the rice-paired meal. I put the spoon in my mouth and to my surprise, nothing happened. The world didn't spin like last time and I didn't feel like vomiting at all. It was only the feeling of something sad that made me feel sick.

 I slowly got lost in my thoughts as I put more food into my mouth. Getting slapped by Jacob, Grey worrying too much, me not helping anyone feel better, and Monochro's heart-wrenching lie that he told to the others except me. The last one hurt the most. I was pulled out from my short train of thoughts by Lisa's voice.