Lost in Reverie [FxF]

02

Chapter twwwooooo!!🎉
Wwwooopwoopp!

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I balanced my soon to be 8 year old son, Adelin, piggyback style all the way of the final block to school. His face was still damp with tears, the aftermath of a painful conversation we had with his father just this morning. Zeke, Adelin's dad, had dropped and confirmed the bombshell that he had another family, leaving my angel feeling confused and betrayed.

My poor mijo, his father doesn't deserve him.

"Mama, why does Dad have another family?" Adelin had weakly asked, his small body shaking with effort to mot burst in tears again.

I had held him close, my heart breaking as I struggled to find the right words "Sometimes... grown-ups make choices that don't make sense to kids," I whispered, stroking his hair "But I promise, no matter what, I will always be here for you."

At the school gate, I knelt down and gave Adelin another reassuring hug "You're going to have a great day today, okay? I'll be back to pick you up this afternoon."

He nodded, sniffling but a bit more composed. "Okay, Mama."

I watched as he walked through the school doors along with the other kids barely making it to school as well, turning around once to wave at me. I waved back, my smile not quite reaching my eyes, and then turned to walk back home. My thoughts immediately returned to the pressing issues at hand. Job hunting had become an urgent necessity; I couldn't continue living with this scumbag of an ex-boyfriend, not with the tension and the reminders of what once was. Everything was so expensive, and I had been struggling to find stable employment for months.

Lost in my thoughts, I was startled by a sudden tremble underfoot. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was enough to set off distant car alarms. I looked around, bewildered, and noticed others doing the same.

Earthquakes were unheard of in this town, known more for its snowstorms and thunderstorms.

As I shrugged it off and resumed walking, a peculiar sight caught my eye. A little girl, no older than four or five I guessed, stood directly in my path. The girl had short, bright pink hair, round glasses that covered more than half her small and round chubby face, and an unmistakably gothic outfit. Despite her eerie appearance, she was smiling at me.

"Excuse me," the girl said, her voice surprisingly steady with a slight lisp between each word due to the gap between her front two teeth "Something bad is about to happen soon. You need to hurry and leave to a safe place with your son. Look for a place called Bunker Number 9."

I blinked, unsure if I had heard correctly. The girl handed me a small map, her tiny hands steady and purposeful. It was an odd exchange that I would be questioning myself 'Why the hell did I accept this tiney yet perfectly drawn out map?!'

"....Please find your parents and stop saying strange things to strangers," I said, trying to mask my unease with authority.

The girl just smiled, a chillingly serene expression "This is your final warning. Grab what you can and head to the bunker for safety. Avoid getting scratched or bitten if you can." And with that, she vanished as quickly as she had appeared.

I stood frozen, heart pounding. My mind raced to rationalize what had just happened. It must be the stress. The lack of sleep, the worry over finding a job-it was all getting to me.

Determined to shake off the encounter, I hurried to my first round of job hunting, hoping that whatever I had just witnessed was nothing more than a figment of my imagination. The map crumpled in my hand, a strange reminder of a bizarre moment I desperately wanted to forget.