The King's Obsession

63

C311 - The walk- Part 3

When Lisa opened her eyes, she stood in the middle of the narrow alley and the walls on either side looked muddy because of the rain that had splattered the mud that was on the ground to the walls. The sky was dark and cloudy, and it was drizzling. The alley was quiet, and she raised her hand to catch the water droplets, when she noticed how small her hand was.      

Bringing it closer, she found it strange as it seemed like her hand had shrunk in size. Realization hit her that she wasn't just looking into memories, she was living it.      

"Lisa?" she heard her mother calling her.      

She looked down at the ground that had created a puddle. When she looked at her reflection, she saw a small girl who looked back at her. When Raphael had spoken about looking into the memories, Lisa had believed that she was going to stand by the sidelines and watch people speak, not that she would be part of the conversation.      

Lisa heard a sound come from behind her. Turning around, she looked at the empty alley but in time caught sight of someone's long coat who walked behind the wall. Was someone there?      

"Lisa?" her mother called again, "There you are!" exclaimed her mother.     

Turning, she saw her mother who looked far younger than the current time she belonged to. It made Lisa question how old her mother was. Her hair was black in colour, a trait that Momo had acquired from their mother. The question was if Momo existed in this timeline.      

Lisa didn't react, and she stared at her mother.     

"Look at you here in the alley. You shouldn't wander too far away, especially not in the alley's where there are strangers who can harm you. Don't leave mama's side, okay?" Her mother bent down to pat her head, gentleness in her voice that warmed Lisa's heart.      

"Okay," answered Lisa, her voice small like a child and it sounded strange in her own ears. Her mother gave her a smile.      

"Look at your face. There's mud. Where's your kerchief?" asked her mother, rubbing her cheek with her thumb to get rid of the dirt, "Hm? Where is that cloverleaf you found?" she asked looking at her hand, "Nevermind. Come, your grandparents must be waiting for us."      

Her mother caught hold of her hand and pulled her from there.      

On her way, away from the alley as she followed her mother, Lisa looked around to see where they were. With the houses that were old, and bare lands, it finally dawned on her that this was the village where her grandparents lived in. A lot of things had changed in a span of few years after her parents moved away from this place to live in the village of East Carswell.      

Reaching the house which she was used to visiting with her sister, she saw her grandmother come into view who was standing outside with her grandfather.     

"Where was she?" asked her grandmother, "Always giving the family a slip. You should keep an eye on her, dear," said her grandmother to Lisa's mother.      

If Lisa didn't know about her past, she would have taken it to be a normal concern from her grandmother, but now she knew the underlying meaning behind it.      

"She is small, you need to take better care of her," said her grandfather. His eyes looked down at Lisa and she quickly darted her eyes away from him. She had to make sure not to make it too obvious for people to know that she came from the future. At the same time, Lisa couldn't help but wonder, if her actions would cause a change in the direction of her and others life.