The Red Rose

Chapter IV

I immediately recognized my mom and hugged her with all my strength.

"What are you doing here? Why do you appear and disappear? I need an explanation!" I demanded.

We shared a tight hug, and she cried, begging for forgiveness. I wanted answers, but I also wanted to savor this moment with my dear mother.

"That's why I came, son. There's a lot to talk about, especially after what happened last year."

I realized that for them, especially for my dad, only a few months had passed, and upon returning to Chile, it was already March 2021. Christmas and New Year were very calm, and I took the opportunity to celebrate with my father. These were moments when I could forget about what had happened during the time I was in the past. I was so confused that technically, I had already turned twenty-one, and everything was very confusing.

I walked with my mother through the forest, as we used to when I was a child, and my grandmother stayed, trying the mead with my father.

"Do you remember passing through here? This place is so peaceful, secluded from the world, civilization."

"Come on, Mom, let's get to the point. What are you? What are my grandparents? I'm sick of metaphors and riddles; I don't have the nerves for that anymore." I pleaded.

"Well, well, I'll tell you the story. Let's get to the point." The she started:

"This will likely be a shocker" She made a pause and continued. "You may have all this time felt different, like you do not belong here, well at least partially. The thing is, I, your grandmother, and your grandpa, well, we have been known with many names, through history and different mythologies, mistaken as gods or angels. You see, we are not from around here, but rather from far long, light years away. Miguel, we are, sort of speaking, celestial.

What I heard from my mother's mouth was hard to believe. I truly thought about the god theory, and I was starting to like it, but this hit me like a truck.

"Why did you use godly references? And your name, real name, my family name." I asked

"Uh Miguel, our space names are sort of hard to pronounce. But I can give you some examples. Mine is Hyrae, your grandma's name would be Fiorae and your grandpa would be Bethorion. We are the house of Mistheltum, known for exploration and magical science."

"Ugh, those names sound awful! Thank god I took an earthling name. I will stick with Hilda and Baldwin. And my grandma's name?" I asked"You can call her just Flora, she prefers that name, these are our nicknames. Better for humans and for us." She smiled.

"And. What is your deal here? Why?" I kept asking.

She thought for a moment, then started: "Let's say, our species are not the friendly type of entity you would like to have a first contact with, plus our appearance can be very deceiving, as it is easy for humans to relate us with angels. We have a strict code to not blend with humans, the penalty would be normally, death."

"Oh my God.." I murmured.

"Exactly. I hated my planet, I didn't want to live in my strict and cold detached society, I needed to feel." She said, with a hint of sadness and deep fear.

"I escaped to this place, which I've heard of, and I hoped to start over, to settle and be different. I fell in love with your dad and his simplicity, far compared with the strictness and complexity of the people in my planet, is rare to be like me, like my family. Of course your grandpa and grandma were angry from my decision, but especially fearful. Unfortunately things didn't work out as I expected, so I had to return for not gathering suspicion. Your grandpa also saw it as an opportunity to also study you, he is a very knowledge driven man."