Her Princess Charming

Old House, Old Memories

'Who owns this?' She stood in awe as we entered the gate.

'My family.' I said. I felt a twinge in my heart upon seeing the place again.. 'We used to live here.' For so many years.. But then..

She scrutinized every detail of the place. The tall and old walls of the house that is now covered with wild vines and little cracks, the front porch full of wild grass and flowers, the tall cypress trees on each side of the house, together with the rusty metal dining set on the garden where we used to have breakfast every morning. It used to look so bright and happy. It's all dark and sad now.

'What happened?' She asked.

'My dad lost his job at that time and then he found another job but it was too far away so the whole family had to move closer to the city.' I said. Remembering every detail of that memory.

'Oh. That sure sucked. Relocating..' She said tugging the sleeves of my jacket to pull me towards the house.

'Wait..' I pulled out the key of the house from my pocket.

'Oh wow.'

'Wow what?'

'Where going inside?' She asked as we walked past the wild grass and flowers.

'Yep.' I said and twisted in the key. Turning the doorknob of the main door felt like I was reopening a scar.

As I opened the door, the dust danced on the yellow rays of the sun streaming in the window. Everything was in place. Furnitures were still covered in white cloth, just like the day we left.

'When was the last time you went here?' She asked, running her hand along the edge of the old and dusty antique cabinet on the far corner of the living room.

'About a few months ago.' I said, rewinding that bitter memory in my mind.

'Oh, with your family?' She smiled.

'No. I just.. I came here alone.' I smiled sadly. I almost didnt want to admit it.

'Why?' She asked with concern in her brown eyes.

'Because my dad disappeared all of a sudden and I thought that he was here.' I said a little too fast almost choking out the words. I felt the tears in my eyes but I just shook it off and looked down.

'Aww come here.' She pulled me into a hug and I just broke down. 'Its okay.' She said while rubbing my back.

'It just sucks. It's been months when he just ditched us without even thinking about its effect on us. Until now he is nowhere to be found. Maybe he's dead or he's found another family. I hate him! I even ran away from home to find him everywhere especially here but he was not here..' I sobbed.

I remembered that time when I got home that night my mom yelled at me so bad saying that dad has already left us for good and it was no use looking for him, that we could make it without him. It was horrible.

'Aw come on. Let's just eat first.' She said pulling me out of the house. We went back to the car to get the picnic basket and we sat at the metal dining set on the garden. We removed the leaves from the tables and chair and sat there as if weve been doing it for so many years now.

We also locked the house because she sensed that I wasnt ready to go inside again, yet. It was painful and I couldnt bring myself to imagine that everything will turn out the way it was before, ever again.

We ate the pancakes, sandwiches and fruits for brunch as we told funny stories from our separate childhoods.

After twelve, we explored the place together. I couldnt explain how I feel. It was just like feeling all the emotions at once. It almost made me numb walking around the place I used to live in, the place where I had my first heartbreak, the place where I learned the true value of friendship and family. Those are all scars now.