The smile within the two-sided moon

Chapter 1

At last, the recluse man has turned into a prince that I've dreamed of. Dull, black eyes revealed a tiny specs of glimpse passing through the iris that melted the coolness of his face. The way he looks has enthralled me, as if a couple of stones uplifted in my heart and ready to merge into one soul. Never thought the hours I squandered from scribbling on the paper and throwing off nonsensical plans has been finally paid off. Whist he tightly held my hand, his teeth sparkled over his broad jaws and his prominent cheeks when the moon spotted us. Something in his gestures that seems different from the way he used to be; perhaps he got appreciated by a senior doctor from a well-known hospital or discovered a rare plant that can cure diseases, or maybe he wants to spend more time with me? I wonder.

We trotted through the mountain with a pant in my lips. The warmth of my body was bursting out inside me. Resting my eyes for a few seconds, I could feel my sweats crawled over my skin and left some traces in my favorite red-checkered-sleeves. It seems that I've already reached my limit. My feet could no longer take another step while my mind dictated to move forward. I want to go further but my legs won't move an inch. To go on or not, to stay or to leave. This ambivalence is so frustrating. Then he suddenly pats a handkerchief on my face, telling me not to give up. No other words have been mentioned, but I'm glad he didn't. Only his smile suffices me to get back on the tracks. I sipped some water in the jar from my backpack and started hiking again. After few meters away from the town, we finally put forth to our destination. The mountain's peak.

We began to settle the camp, kindle the fire and assemble the telescope which he borrowed from the librarian earlier. Despite the creeping insects on the bulky ground, the view is fascinating: various colored stems drawn in the sky, blossomed into a flower that shifted its color to green to blue to red to pink until it vanished. Fire bugs shimmered around the tree--where I am standing--like a wisp that came from a fairy tale. I wouldn't expect of such a nonchalant person would be so romantic. He firmly grasped my hands and raised it to the level of his chest. He told me that he laid his eyes on me since the day I had been rushed to his clinic last winter. Bright blue eyes, long blond hair, fair skin complexion and ragged-old jumpsuits were running in his mind. All this time, he waited for the right moment to confess everything...to say that he loves me. His confession averted my eyes from that overwhelmed emotions I've heard. Trying to calm myself, I could hear his footsteps grew louder than before, uttering my name in a sweet, deep tone. "Claire"

"...Claire..."

"Claire!"

"Earth to Claire, hello!" His voice suddenly showed his feminity that somehow crumbled throughout the mountain.

I looked back and saw him, starting to melt down under my eyes, along with the stuffs that was watered through our sweats. Darkness rolled down in the mountain and washed all the flowers, the leaves, the villagers, and everything I cared for were drained in the abyss. Reaching his hands for the last minute, I shouted his name while I scraped off the dirt on the ground, thinking it might open a vent, but my efforts went in vain. Few tears tinted my face until it slipped down on my lips, urging to tell the last three words which it could have changed my life.

A silhouette, resembling of Him, appeared fuzzily in front of me. "Claire, are you alright?"

"Oh...sorry, doc. I haven't slept for days. I've already computed, uh, the time...needed to invest my pineapple products. I...wouldn't miss a thing, especially the high price I could earn if I double my efforts" Rubbing my eyes as I cleared my mind.

"Doc? What the hell are you talking about? You're such a weirdo, Claire."

Opening my eyes, I realized that I've been in the bath house this whole time. Probably the heat from the water that plays in my head and took over it. Then I saw Karen stood still to the other side of the hot spring, rolling her emerald eyes and whirled her golden-brown hair as she turned her back. "You'll never get Trent if you're acting like that."