Burning Connections

Chapter One

  "Was grandpa a really nice person?" a 15-year-old Bomi asked for the third time that day in the living room. She was flipping through old photo albums her parents had, and found a photograph of her in her grandfather's arms on her first birthday. He was smiling warmly at the camera with Bomi's parents beside him. Bomi? Well, she was wailing away and waving her tiny fists, her eyes tinged with a slight red.

  "Yes, yes, yes," her mother replied impatiently, "But you talk too much, just like him."

  Bomi clicked her tongue, clearly upset by her mother's words and shook her long fringe out of her face. I was just asking, she thought. Her grandfather had passed on before she turned five, but she couldn't remember anything about him. But from what she had seen, her grandpa was quite the friendly and jolly one.

Smack.

Bomi shut the photo album quickly and shoved it in the back of the shelf. Always complaining about how I talk back and yet you yourself snap at others when you're irritated. Tsk. She got up in an instant and headed towards the door.

"I'm going to the park now!" she yelled while grabbing her red sneakers off the shoe rack.

"I thought you wanted to stay- Never mind. Don't talk to strangers and don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Bomi only grunted in reply before shutting the door behind her. I'm old enough to take care of myself, you don't need to remind me what to do! Why can't you see that?

***

"Hae-in!" Bomi squealed the moment she spotted the little brown stray cat. She crouched down in front of the feline, scratching it behind its ears gently. The cat purred in delight as it did so, making Bomi giggle slightly.

Hae-in was Bomi's unofficial pet. Bomi had found the cat a year ago on a rainy day, drenched and curling up under a flimsy piece of cardboard in the corner of the park. Bomi couldn't help but bring the furry creature back home to care for it, even if it was for a little while. Sure, it caused a small ruckus in her house and the 14-year-old had to sit through a whole lecture on why she shouldn't bring strays animals home. She didn't mind though, as long as she was able to help an animal for a short period of time.

At first Hae-in was apprehensive of Bomi, and shrank away every time she reached out to pet it. But after the creature-loving teen kept going to the park to visit it, a bond was slowly built between them, and Bomi named the cat Hae-in. The feline soon got comfortable with her, and would always nuzzle her leg when it saw her in the park.

Hae-in slowly pulled itself away from Bomi's touch, pawing at her hand one last time before raising its head like it smelt something. The cat seemed curious, and started treading off to find the source of the smell.

"Hm? Hae-in, where are you going?" Bomi cooed and raised her eyebrows. Stretching her arms slightly, she trailed behind her little friend.

She found herself walking towards a tall and dense bush. There seemed to be something shining within. Upon approaching, she saw a golden... deer? No wait, Bomi thought, it's a gazelle! How did one even end up here?

As she stared at the glowing four-legged creature, it noticed her. It bowed its head, as if it was beckoning her to come closer. She felt that there was something familiar about it, but could not quite put her finger on it.

Pushing away the branches, Bomi realised that the bush was much more spacious inside than it seemed from the outside. That's weird, it's just a bush. How can there be such a big space inside? The thought of it creeped her out a little.

Just as she was lost in her thoughts, the gazelle trotted up to her and nudged her leg, snapping her back to reality. The girl blinked, holding her breath at the majestic creature before her. She reached out carefully to pet its head and at that moment, a golden ball of light appeared, engulfing both Bomi and the deer. Her vision slowly faded to darkness.

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A/N: Hello there reader! :D How are you doing? Good? Wonderful! This was a pretty short chapter but I'll put in more words in the upcoming chapters!

If you're curious to find out what happened to Bomi, do stay tuned for the next one! See you next time~ Take care (^ 3 -)♥