Chapter 8: Two dreams
Gundo gently gazed at her sleeping son, his innocent face illuminated by the flickering glow of the bonfire. As the mesmerizing dance of shadows played across the walls, Gundo's thoughts went back through the hallway of time, to a meaningful chapter of her life.
"I still remember those days, when you were just a baby," She fondly recalled a time when the idea of motherhood hadn't even crossed her mind.
The concept of raising children seemed distant and bothering, much like the faint outline of a distant mountain peak. Gundo had been a woman of ambition, her thoughts leaned more toward making medicine and finding new things rather than taking care of infants.
And the man she had eloped with, well, he was more of a companion on her wild escapades rather than someone she had imagined sharing a family with.
"When did I even meet that man, I can't properly remember. Maybe it's because he used to be attracted to me that I decided to elope with him, I honestly didn't feel anything for that man, unlike someone else here," She thought as her eyes went back to her beloved son.
It was as if life had been a tapestry painted with shades of indifference until the day Garnt had arrived. The memory of his birth etched itself upon her soul, vivid and beautiful.
The pain of labour had been fierce, a fierce storm that wracked her body, but within that tempest lay a revelation that would forever change the course of her existence.
In the middle of the difficult situation, a loud cry filled the air. The cry was so pure and real that it touched Gundo's heart deeply. She held a tiny, delicate being in her arms. At that moment, Gundo saw something beyond what she could have ever imagined.
It was her child, her own flesh and blood, a wonderful creation of life.
With the tenderness of a new dawn, Gundo's indifference shattered, replaced by a cascade of emotions that surged through her being. She began to grasp the profound depths of love, a love that transcended words, that defied the confines of her once-ambitious spirit.
Garnt had become the bridge upon which her world pivoted, the centre of gravity around which her existence revolved.
And as Gundo gazed at her son, now a peaceful sleeper, she felt the warmth of that gorgeous moment envelop her once again. "Garnt," she whispered, her voice a gentle lullaby woven into the fabric of their shared history.
"You were the one who taught me what it means to love unconditionally, I won't let anything harm you."
"I didn't even feel anything when that man I eloped disappeared, but when you get a smile injury I feel like my whole body is going sick, I guess this is what a family feels like," Gundo remembered about her own family, which she didn't really care about expect her sister and mother.
While Gundo was having her own nostalgia for the old times, Garnt found himself immersed in the recollections of Eva's memories. Through the lens of his mind's eye, he explored the vibrant scenery of this peculiar yet captivating realm, where everything appeared vastly unfamiliar to his senses.
"Eva, what's this place? What are these tall trees that don't even have leaves? And why do these shiny animals carry humans inside them?
Most of all why are they covering their bodies?" Garnt questioned looking out from the window of a huge building, which screamed luxury as it looked like something a millionaire would possess.
[This is the world of my friend that I mentioned earlier, looks there she is]
Her voice was able to give a clear sense of direction to Garnt, so he turned his head to see a blond woman sitting in the bathtub with a dead look in her eyes.
Garnt didn't understand most of the things around her, but even he was able to see how sad this woman was as she kept looking outside from the huge window without even showing any happiness in her eyes.
"She looks sad, is this because of what you mentioned earlier? I feel bad for her," Garnt said, but before he could speak further the woman got up from the bathtub revealing her beautiful and curvaceous body.
She had an amazing perky ass with her blond hair falling perfectly increasing the beauty of her breasts, but Garnt didn't feel anything because he was still a kid. Instead, he was curious to see why this woman was sad and the things around her.
The blond woman took her towel and wrapped it around her body before going to the living room of the luxurious apartment. After drying her hair, she took her office clothes and wore them under her lab coat.
[She is an idiot, don't you think? She lost her family because of her wrong priorities. Look at her eyes, they have no happiness or excitement, Seeing her is enough to give me conniption]
Garnt didn't know how to answer Eva, but he saw how this blond woman kept crying looking at something so he knew Eva was being too harsh on this woman.
"Look! She's not empty, she is crying looking at that thing, Eva, why are you being too harsh on her? This is not like you,"
[Hmm~ you only knew me for two days and you think you know me, you have some guts to assume that, little kid]
Eva looked at the woman, that was holding a photograph of a couple with their daughter, but she quickly ignored it as she went back to her normal way of talking again.
"I know you after all two days are enough for me to tell that you're a good person, after all, you saved me,"
[Naive kid, but I don't dislike that about you. Anyway, it is time for you to wake up, your mother is waiting for you, and remember not to kiss her again since you should only do that with your future partner]
As Eva uttered those words, Garnt's perception of the peculiar visuals began to dissolve, eventually fading into complete darkness. The sensation resembled that of drifting into a dream-like state.
However, this illusion shattered as he slowly reopened his eyes, greeted by the countenance of the woman he had yearned for ceaselessly.
And there she was, none other than Gundo herself, her eyes welled with tears as she gazed at her son rising, getting better from the dangerous wounds he had endured.
"Welcome back, my baby," She said with a smile showing her affection to which Garnt also replied with a faint smile. "I'm home"