h.e.l.lo. A new chapter. I hope you enjoy reading. By the way, comments and error corrections will be greatly appreciated.
Alyanna Rohan’s POV
Where: In the street
I walked back to the house while weeping. "Now what will I do?" I don"t know how to live by myself. I"m penniless… There’s also another issue. I can no longer attend college!
When I get into our house, I finally felt the pang of hunger and fatigue. While sighing, I thought to myself, "At least I still have a home."
I fell deep into my thoughts when I realized that I have to plan. I can"t possibly let my heart wallow in too much depression.
The only salable stuff left in the house were those in my room and the table set they had used to block my room"s door.By myself, I carried those things downstairs. Now, all that’s left are my few sets of clothes.
"After selling all of these, I’ll use the money to search for jobs."
In my mind, I started drawing up some plans. But of course, I already etched in my heart the foremost vow of hunting my shameless scoundrels of relatives! Without fail, I will retrieve from them all that belong rightfully to me!
"Ay, my goodness!" Suddenly, our landlady popped out of nowhere, exclaiming in surprise after she saw the current situation. "Hey, where are the other furnitures and things in your house? Where"s your "good" aunt?"
I felt nervous when I said, "They left…"
"Son of!!!! Your household"s debt to me is so big! For three months, your aunt kept on delaying the payment. You all owed me the water bill, electric bill, food and so many others, and take note, with your house in mortgage! Then after that you"re all going to escape?!!!"
Suddenly all the weight on my shoulders got heavier… Don’t tell me… If Aunt and them haven"t paid the landlady, then…
"How are you going to pay me everything? I can"t let all those debts not be collected!"
I thought I"ve already cried all of my tears but here they are again, starting to rain down. "I don"t know where to get the money to pay you." I knelt down. "Even I, I don"t know how I will be feeding myself from now on. Please give me time, I"ll find them and then I"ll search for some ways to return everything we owed."
"d.a.m.n it, Alyanna!" She eyed all my belongings. "Even all your remaining possessions are nowhere enough to compensate me! My goodness!!! My head"s aching because of you!"
I attended to her but… "I know you"re also planning to escape from me. Hand the money now!"
"I"m penniless… I"m totally broke!"
"Pay or else I"ll put you to jail!"
"I"ll definitely return the money, please believe in me and give me more time." I said that while slowly backing away. Actually I know this landlady is not so big-hearted to let me get by. Surely, she"s going to bring me to the precinct.
That"s why when chance presented itself, I seized it and then immediately ran away.
"d.a.m.n you, Alyanna!!!! I"ll report you to the police!!!"
Without bringing anything with me, I ran away with all my might.
Right now, I"m still busy catching my breath. I don"t know anymore where I ended up to. All I know is – I had successfully gotten away. The soles of my feet have so many wounds now. Since I fell down a few times, my knees ended up bruised. I fell so weakened and tired. Also, my tears didn"t stop falling.
"Mom… dad…" Help me please…
It"s already dark and I can no longer think straight. Yesterday, I thought I would finally be happy. This should have been the day when I could have finally retrieved all the inheritance left by my parents.
However, like bubbles disappearing in thin air, all of my dreams vanished in an instant. My dreams of living well, my dreams of living in happiness… I don"t know anymore what I should do, nor how to get a job.
It begun to rain… and it rained heavily too. I looked up the sky. Of course I can"t see any star or light. And dearie me, even this heaven is giving me problems! Now, I"m all soaked up and trembling.
I noticed that I was actually walking on a bridge… my mind"s afloat yet still clear. "That’s… it? Is this what would end all my burdens?" I"m still crying but it"s not even obvious now because the raindrops keep on hitting my face.
"Mom… dad… No more. I miss the two of you so bad, and I also can"t bear the weight in my shoulders anymore." I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Now, I feel ready… to die.
Slowly, I feel the heaviness of the air, and the readiness to fall from the bridge. I"m already praying in my mind. In case the heaven rejects me after this, at least I hope I’ll be permitted to see my parents for the last time.
"Hey!!!" Someone pulled on my clothes which in turn halted my jump. "My goodness, you brat! You want to commit suicide?" A shabby-looking old man stopped me.
"Leave me alone! Go away! I want to die!" I plan to once again jump but he stopped me once again.
He"s old, but he"s strong!
"Why are you so stubborn! Do you know how deep the river you are planning to jump into?"
"I don"t care. The deeper it is, the better. That will ensure my death!!!"
When I shouted that to him, he slapped me hard. "Be courteous! I"m older than you!" Then he continuously hit me with his broken umbrella. "Does it hurt? Ha!!!" His strikes kept on getting stronger. "Now, have you come to your senses!?"
I don"t recognize him at all and I can"t understand why he"s meddling with me. However, I can feel his concern despite his scolding and beatings.
We sat down on the corner where the rain can"t hit us. "Who told you you can end your life as you please? You don"t have any right for that!"
"I"m just returning the life lent to me." As I replied that, the old man hit me on the head.
"Don"t play with your words! No matter how big your problem is, you should never resort to suicide!" I stared at him. "Look at me, even though I"m living in the streets, I"m still enjoying life!"
"How could I be happy when I have so many problems that are now piled up high. When my parents pa.s.sed away, I was slaved around by my relatives. I accepted that because I thought I will be rising again someday. But they robbed the money left for me by my mom and dad when I should have been able to claim it today. Now, it"s impossible to continue my studies. Worst of all, I might be chased by the police because they left a huge debt on my head." After saying this, I covered my face using my hands.
"How am I going to live now!!! I don"t even have a clue where to begin again! I want to find a job but no one"s gonna hire me! My life is now worthless!"
"Sigh!" That’s what he reacted while listening to my sad and bitter life story. "Youths these days, a simple problem is enough to weaken their resolve."
I know he"s already old, with heaps of experiences which could be possibly worse than mine, but he can"t blamed me!
Out of the blue, he fished something out of his pocket. He handed me a clean white handkerchief. Now all I want to ask is how he managed to produce a DRY and CLEAN handkerchief from his wet pocket.
After that, he also gave me a piece of folded paper. "Here. Read it."
I opened the folded paper and saw that a name and address were written. "Brylle Zaffiro? Who"s this?"
"The question is, do you know where"s that address?"
Actually, the place was familiar to me. "It"s easy to find… but why would I go there?"
"You want a work, right? Go to that place." He stood up. He"s probably leaving but I still have many questions.
"A job? This person can give me one? What would that be? Also, how did you know about this…?"
"You"re asking too much! Just go!" He widened his steps but I still went after him.
"Wait… wh-what"s your name?" I politely asked. His handkerchief is still with me.
When he glanced back at me, a sudden thunder and lightning flashed by. It only lasted for a moment but when I opened my eyes after briefly closing it, the old man was nowhere to be found.
"Where are… eh? Sir Grandpa?" I searched for him but I didn"t find him. I stared down on the paper he gave to me…
"Brylle Zaffiro…"
Who is this person? Can he really help me?