| Fan Fiction |
by magnolia_sara
Myolie starts to run, but a hand stops her by pulling on her arm. It is the middle-aged woman that stops her. She says, “Little girl. Did I scare you? Why running away so quickly?” Myolie tries to free herself from the grip. As a result, Bosco falls down onto the sand. He yelps for help.
Myolie turns back and wants to go help Bosco get up. However, the woman is already standing beside Bosco. She carries him into the house. Myolie tries to impede her, but at the end she reluctantly follows them into the cottage.
The interior of the cottage is quite dark. It’s only lighted by two candles. The woman puts down Bosco on a wooden chair and goes around to light additional candles to brighten the room. She closes the door of the cottage. Almost instantaneously, the sky starts to pour. The rain is very heavy that it creates great noise on the rooftop. It looks like the small cottage will collapse in any second.
Myolie and Bosco are still confused of what’s going on and who is this person standing before them. The woman seems to know what they are thinking about. She starts to introduce herself, “You can call me Mei Yee (Mei Aunt). I live here all by myself for...hm....quite awhile already. I am not a ghost, if that’s why you flee when you saw me.” She touches her chin to show that she is a human. [There is an old Chinese belief of ghosts don’t have chins]
Myolie relaxes after hearing Mei’s words. Mei starts to go check on Bosco’s leg. Bosco groans in pain as Mei touches his leg. He says, “Hey. Better be careful!”
Mei hits Bosco’s leg and says, “Young man, it’s just a tiny bit of pain. What’s all the fussing about?” She walks away and returns with a box and two wooden boards. Myolie takes a seat across from Bosco and stares curiously at Mei. The rain continues to pour heavily outside.
Mei pulls up Bosco’s trousers to his knee. She opens her box and takes out a tiny circular container. She uncaps the container and starts to spread the dark ointment that is inside the container onto Bosco’s leg. She asks while she works on Bosco’s leg, “So, why are you two out here? You two look like to be living in the city. Why come wandering in this place?”
Myolie answers frowningly, “We were actually lost inside the forest. And this person right here got his leg hurt that I have to carry him around. We were trying to find a place to rest for tonight, and will try to find our way out tomorrow morning. It’s lucky that we found this place.” She nods her head and says, “Thank you for letting us in.”
Mei finishes putting the ointment on Bosco’s leg. She positions the two boards on the sides of his leg, and uses a roll of bandage to wrap around the boards and the leg. She replies to Myolie, “Hm...I see. It’s fine for you two to stay for the night. I seldom have any visitors. It’s good to finally have someone come over and cheer up the house. Oh! You haven’t told me your names yet. I would like to know gladly.”
Myolie says, “My name is Myolie. As for this guy, he is Bosco.” Bosco makes a face at Myolie.
Mei packs up her box and puts it back on top of a cabinet. She says, “Alright. I think you two must be hungry. I will cook some food for you two. But Myolie, you got to help me.”
Myolie shouts as she stands up, “Okay!”
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While Myolie and Bosco have escaped from the rain, Julian and Charmaine are not as lucky. They are soaked from the rain, and the rain keeping falling and falling. The villagers start to run back to the village. One of them asks Charmaine and Julian to leave as well, but Julian doesn’t want to leave.
Charmaine decides to stay with Julian. The villager abandons them there alone in the forest. Julian keeps calling Bosco’s name frantically, but his voice is covered by the sounds of the rain. He suddenly trips down onto the slippery ground. Charmaine immediately rushes to help him get up. She persuades him, “Julian. Let’s go back to the village. It’s useless for us to run around the forest now with the rain. We will continue the search tomorrow. Please!” She stresses on the last word.
Julian finally gives in. They walk slowly back to the village........
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They are back in the village.
Kenix has healed Michael’s snake bite wound. The wound wasn’t that serious as the snake is not poisonous. She sends him to the medical hut for the night.
It’s almost one in the morning. Most of the people have gone to sleep. They are exhausted from the search. Not everyone has fallen asleep though. Julian is still awake. He is sitting next to a small window, looking at the rain outside. His mind is restless.
Charmaine passes his room, and turns back as she sees him seating there. She knocks on the door. Julian looks at her and motions her to come in.
They are inside Joe’s old house. Joe lets them stay for the night.
Charmaine sits down next to Julian. She is holding a cup of hot milk that Kenix has made for her. She hands it to Julian and says, “Try this. It will help you to have a good night sleep.”
Julian says thanks and takes hold of the cup. He puts it down on the floor right in front of him. He looks out at the window again, and says, “Wonder when the rain will stop?”
Charmaine replies, “I don’t know. It seems that it is going to rain all night.” She studies Julian’s face. She is troubled by his expression, which seems like his soul is lost. She understands what he is feeling right now. If it is now her brother that is lost in the forest, she will probably become crazy already. She signs softly, and says, “Are you just going to sit here all night and stare at the window to wait for Bosco’s return?”
Julian replies shortly, “I can’t sleep.”
Charmaine is disappointed and angered by his answer. She scolds him, “Why? I know you are worried. But if you don’t sleep, then you won’t have enough energy to go find Bosco. How will you help the situation to just sit here all night, except probably catch a cold at the end. If you become sick yourself, who is going to find Bosco?”
Julian raises his eyes and looks at Charmaine, He has never seen her this angry, but he knows that she is right. He has to at least get some rest in order to keep on going. Strangely, he feels kind of happy hearing Charmaine scolding him. At least he knows that she cares for him.
Charmaine gets up and starts to leave the room, but Julian holds onto her wrist. He says softly, “I’m sorry. Please just stay for a moment. I have something to tell you.”
Charmaine slowly turns back and resumes her seat beside Julian. However, she keeps frowning and pretending to be mad.
Julian takes a deep breath, and then explains why he is worried-sicken. He tells Charmaine about the cause of his sister’s death, and how he could not save her. He also reveals how his second mother, who is David’s second wife and Heidi’s mother, died when her daughter passed away. Heidi and her mother’s deaths had hurt his family too dramatically. Julian cannot even think of what will happen if Bosco is also lost to the family.
Charmaine is astounded by such sad story. She bites her lips, and say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you also had a sad childhood, but...” She pauses, and suddenly says sadly, “Mine is...even worse.” She stares at the rain outside and continues, “My father, my mother..., and even my brother. They all passed away when I was really, really young. They are all gone suddenly.” Her eyes are red as she says the last sentence.
Julian takes out a tissue and starts to wipe off Charmaine’s tears. Charmaine wants to take hold of the tissue at the same time. Their hands touch. Julian immediately pulls his hand back and says uneasily, “Sorry.”
Charmaine wipes her tears and side-glances at Julian’s embarrassed look. That delights her mood. She smiles weakly and says, “My point is...we have to be optimistic about everything. Despite the loss of those that I loved the most, I still managed to live till today. It’s because I have faith. I believe there is always hope. And I certainly believe that Bosco and Myolie are safe right now, probably even eating a nice warm meal at the same moment we are talking. And plus, I think them two are smart enough that we don’t have to worry about them.” She looks at her watch, and starts to get up. “I think it’s getting really late. You better go to sleep now after drinking the milk. Goodnight.” She walks slowly toward the door.
“Charmaine.” Julian calls. She turns back and looks at him.
He says, “Thanks a lot!”
Charmaine grins, and says, “No problem.” She closes the door behind her.
Julian picks up the cup and puts it toward his lips, and to his surprise, the milk tastes exactly like what his heart is feeling right now...it is sweet!
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Myolie rolls in her bed as she cannot fall asleep. Not faraway from her is Mei snoring noisily. Myolie gets up from her temporary wooden bed, and sneaks soundlessly out of the room. She closes the door lightly.
She walks to the storage room, where Bosco should be sleeping. She opens the door and peeks in. Bosco is seating on his bed and scanning around the room. His eyes fall to the opened door, and the sight of Myolie’s head startles him. He says, “Hey-“ Myolie immediately rushes forward and covers his mouth, stopping him from finishing his sentence. She says, “Shhh....!”
Myolie goes back and closes the door of the storage room. She then grabs a chair and put it beside Bosco’s bed. She sits on it and says, “You should keep it down, or else Mei Yee will get up and scold us.”
Bosco replies, “But then why did you come into my room?”
“And why aren’t you sleeping when I open the door?” Myolie asks. They chuckle at their questions. Of course they both know the answers to the questions. They cannot sleep in this foreign place with uncomfortable beds, along with the sounds of the rain outside.
Myolie suggests, “Let’s talk, but quietly.”
“Alright.” Bosco answers.
They talk and talk. Their conversations include a lot of things, from family, school, to hobbies and TV shows. They enjoy the conversations very much. For the first time, they do not argue while they communicate. There is even soft laughter in the room.
And it is certainly a good start.............