I looked at the house. How come I didn't noticed it earlier? It was the next one to mine.
"What's this? Why are you looking so empty?"I asked the old house as I went to the backyard.
Right next to the house, under the window on the right, grew tall a tree. An apple tree. It leaned towards the house, spreading his branches towards the dark window. I took some steps towards it and I touched the tree.
"You're lonely, aren't you? Sorry for stop visi-"
I stopped. Why was I...apologizing to that tree? Why was I feeling that something happened there before? Something...
Shaking my head I distanced myself from the tree. It was pure craziness! I never saw that tree in my life and there I was, trying to apologize to it! But then again an idea came into my mind, making me stop and slowly turn towards the backdoor. It was...I sneaked and grabbed the door knob. It was old and the lock gave in. The door opened itself with a quiet creak.
"Now I'm a thief!"I whispered to myself, unable to stop myself from steping inside.
The air was stiff and I could smell the dampness. The corridor was dark and dusty, making me sneeze at each step. I tried turning on the lights, but there was no electricy power. "They must have left it a long time ago,"I mumbled as I stepped inside a quiet room. All the furniture was covered in white sheets and the windows had newspapers glued to their glass. It gave me a feeling of loneliness and sorrow...
"I wonder where they left to..."
Instead of stopping and going back home, I continued my 'quest'. I slowly discovered the kitchen and study room. The second one was empty. An empty room, with lots of empty shelves. All those books...the walls were the only ones that gave the feeling that in there, someone stood, read a book or wrote a letter. It hurt me to see it so...quiet and emotionless, so I left and closed the door behind me.
"Why...am I doing this anyway? Seung Ho, what you are doing now is called trespassing!" But even so I continued.
The staircase was another place full of dust and spider webs. Upstairs were 3 closed doors. None of them had the slightest sign of being lived in. But one of them gave me some sort of feeling. I could call it anxiety. I could call it...deja-vu. I could call it in many ways. The point is that I was drawn to it like I was to the tree outside, like I was to the red tree. So I approached it. I took a deep breath and pressed the knob...
"Let's play pretend!"exclaimed a little girl with her long, wavy hair going down her back. "I'll be the mother."
"And that makes me what?"replied a kid frowning. "I want to be the mother! You're always the mother! Why can't I be the mother? I was the brother, the dog, the child...I want to be the mother too!"
"You can't,"asnwered the little girl shaking her head. "Only girls can be mothers. But you can be the father today."
"I don't want to! I want to be the mother!"
"But if you're the mother then you can't be the father! And if you're not the father, then you can't be my...my...my..."
"Your? Your what?"asked the black haired kid, turning his curious eyes towards the girl.
"Well, you can't be my husband!"she stomped her foot.
The kid chuckled. "And you want me to be your husband?"
"Well, that's pretty obvious since I told you to be the father..."
Her voice faded away as I stepped closer to the window. Instinctively, I opened it. I was right! The rays of light entered the room, showing it to me in her rags, but more beautiful than anything I ever saw. It was full of electricity and rainbows.
"So this is where you were trying to get,"I smiled, touching the leafs of a branch that was really close to the window.
Still smiling, I turned around and let my look wander around the room. That's when I saw it. On the bed that was covered with a dusty linen stood a stuffed toy wrapped in time-yellowed cellophane. The cellophane had a blue ribbon attached to it, which attracted me more than the stuffed toy inside it. I touched the velvet ribbon, but then my eyes laid on the toy inside. It was a light brownish teddy bear that was proudly wearing a red, velour vest.
"I lost it. I lost Baba,"cried a kid with his eyes red from crying.
"Don't worry. I'll find it for you!"smiled a black haired girl, taking his hand. "I will. I promise you I will."
My lips curved into a smiled. "Baba...you must have waited for so long for me to come after you,"I muttered as I hugged the the teddy bear.
The I saw it. The small note that fell on the floor. I took it into my hand. It was written with blue ink and the papers was yellow. Maybe too much time passed over it, maybe it waited there for too many years.
"Seung Ho, I promised you, didn't I?
"Yeah, Mi Rae, you did. Thank you,"I whispered, pressing the note against my chest, to the place where I could feel my heart beat.
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