Nothing Better (Than You) - English Vers.

¤ Chapter 28

Nate looked around. As far as her eyes could see, only pitch darkness enveloped her. Her legs started to shake. She didn't even know where she stood. Where was he? Was she dead?

"Mummy!"

Then a small hand gripped Nate's hand, pulling her in a certain direction. She followed it, until suddenly she was enveloped in a white light that was so blinding, it made her squint her eyes. As soon as she opened her eyes, Nate was standing in a field filled with colorful flowers. Her bare feet were now standing on the grass.

"Mummy! Come here!"

Nate turned her head and finally saw the boy who was leading her earlier. He has black hair with bright brown eyes. Nate didn't know him, but she felt she had seen him somewhere. The boy brought Nate to play among the flowers and she enjoyed it. For some reason she felt happy there, maybe the happiest feeling she had ever felt.

"Mommy, let's go meet Daddy."

Even though she didn't understand who Daddy he was referring to, Nate still followed him. Again, the boy took Nate's hand until they were in front of a house. Nate frowned because she recognized her parents' house in Brighton. It's just that, there were a lot of plants in the yard, which as Nate remembers should have been pruned since she was in secondary school. Nate started to feel that something was wrong when she saw Annie's four-wheeled bicycle in the yard.

"That bike belonged to my sister when she was little. Dad threw it away a long time ago. Why is that thing still there?" Nate finally asked.

The boy didn't answer. He just pointed to a car that passed by and stopped in front of the house. Nate watched the front door open. She couldn't hide her surprise when she saw little Annie come out of the house and run towards the car. Not long after, there was a sound of crying from inside the house, followed by a four year old girl who appeared at the door.

"I want to come too! I want to come see the animals!"

"Tillie, you're still too little. If you come, you'll end up bothering other people. You just stay at home with Mum, okay? We'll ride bike to the park later."

"I want to go with Annie! I want to see bears!"

Nate squeezed the boy's hand in her grasp. The pain in her chest made her choke. Why should she be reminded by such an event?

The car door was open. A boy around ten or eleven years old got out of the car. He looked so much like the boy beside Nate. Nate watched him run over to Mum.

"Let Tillie come along. I'll look after her later," said the boy as he took the hand of the little girl who was now following him towards the car while smiling broadly. "What do you want to see? Bears? Elephants? There are penguins too, you know!"

Nate turned her head when the boy beside her took her hand again and led her to the side of the house. Nate could see herself—who this time was the same age as the boy who got out of the car earlier—sitting under a tree reading a comic. Not long after, a guy approached her, carrying a stack of novels, and sat beside her. There was a strange flutter in Nate's chest when she recognized him—only he was younger than the man she had always known.

"I'll give all these books to you. Take good care of them," said the guy while patting the pile of books. "I'll go far away to study, but I'll come back later. When that day comes, you'll be my age now—or even older. I'll come here to find you and make you my wife. Promise me you won't marry anyone other than me."

Nate's lips trembled. She cursed herself for only glancing at the guy then sinking back into the comic in her hand. She must have too engrossed in reading at that time that she didn't remember hearing Julian say that to her.