Dreams Upon a Pillow

~ A New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (M. Theresia J.R) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:39:40 PST

I just want to let you know that there's a new blog.

If in case you haven't known, I have written Dave and Lila's story (The Love of a Firefighter) in this blog, but I decided to move their story into a new blog because of the changing in theme (It's intended for mature readers +17) .. and because I want to keep writing both Valentin's story and theirs.

If you haven't read their story yet, don't worry. I have written it in a way so that you can start reading it from the first post or prologue in the new blog.

By the way, I wish the best for everyone who is writing for NaNoWriMo. You all are talented authors, and I believe you will be able to do it. If not then finishing the novel itself is a triumph.

You can start reading the story here:
Prologue
Part One

You can read the synopsis in the Table of Contents. (contains some spoilers)

Ch. 18: Subjugation Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (M. Theresia J.R) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 20:36:34 PST

The sound of his laughter and faint squeals of seagulls blended with the rumbling waves awaken her conscious thoughts. She followed them closely and then the memory returned. It was October 14th, 2002, the day at the time when everything around her enlightened by the golden glow of afternoon light. Her shadow and his melted on the ground. At her left, a tomato plant grew out in their father's garden, sprouting several fruits hanging on the weak branches. Its height was about hers, but it was only a matter of time she would grow taller than the plant. One more year and she was going to turn seven.

"You can’t catch me, Rose!" Valentin barely looked back at her as he shouted in happily rhythm. Together under the clouds, their laughter mingled in the warm breeze rustling between the sunlit leaves. Up above her head, a distinct sound of a plane caught her attention.

“Look!” Valentin pointed toward the sky.

She lifted her left hand and pressed it on her forehead in a kind of salute. “Where?”

“We’re here! We’re here!”

Hopping around in their father’s small garden; their feet crashed against the dry leaves scattered on the ground. The sun radiated heat into their damp eyes. She knew that those passengers sitting in the plane could not see them, but still she jumped around along with him— splashing mud onto her new pink slippers and purple flowery dress. Mommy was certainly going to be mad again at her for blotting her new dress especially bought for that night, but Valentin barely paid enough attentions for that evening either. Dirt remained thick on his cheek. He wiped it off with his sleeve.

“Watch out!”

The gurgling water from the sprinkler and her squeals pushed the bees away from trying to sting her. She covered her face with her palms even though it’s already too late as the ripe tomatoes had reflected the golden light in the chrystal dew upon their red skins.

“Got you.” She patted him on his back, a sign that it was his turn to chase her.

“Rose?” .

“Yeah?”

“D’ know you look so funny from behind?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That I’m gonna get ya.” Valentin ran past her. “Hey, let twisted inside or that stinging bug will kill ya.”

“Kill me.. ?” She shrugged, looking at him scurried off into the house.

Once they were in, they bounced few thumps on the stairs. The pigeon which she had saved when they found it at a lake last Saturday squeaked in its cage as they clunked in their father’s library that used to be a quiet room most of the time. If mommy were around, she would already yell at them. However, she was far away downtown, pampering herself in the new beauty saloon. It wasn’t like her to leave them alone with a babysitter who was chatting on the phone somewhere in the house, but she had spoken about how they should appear nicely at their dinner with the richest family in the town that had finance their father’s research.

"Got you!" Valentin patted her shoulder when she suddenly halted at the view of a bookshelf in their father’s library.

Standing still, she propped up on her toes, gazed up to the second top shelf, lifted her right hand and then traced her index finger on each embossed titles. A..B.., she stopped at a book with no title on it. Her head tilted slightly, eyes widened in astonishment.

“Are you going to read that book?” Valentin turned to her, staring at the book which was quite thick indeed. It had a blue hard cover with a picture of a sun, planets, and stars. “I’d rather go out and play. D’ you actually understand all of these?"

“Nope.”

Her eyes shifted back to the thick book. At a single brush of her fingers, slanting the book from its position in the shelf, a rumble sound and vibration on the floor startled them.

“What’s that?” Valentin balanced himself.

She knew she should have hide under the desk or get out of the house if an earthquake happened, but her feet barely moved, instead her eyes followed the source of the rumbling. Full of disbelief of her own sight, she turned her head to her left. Valentin stood in an awe, dropping his jaw while he was staring at the floor.

“What’s that?”

“A stair?”

“A stairway to where?”

“Dad’s laboratory.”

“Dad’s laboratory?” Rosaline frowned. She only knew her father’s laboratory was in the next room, and until that moment she never knew there was another basement.

“Guess there’s only one way to find out.” Valentin initiated the first step.

“Is it safe?” She pulled his shirt gently, trying to keep him away from going downstairs into the unknown. Her nose smelled the dust from down below.

“It’ll be fun. " He grabbed her by the hand and asked her to follow him. She stopped a moment to fix her slipper. After a long, narrow hall, they met a frosted glass door.

Valentin kicked it open slightly.

“I thought you were supposed to push buttons to open it.”

“Yeah, but obviously Dad forgot to lock it.”

Once they were in, Valentin let her hand go. Apparently he was amazed too by the view in the laboratory. There were a lot of computers, centrifuge tubes, microscope, and laboratory equipments scattered on tables and desks.

“Hurry!”

They stopped at the view of a green chrystal sitting on a glass pedestal.

Although almost invisible, the Chrystal was emitting illuminating green gas inside the transparent box.

“What do you think it is?” Valentin barely looked back at her as he asked her that.

“Dunno. But don’t think it’s OK. “

Suddenly –- with a little laugh at first-- Valentin bowed. One hand clutched at his jacket, the other reached for her as if in a need of help. He knitted his brows as though he was in pain. “Help me, Rose! It’s ...”

“It’s not funny, Val.” Her eyes rolled.

She shook her head for his foolishness and then quickly spun around on her heels toward the door.

“Hold up!” Valentin stopped her from going onward. “Behold ! This is Starship Commander. Surrender or we’re going to target you with our laser beam.”

“Are you calling me?” With a roll of her eyes, she gave up and followed his game. Her shoulders lifted up as she flexed down her muscles.

“What are you trying to be, Rose?” He chuckled.

“Hulk."

“That's funny! Hulk can’t live in outer space, besides you’re not green enough to be Hulk.”

“If I am green won’t you be afraid of me?”

"If you’re green, I’m gonna get you a rose and slip it into yer ear. If you’re not my sister, I promise I’ll marry you someday. Got you! “Valentin patted her shoulder when she was unaware.

“It’s your turn now!” He ran as she followed him closely.

She cornered him till he was confined between singular equipments she had not seen before. When he turned around to her, his elbow shook a table and something like a glass behind him rolled on the table.

“Phew...” Valentin held the neck of the bottle with his left hand and quickly made it stand up again.

“Where’s the lid?”

Their eyes searched for the missing lid, but they couldn't find it.

“Val, what are you doing here? You know your father is going to be angry if he finds out.” Unfortunately, their mother had cornered them with an interrogative look in her eyes.

“We- we’re just playing, mom.”

"Val- "Her mother shook her head and took a deep sigh. “I’m not going to tell your father about this. Now, get into the car. Your father is waiting. “

She followed them closely as they fit into the car. Plump down on her sheat, she clasped her hands nervously for thinking about the missing lid. But perhaps it was okay since they would be back soon before midnight.

Apparently, the clock rotated unusually slow in Mr. And Mrs. Landgraab's dining room.

“Professor, have you heard about Prof. Seethermen’s research? That’s ridicilious. What kind of life genuinely more develop than us in outer space?”

“I may say.“ Her father fixed his glasses as he answered Mrs. Landgraab’s question politely. “Any kind of extraterrerital lifeform might live outer space. As on earth, any creatures would evolve and adapt to their own habitats. There’s a possibility that small life forms like microbes are developing, especially in a universe having more than 100 billion galaxies -- it is unlikely that lifeform only existed on earth. “

“But... can they reach us here... on earth?”

“With the high velocity as they enter the earth, the atmosphere will scorch them out, unless they are very intelligent creatures and have higher technologies than us. In all my opinion, we should avoid these kinds of extratereterial lifeform, because they might endanger our own viability.”

“I supposed so, and we’re not going to invest in that kind of research also. The knowledge would be good for the university, but not in terms of business. Right honey?” Mrs. Landgraab turned her head to her husband who was being quiet all evening. “We are more interested in developing Artificial Intelligency, by the way, how is your research doing, Professor?” asked Mrs. Landgraab again.

“It's almost finish, but I need to make a few more observations. “

“Profesor," Mrs. Landgraab put her fork down. "Time is money, but if you can guarantee about the outcomes, we will sure to invest more. “

“Actually, the medicine will be ready within a week. I need to run a few tests on it. It's running according to the timeline. I would like to ask you a question though, how much money you would ask once you sell it?”

“That’s an early question, don’t you think?””

“I agree, but I need to know the price since it’s after all my research.”

“Okay, I would say about... one thousand simoleons.”

“One thousand? It's higher than the price we originally agreed on. I was hoping you would sell it at a lower price.”

“Alex,” Mrs. Landgraab shook her head with a smile. “You’re a smart scientist, but you must learn about business. Though we’re developing a new medicine, we’re not running a charity foundation. Besides, it will be ten more years and the generic types will be produced soon. Ten more years and people will be able to buy it at a lower price.”

“But-“

Rosaline could hear her father took a deep sigh.

The crackles of fire muffled down their conversation as its golden lights slanted across the expensive silverware she was holding. Staring at it, she felt her eyelids about to close in anytime soon.

“Dad, can I go home now?”

“In a minute, Rose.”

“But-”

The light from the candles upon the table loured as their voices faintly heard. Her forehead almost hit the table, but a touch of her mother's fingers shook her shoulder gently. “Come and see your brother. He’s probably upstairs with Malcolm now.”

She shuffled upstairs with her back hunched and her exhausted legs moved stiff along the staircase. Luckily, her mother was right. Valentin was sitting on a sofa in a family room with Malcolm Landgraab next to him. The beeps from the TV and his laughter and squeals defeated her attempt to divert his attention away from the game.

“Val...?” She yawned very widely. “Can we go home now?”

“Ha-ha-ha... Take that, monster!”

"Val?"

She realized her shouting was pointless because Valentin was being heavily occupied by the game.

“D- do you wanna go home?” Malcolm Landgraab jumped out of his seat and stepped toward her. He spoke in a rather low voice and in an extremely polite manner. “You can take my bike, if you want to.”

Without second thought, she took his offer with a gratitude, even though she knew she should not have left without her parents permission.

“Val..?”

“Yeah?”

“Please tell mom and dad I’m going home earlier.” “

“Eh, Okay...! Ugh! Take that, monster!”

Rosaline shrugged, in spite of the doubt that he had heard her correctly, at least she had informed him about it.

The cold wind gently blew around her face, moistured her skin as she paddled the bike faster. She wanted nothing but to go home and drop her head down on her grizzly bear pillow.

As she arrived in front of her house, a man sat at their front door, sitting on the ground with his legs drawn up to his knees. He punched his forehead with his fist several times.

She dropped Malcolm’s bike on the sidewalk and rushed toward him. Her mom had told her not to speak to strangers, but this man seemed in a need of help, and probably it was safe for her to do it. “Sir, are you lost?”

The man quickly stood on his heels.

“Eh, no. I just need time .... to think.”

She clasped her hands at her back while trying to smile as she looked down to the grass. “D-do you have any home?”

The man observed her closely. “Little girl, has your mother told you not to talk to a stranger?”

“I- I guess you’re a nice... stranger.”

“You think so?”

She nodded lumpishly.

“If – if you’ve got lost, mum says that we should call the police... ask where your mother and father-”

The man chuckled. “Don’t worry, I’m not lost. I’m just confused... of who I really am.” At the end of his statement she stared at him, hardly understood and wondered whether all adults in his age were confused about themselves.

“It’s okay, Sir. Mom said that if we're confused we could take a little time alone and talk to Him. She said that He loved us, just the way we are-- that each of us are unique, that there’s no one who can replace us, ... not even my twin if I have one. She said that I'm precious. You’re precious too, Sir and He cares about you. “

The man smiled for her innocence, but the light in his eyes grew dimly. “It’s not that simple. You’re tired, little girl. Better go inside and sleep. I will be out of this place soon. Soon enough that anyone will not even notice it.”

Rosaline pursed her lips and nodded. “I'm sure someone loves you and you will find what you’re looking for. Good night!”

At the single stroke of her fingers coated the door handle, heat pricked into the blood cells inside her palm.

The Lightning Strike: (i) What If This Storm Ends? by Snow Patrol on Grooveshark

It happened in a speed. The man lifted her body as he ran across the lawn -- harshly pushed her across the sidewalk. The night turned brightly as red flames fused up into the sky. Heat shriveled the palm leaves across the street. The building upstairs collapsed, leaving paltry ruins above stack of charred woods and bricks that used to be the living room. Sun flowers and the bees turned into tiny carcasses.

The man laid on her side, barely moved in spite of her effort to wake him up. She cowered, looking at the blaze scorching her house.

Her trembling fingers covered the man’s cold and stiff hand until drops of tears fell from her eyes, seeping into the man’s skin.

“You-“ The man waft out a breath and rose from the ground.

A sonic boom thundered above them, sweeping off the dust particles upon the ground.

She couldn't believe her eyes as a round, symmetrical oval mass hovered above their heads across the sky, spreading electromagnetic fields circling around their bodies.

The red lights emitted from the nozzle at the bottom of the craft though frightening was beautiful to look at.

A feeling of dread lurked in their chests, “It's... Unbelievable, It couldn't be."

A force stronger than gravity pulled them up closer to the craft that appeared to grow larger as its blackness covered the sky. With her feet dangling up in the air, she ducked her head, covered her ears, and screamed.

The man pushed her down. Her head bumped into the burned-out grass. Her nose smelled the burning fire, and the last thing she remembered was the time when her father, Alex, found her.

To be Continued to Part 2

---------------------------------------------

Cover Pic:

The Departure

noreply@blogger.com (M. Theresia J.R) — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:53:14 PDT

The scenery outside the window invites me to come. I rise from my seat and walk towards it. If there's no glass layer ahead of me, I would let my body be carried away by the wind. Standing at edge of the building, I would look up to the clouds and stretch my hands far apart, feeling the air brushes against my skin: fresh, but mixes with the pollution from the heavy industrial factory. The air felt arid suddenly and pit starts to form in my stomach. Down below are nothing but hot asphalt and a dumpster not very far to the spot where I could fall to.

Don't worry, I'm not going to do a suicide.

I still have Alex, Rose and Val - my babies, and I am still alive. Those are the most important thing that matters... the ones that keep me sane up to this moment, and the good thing is there's still a glass layer holding me from doing the worst.

The fingerprint of my thumb is slowly making its mark on the window. Behind me, laughter and squeals of Rose and Val distract me away. I turn to them and realise how lucky Alex and I are. They're still alive, healthy, cheerful and I couldn't ask for more. They have become my reasons to live -- to be brave to face the things that's been happening now, even though I don't really know what's been happening. Even Alex seems like a stranger to me.

I'm trying to be calmed and pretend there's nothing wrong in front of the children. I love him and I'm worried of him. Ever since our last visit in Italy, there's something going on and I can feel that Alex is hiding something from me. Even that time I found myself in jealousy of my best friend before she let out her last breath. I know there's nothing going on between them. Eve could not have betrayed me, but I can feel that they both were keeping secrets and they seemed so close, discussing things I hardly knew.

And now... he told me that he made a mistake in his lab, something involving chemicals material in a gem. All the medias are spreading about the explosion across the country. Alex has been fired from the Science Facility. Being a scientiest was his dream and still is. They even revoked his patent right which involves the new medicine for cancer.... his hard work for years. Our house is destroyed after the explosion and what's left are only ruins. We have nothing left here, so it would be better if we decided to stay in France especially when all the neighbors who once good friends to ours refuse us to live here. They even stood in front of the hotel where we're staying for a week and held a demonstration there. They felt like strangers to us now. But I must be strong for them...for my little angels. Rose and Val should not experience our frustrations. Let it be only Alex and I who feel it.

"Children!" I call them, but they are still laughing and running around in the waiting room. The sounds from the information desk inform us about the delay making it hard for my weak voice to be heard.

A grandmother sitting on a chair held Valentin's arm, trying to tell him to be quiet and watch TV instead, but it's so apparent that her efforts have no use since Valentin has always been an active little boy, and Rosaline, though, is far more quiet than him, eventually taken along.

"Children!" Still not an answer from them and I finally give up. Rolling my eyes, and as a sigh out from my dry mouth, I scurry off to grab them.

"Val honey, listen, okay?"

Valentin is still wriggling around in my arms, I lock my gaze at him and finally win his full attention for which I'm about to say. "Wait here! I'm going to find your father. Don't go anywhere! Mommy will be here again soon. Watch-over Rose, okay?"

"Okay, mom."

Valentin's green eyes lit up with a smile. He really does remind me of my father. They look so alike and I miss my father. I used to talk to him when things got rough.

"Mom!" Valentin pushes me away as I hold him close. "I'm not five." He grumbles. His grim visage made his cheeks look more chubby and I just want to squeeze him and hold him closer.

"Oh, but you'll always be five in my heart, sweetheart. What's wrong with a mommy's hug, huh?" I kiss his forehead, but I can see how red his face is -- to have seen being kissed by his mommy in the airport. I brush the damp hair off his forehead. "Don't you love your mommy?"

He shakes his head. "I love you, mom." Then, it's his turn to hug me. His small body felt warm and I don't want to let go of him forever.

"Why should we go, mom?" He entreats after pulling himself away from me. "Can't we stay? I'm going to miss my friends, and what about school?"

"Oh, honey." As much as he wants, I don't want to leave this town either. My heart had fallen for it at the same moment Alex put a wedding ring on my finger. Leaving it would be the last thing in my mind, but I doubt that everyone is going to accept us back even when the radioactive's effects have disappeared for good.

"Honey, I know it's too much to ask, but I need you to understand about our situations. Your dad and I agreed that we have to leave Sunset Valley. We cannot stay in our house again, honey. Do you understand that?"

My fingers trace the ice cream stain on his face, wipe them off immediately and then I bow down to clean his shirt, sprucing him a bit. He looks at me with a wonder, full of question, and a bit sad.

"You liked that ice cream? I'm going to buy you more if I have found your father."

Valentin purses his lips and nods. With his hands, he wipes the snot off his nose. I smile and shake my head. "You have to do it with a handkerchief." Pulling a handkerchief from my bag, I help him clean it. But, after a few wipes, I find him sobbing.

"Oh, mon fils." I can't blame him. It's been the tenth time he asked me about it. I should have understood him. He's just too little to understand it. He's going to lose his friends, adapt with a new school, friends, and even culture - and it's not going to be easy for him.

Two pats on his shoulder and his attention is diverted away. Rosaline is standing next to him. I have noticed her a few seconds before when she was bouncing around toward us as her two braids hair waved in the air freely and excitedly. "France!!" She spreads her hands like wings in the air. Butterfly is a perfect word to describe her cheerfulness.

"We're going to meet new friends!"

"Heh, why are you so excited about it?"

Playfully, he pulls her braid hair and then runs away. Rosaline always manages to cheer him up. I don't quite really understand it.

"Val, no running!" but still, they are. I release a deep breath again, nevertheless some of us find cheerfulness in the middle of this and then I find myself looking at Rose again. I hope Eve will be fine with me taking her daughter like my own. Rose always brings happiness to us.

It's been a while I'm standing in the middle of passengers waiting for the announcement of our flight. I look at my watch. Alex has not arrived yet. He told us to go to the airport and he would catch up soon because he has something to do first. But now it's already seven thirty in the evening and still he hasn't arrived yet. I must find him soon before the plane takes off. I'm walking to the information desk and going to wait for him there, but a strong grip pulls my back and a harsh slap hits my cheek until I stagger and almost fall.

"Murderer!" A woman is standing in front of me. Her eyes blaze with hatred. She must be one of them - the demonstrator.

She turns around to the other passengers starting to swarming us with confusion in their eyes.

"This woman here ... ." She said. "Have you any idea because of her and her husband three men have died and- " She turns to me. A pain written on her face. "- and my daughter has just died in a hospital this morning, and not only that, we don't know yet about the effects of the radiation ten years from now. Certainly, it's cancer for sure. Dead cert! Are you just going to let them get away from this easily? They should be imprisoned for what they did." The sounds of crowd murmuring echo inside the waiting room. "Punishment is what they deserve. Devils in disguise, putting a curse to all of us and our grand kids."

The crowds turn silence.

"I know her." A voice wafts out from the corner, a heavy voice of a man standing with his arm on his hip as he was leaning heavily against the wall. "This woman is right." He says and with that all the crowd turn to him.

I hardly see his face because he's wearing a hat and is bowing his head down. His chin overgrows by beards.

"Can you explain how he's going to pay for what he justified as an accident? Your husband should have known that underground lab without full protection is risking others. What can he say now?" He says with a cynical tone. Others follow him and soon it all become a cacophony of people muttering around and angry. The attentions are all on me. Humming to each other, the voices gather into a loud tone piercing into my ear drums. "Yeah, what will he do about it?"

"I'm sorry. " I drawl. "It really was an accident. My husband and I have stated in the press that we are very sorry to have caused such so much chaos, but my husband has -"

I shake my head to diminish the trembling and to let the words out correctly.

"He has stated that the vaccine is going to prevent the cancer and herbal medicine is going to be the perfect cure. I promise you that we are going to be responsible about it and we will find a solution to it."

"How?!"
"How would you do that?"
"We're not going to know about the effects, not until after ten years later."
"Why is it only your family that's safe? Why ours?"

"Wait!" A man, probably in his forty, diminishes the voices. "Listen! I think she's right. It really was an accident. They are not guilty because of it. Besides, they have made an apology to the press and told us they are going to find the solution soon. What more could we ask for?"

His words put them into silence, but it doesn't last when the woman who fired up the feud shouts out again. "Don't listen to him! It would only be fair if she and her husband are put into the prison. Blood must be paid with blood. There's law that they must be obeyed as we all do, right?"

"Yeah, right." Her words trigger others to respond.

"She's right!"

The voices are getting higher while the crowd is growing larger - cornering me until I feel like a small ant ready to be trodden by their feet. Looking at the their eyes, I can only cover my mouth, but my lungs scream for oxygen. I desperately need it. I need to escape and find my husband and my children soon. My back bumps against the wall and I am sinking into the remembrance of the explosion in that evening. It should not have happened, but it wasn't our fault. It has to be not. But, it was. As much as I'm screaming in my heart, our hands had already been tainted by blood, though invisible ...and not by knife. We are murderer now. The explosion should not have occurred in the first place.

I couldn't even face my own child's stare as he's looking at me in frighten and confusion. This is not your fault, honey.

"This is not our fault."

"Helen, are you alright?" Alex holds me and lifts me up, but my knees are already shaking. I cannot find the strength to stand on my own feet. Leaning against him, I still see Valentin and Rosaline holding each other's hands in fear. The airport police are making body fences to protect us from the other passengers. They even have secured the woman and have taken her away.

I find myself burying my face in Alex's chest.

"I'm sorry, honey."

"It'll be okay. We'll go home... to France. I'll fix this. I promise."

"Run" by Snow Patrol

-------------------------------------------------

Notes: This is the time when Alexander and his family must leave Sunset Valley after the explosion occurred in his lab. I have finished written this months ago... but haven't published it until now. It's supposed to be the prologue, but few things being hidden in the previous chapters are mentioned here. It's connected to Chapter 5 - Her Questions and also first parts of the story : "Our Life in Sunset Valley." It's been so long, I almost forgot where I put the file. I even thought that I have to re-write it. I did re-write it, but only changed it to be first person narration. And, oh, I made a poll. Please choose :) Thanks!