Syf didn’t know if his story was tragic. But personally if he was asked, he would give it a rating of five out of ten. The others after having listened to his story were looking at him as if he were a ghost.

  There was absolute pin-drop silence in the room. Mom was grief-stricken and had clasped her hands around her mouth; his dad was looking with grave eyes. His sister was sobbing while pressing her lips together. While Syf was still in his own world.

  Syf chuckled. “I hope it wasn’t bad.” He didn't understand why he decided to tell them everything. With every word he uttered, his conscience warned him not to speak anymore. Because it was, after all, what made Syf.

  On his way home, he had a lot of time to contemplate what he did in his past. Apparently it hurt him a little less. He considered himself responsible for what he had to go through. He had that much conscience, after all.

  Syf was waiting to get reprimanded by his parents, but mostly his mom. It was acceptable to him. He would rather not enter the expedition carrying the guilt.

  His decision was right. He had decided that he was going.

  Syf was still halfway immersed in his stories when someone leaped at him. His immersion immediately broke away, and he looked as his mom hugged him.

  “Oh, baby. I didn’t know you had to go through so much.” Mom shook with tears. Which mom wouldn’t do so, considering her own child had to go through this much when her child was just 21 years old?

  “You don’t need to do so. I am fine, Mom. " Syf spoke, but internally he was quivering. He knew if he broke here, he would remain a coward, a failure all his life.

  Mom separated soon, but someone else took her place. It was her sister, bawling her eyes out.

  “Brother. Why did you never tell me about it?" Isolle asked.

  “I wouldn’t dare to bother you, silly.” Syf said jokingly.

  “You are really heartless.” Isolle jokingly punched him in the chest. Syf was caught unaware and cried.

  "Ouch, it hurts.”

  “You deserve it.”

  After Isolle went back to her place. Syf saw his mom looking at him with stern eyes, the moisture still apparent. While Father remained silent the entire time, his eyes, though, had turned red.

  “You never thought of telling us before. Did you think we were that useless?" Dad said suddenly.

  Even Syf sat there stunned. He let his gaze turn downward. Useless?

  “I never thought of you guys like that. It was just my stubbornness at that time. Nothing else," Syf finished.

  A few minutes later. His dad stood up and went back to the kitchen along with Mom. They both returned after they were done making stuff.

  “Don’t think you are escaping punishment.” Mom said suddenly.

  “Mom.”

  “You will accompany Dad for tomorrow's errands. And this will not be all.” It was full and final. He could see it in their expression.

  In return, Syf had no complaints.

  ***

  The next day, as per his promise, Syf went shopping with his dad. It was still raining heavily, so they had to wear raincoats to protect themselves. They went on their pickup van.

  The stuff related to picking groceries and other essentials was mostly boring. But Syf was enjoying it. It has been ages since he last went with his dad. With rain, the stores were less crowded. The seller himself lamented that the rain was rotting his vegetables. His dad purchased vegetables, but not in large amounts. It was still a significant weight when all was put together, as Syf had to carry it himself.

  "Dad, can’t you get the car over here?" Syf said with exertion.

  “Of course not, son. Sometimes, you need to take in the weight of real things.” Dad said cryptically and delightfully as if he were enjoying Syf's struggle immensely.

  Next, they went to the supermarket to purchase basic ingredients like flour, oil, spices, condiments, etc. Unlike the vegetable market, the supermarket was filled with people. The cashier greeted his father, who returned the greeting. After loading a cart full of various items, they both returned to the counter.

  “Mr. David, you didn’t have to come here. We would have delivered it to your restaurant anyway.” The cashier said.

  “Oh no, it isn’t a problem. I decided to take some time outside in the rain." David said thoughtfully and asked Syf to carry over the stuff. He grudgingly just did that.

  After packing everything into the back of the van, they got back. The roads were empty, and since the duo were not saying anything to each other, the silence was loud.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “What do you think of our town? Dad asked suddenly while driving.

  Syf had never considered the question. And he particularly didn’t understand where his dad wanted to go with this.

  “It is peaceful, unlike the city.” He replied after a few seconds.

  Dad grunted in understanding before falling silent again. Syf waited again for his next question, which soon came.

  “You know I had also worked in the city. Before settling back here in this town. I did it because your mom was pregnant with both of you. It was a mutual decision from both of us. We had some money while working in the city, and we knew it was a gamble. However, we took that gamble. A restaurant of our own. It was a dream of ours," Dad said with emotion.

  Syf just nodded beside him.

  “You see, Syf, it isn’t bad to sometimes just stop and rethink where you want to go from here. Dreams are a gift that is meant for everybody. Yours shouldn’t end with just making money. Realize that.” His dad was talking weird.

  His words were wasted on someone like him. What did it matter? He was sure he would fail even if he did that.

  Dreams. He had one of those. But that was it.

  “I want to let you know, Syf. That we are with you, even if you consider us a burden.”

  Syf was exasperated. “This isn’t it, Dad.”

  “Let me talk.” He said in a tone that left no compromises.

  David’s eyes softened. “You are young, Syf; you will get countless more chances throughout your life. I know you feel like I am talking rubbish with you. And you won’t realize it just yet.”

  “What do you want me to do?” Syf asked. He didn’t know where his dad was going with this.

  “Wait, let yourself stop for a bit and enjoy. Be with us for the next few days. Even if you don’t want to. Do it for your mom; you don’t know what she has gone through.” Dad slowed his car down and finally parked it on the side. He turned to look at Syf. “Will you promise me that?”

  Syf thought over it. It wasn’t like he had anywhere else to go. Looking at the rain, he realized it was better to enjoy the last few days with his family.

  “Fine. I will do so.”

  “Thank you.” Dad thanked him before continuing driving.

  “You don’t need to thank me. I was going to stay here, even if you didn’t say that.”

  “I know son. I know.”

  Visiting the market for shopping was just the first step. Over the next two days, Syf continued to do miscellaneous things with his family. Isolle had specially asked her professor to grant her leave, and he had generously done so.

  So both of them were by the lakeside. The rain had made the surface slippery. Making their steps cautious and slow. It was one of the places he used to visit when he was just a teenager. And that was ages ago for him. Seriously considering becoming a monk would have been a good choice for Syf. He would go around preaching dharma to others. That way he could go around frolicking and wasting his time.

  “I am not going to sit here. Alright.” Isolle warned, looking at all the water coming down from above and turning all the soil sloppy. The surrounding water has increased by a meter or so. It was rare for it to have not flooded yet.

  “Who is asking you to do so?” Syf retorted.

  “You know it would have been better if we had brought a fishing kit with us.” Isolle suggested.

  “And risk getting shouted away. No way.”

  “That’s the first thing you think of, really? Going around showing it to our parents. I was talking about sneaking it. Seriously, your intelligence has gone by a mile.” Isolle sighed regretfully.

  “Really. Then let me show my intelligence to you.” Syf went forward trying to chase her, but before he could do so, he slipped, and mud fell all over his body.

  Isolle started laughing.

  “Great. By the way, do you have any way of hiding it from Mom? " Syf feared his mom more than anything else. If she saw him going around lakeside in the middle of continuous rain. Which was very dangerous, by the way; he wouldn’t stop with getting an earful for it.

  And what he feared had come true when he returned home. Syf accepted his fate, as his mother continued to scold him for over an hour. By the end of it, even he was feeling a headache, let alone his mother, who had to drink some hot water to calm her throat. There was one thing that he was thrilled about: Isolle wasn’t spared either.

  The next day was spent cooking in the kitchen. Syf and Isolle had turned into a waiter and waitress for the restaurant, while Ellen and David worked in the kitchen. The crowd was at its maximum because it was Sunday and it was raining outside. People thought it was better to spend some time in the restaurant. A good time to enjoy some moments with their families.

  The rush was so great that he didn’t have time to think of anything else. By the end of the day, when he reached his bed, he was so exhausted that he could sleep just by lying on it. But he stopped himself. Syf took out the phone and opened the [Flickering Horizons] app.

  [Remaining Time: 0:20:32:59]

  Good things must come to an end.

  It was all the time he had left with his family. His mind reeled through many things, and before he could realize it, he had fallen asleep.

  Syf opened his eyes in the middle of the night, hearing the scream from Isolle next door. Even when he felt lethargic. His eyes shot open immediately. He quickly rushed out of bed to reach her room. His parents had already reached the door before him and opened it. From their expressions, he could see they weren’t panicking. Syf sighed in relief; fortunately, it wasn’t anything significant.

  He reached them and asked what was going on, to which his mom made a disgusted face. Seeing that she didn’t respond back to him, he turned around to look for his sister, who was standing on her bed with a pillow in her hand.

  Her hands were raised low to hit whatever came toward her. It might have been a house lizard or some kind of insect. His eyes zoomed in on where she was looking, and he finally found the culprit.

  In the corner of the bed, a mouse had stopped with both its hands in front, touching its whiskers. It was shaking, as far as he could understand, and even with Isolle’s threatening gaze, it wasn’t moving anywhere else.

  “Someone catch it!” Isolle said with a loud voice as she realized all of us were just standing there, watching the show.

  “Alright.” Syf scratched his head. It was too much work to meddle in the middle of the night.

  A few minutes later.

  Four pairs of eyes were intently watching as the mouse continued to devour the food they had given. It was almost unexpected for everyone. He thought he might have to go through too much struggle to catch the mouse. But even as he had approached it, the mouse refused to budge. It let Syf spread his hand around its body. Its calm behavior almost made Syf doubt himself.

  “Isn’t that too easy?" Syf turned around for affirmation from others. Who nodded in affirmation. He put it inside the cage. They gave it food and water, and it didn’t take long for the little guy to complete its meal. However, even as it finished, its trembling didn’t reduce.

  “Is it sick?” Isolle asked with concern. Syf looked at her, stupefied, thinking, Weren't you the one screaming earlier? How come you are calm now?

  “Let’s wait for a day and see. It might be feeling sick due to rain.” Dad said, before everyone went back to sleep.

  Syf opened his eyes in the morning without needing any alarm. His heart was beating fast. He was unsure if it was due to fear, excitement, or simply anxiety.

  [Remaining Time: 0:9:11:36]