Opening my eyes, I found myself on the bed where Mom and I sleep. Looking around, I saw Mom sitting near the bed with worried eyes. Before I could say anything, a sudden pain assaulted my head.
Holding my head with both hands, I screamed.
"Argh! Hhhh..."
It was too painful to bear, as if a pair of giant tweezers were squeezing my head. A sudden influx of memories started flooding into my brain like a storm.
Zeun's irises reddened, with a light crimson flickering within them. His pupils constricted, and deep, black abyss-like holes appeared in them, as if ready to devour any approaching light. The white portion of his eyes darkened, followed by black blood tears dripping from his cheeks.
Helena was frightened. A pained expression appeared on her delicate, beautiful face. She couldn't help but rush towards her son and hug him tightly to her chest.
A few minutes later, his eyes cleared. I looked into Mom's eyes. There was a calmness mixed with maturity in those deep red eyes, and an obvious worry, craving nothing but her son's well-being.
Seeing this, my heart warmed, and a beautiful, cute smile appeared on my face.
"Son, are you okay?"
"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine, just a bit sad about Father," Zeun replied with a sad smile.
"....."
She could see the vibe around her son had changed. The earlier naivety in his eyes was now replaced with a deeper maturity and something darker, more sinister. But deep down, she knew it was still her son, as his gaze completely shifted when he looked at her. His eyes filled with nothing but love and care, respect, pride, and deep worry for her. Unsure what he might have seen from his memory, Helena, with a slight smile, ruffled Zeun's hair. "Don't worry, your father is always watching us from the sky. Now cheer up, because I have good news for you."
I looked at her with slight surprise. She had never been this gleeful after Father's death. "What is it, Mom?"
"You're going to be a big brother from now on," Helena said with a playful smile.
"..."
"WHAAAT?!" Shocked, I never expected anything like this because of my past experience with my younger sibling, who always used to misbehave with my past self. Zeun didn't know how he should feel.
His beautiful mother, whom he was madly in love with—maybe parental love or maybe sometimes even more, crossing the line—Zeun was unclear whether he loved her as a parent or as a woman. A stinging pain assaulted his heart.
Calming himself down, Zeun asked with a serious face, "Did you secretly marry someone without me knowing, or... Ouch, ouch, ouch! It hurts, Mom!"
Seeing her son's ideas running wild, Helena pulled his ears and twisted them, interrupting his sentence. "Young man, you have many wild thoughts despite your young age. Thinking like this about your mother!"
With a light chuckle, Helena looked into her son's clear, gem-like eyes with affection. Seeing her son's complicated gaze, she understood what he was thinking. When she saw a slight jealousy and possessiveness in her son's gaze, Helena's heart felt warm.
She smiled, embracing Zeun's face between her ample bosoms, and replied, "Your father gifted me with his essence, which was stored in a magic bottle. Using that bottle, I wanted to give you a sister."
Lifting his head with a delighted smile, Zeun exclaimed, "So I'm going to be an elder brother from now on! Wow! I'm really looking forward to it!"
It was already evening, so we had dinner and went to sleep. As usual, I crawled into Mom's bed, but today I was quite embarrassed. As a (19+4)-year-old boy, sleeping with a beautiful lady felt awkward. Honestly, I was having a hard time accepting her, as the chaotic bits of memories slowly started coming into my brain.
I put a pillow in between us. Mom was surprised. "What happened, dear? Won't you hug Mommy today and sleep?" she asked with a cute pout on her face.
"As a man in heart and a former man of culture, how could I disappoint such a beautiful lady's request?! But soon, I regretted my decision.
I couldn't sleep; my head throbbed with information and messy flashbacks. Half an hour later, I slowly got out of bed, my head still dizzy. Mom woke up when I tried to remove her hand from my chest, but I didn't want her to worry, so I told her I was going to pee.
Seeing her worry, I felt bad, but I needed some alone time.
"Take your time, but don't be too late, else I'll come looking for you," Helena said with a smile.
'Mom understood me,' I responded with a slight nod, giving her a light peck on her snow-white cheeks. Her mouth opened wide in an 'O' with the unexpected kiss—this was the first time I'd kissed her on my own. She looked cute. I smiled and exited the room.
----
Outside our wooden hut, I took a ladder from the cattle house and climbed onto the rooftop.
Lounging on a hay-covered roof, I gazed at the distant sky. A twinkling blanket of stars adorned the celestial canvas, creating a mesmerizing spectacle that whispered tales of the universe. I was lost in the beauty of the lonely moon, shining bright in the night sky and spreading a soft, silver light. It was like a peaceful guardian, making everything look magical and calm below.
I couldn't help but reminisce about my life. One by one, memories of my past life kept flashing like a movie in my brain.
I was born in a small village in Eastern India. I didn't have many memories of the past, and honestly, I'm thankful for that. Whatever memories I do have are not pleasant to recall, at least.
Since childhood, I used to see my father beating my mother after getting drunk. Later, somehow, Mother admitted me to an expensive school. My grades were good, but my mind was never at peace. I didn't have any friends, as my mother always used to tell me that toxic friends would make me bad, like Father. As a little child, I didn't grasp the meaning of her words and just blindly followed them. Thus, I became an introvert, never involving myself with classmates or any sports activities, slowly becoming a psychological patient.
Later, during adolescence, I made two friends: a boy and a girl. The girl became my girlfriend, but after four years of relationship, I came to know that she cheated on me. Even my best friend never told me about it; he took her side.
Devastated, I indulged myself in video games and became a shut-in. Mom started using harsh words because my grades were falling. I had an accident and was hospitalized for six months, thus having to drop out for a year during my high school.
Mother started using violence and even more depressing words, always scolding me about how I wasted all their money, how my little brother was learning bad things from me due to my influence, and that I was the pinnacle mistake of their life, among many other things.
I started crumbling from the inside out. All I prayed was for God to give me a quick death, because if I killed myself, it would tarnish my mother and father's name, which I never wanted. I failed my High School final year.
With lifeless eyes, I was walking towards the train station, thinking what new kind of abuses I would get to hear from Mother...
Boom!
A crashing sound of a car could be heard. The next moment, I found myself flying away. My head hit a nearby wall. Slowly, my vision turned blurry. The last thing I heard were shouts of people calling for an ambulance, and then I felt myself being lifted by someone.
Despite all the pain and hot liquid dripping from my head, I had a satisfied smile on my bloodied face. 'Thank you, God,' I told myself in my mind, 'I can finally rest in peace. Thank you...' before completely losing consciousness.
In a hospital...
Inside a hospital, the muddled cries of a couple and a young nine-year-old child could be heard.
The doctor said, "I am sorry. There is nothing I can do about this. The operation was successful, but it seems the patient himself doesn't want to live on. So he isn't waking up. And if he doesn't wake up in a few days, we won't be able to do the most crucial last surgery. You can only pray to God."
[Author's Note: Fictional random bullshit, honestly I have zero knowledge about surgery and medicine. So I humbly request not to take this part seriously dear doctors.]
Tears of sadness and guilt ran down their cheeks as past memories flashed before their eyes.
The little boy sobbed and beat himself up, "I shouldn't have misbehaved with brother. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please come back, brother."
Inside the OT
Beep... beep...
The sound of a certain instrument fixed to a patient's body stopped beeping, indicating there was no more life in the body.
A few doctors rushed into the room, but it was to no avail.
--
End of chapter 3
Thanks for reading :-)