What If Instead Of...

1 Vivian

My parents' car is moving at the signs prescribed speed, to the border between the worlds.
We've been driving for about fifteen minutes, and I still can't get over the shock.

Nothing foreshadowed what had happened.

I look out the window, but I can't tell where we are due to utter darkness.
I can't even believe that my parents are capable of such an adventurous move – to ignore the rules for me.

Mother decides to break the silence first.

"Vivian, I hope you'll explain what happened. I'm glad you're finally back with us."

I'm grateful to father that he doesn't tell me anything about what he saw in the house.
Maybe he is still as stunned as I am, and it's only a matter of time before he starts sharing information with mother and judging my behavior.

"I think a car is following us," father says tensely.

I turn around and see two headlights burning in the distance.

Did Aiden realize he'd made a mistake?

What if it really is him?
Can I forgive him and come back?

While I'm lost in thought, the mysterious car draws level with us and immediately overtakes, blocking the way.

Now I recognize this car and the person in it.

Leo.

"Vivian, do you know who this is?" my mother begins to worry.

"Yes, this is my friend," I lie. In fact, I now have no idea who is who.

"What does he want?" she continues to push.

"Obviously, the same thing as me," I reply and meet father's restless gaze in the rear-view mirror.

Until Leo showed up, I had no intention of staying here, on this side.
All I could think about was the pain of being betrayed by a loved one.

Now that my mind has sobered up a bit, I can, as it seems to me, think sensibly, and I realize that Leo is my only chance to do everything my way.
It's now or never.

"What does this mean?" my mother asks in surprise, turning to me from the front seat.
There is an angry-confused expression frozen on her face.

It's now or never, I remind myself.

"Please don't get me wrong, but I...I feel alive here with the whole spectrum of emotions and experience that I get. Even though not all of them are pleasant," there is no point in hiding the truth. "At home I feel like a puppet, forced to repeat someone's actions....You gave me life, now please let me live. Let me go. Let me be where I feel best."

No one and nothing will force me to return to the realm of punishments and restrictions - freedom is as sweet as a forbidden fruit, which once tasted, will not be exchanged for anything in the world.

My parents' faces instantly darken - they hardly expected such a decision from me.

By mother's complexion and by the way her nostrils flare, I can see that the reaction is going to be immediate.

"So you're saying that you're going to abandon us and stay in this godforsaken place without actual rights? Why then were there so many years of intense study and hard work? To fall in with some drug addict here and work for minimum wage somewhere in a dirty roadside cafe?
I was hoping that if you still don't want to start a family, then at least you will succeed in your career, but that didn't happen either. What are you even for?"