Frosted glass

EPISODE 18: VINTAGE CORE

"Netherian flowers have a common trait.... They glow in the dark."
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"Oh." I blinked twice. Huh?  "OHHH"

No wonder the petals felt so artificial. The white flowers glowered at me, pulling me into a trance. I just couldn't get enough of their supernatural beauty. The yellow part of the daffodil almost turned golden under the biolumniscence. Specks of glowing pollen grains floated in the air, as if they were dancing around the plain white petals. 

 Maybe I should try planting Netherian Daffodils for a change... Forbidden Halloween decorations.....My backyard would look so cool at night-

"How on Earth, literally, did the principal even manage to find these?" Aaliyah and Elora nodded beside me, agreeing to my inquisitiveness.

"I have no clue. BUT..... I think I do have an idea as to..." Noah began moving the pebbles that surrounded the plant. "....why he chose daffodils as his cover up." His eyes glinted victoriously and his lips subtly moved upwards after having revealed whatever was hidden underneath the coy plant.

My gaze followed his to discover a metallic surface, the same shade as Noah's glittering eyes. As pebble by pebble was removed, the silvery box revealed itself further.

It didn't really look very up to date, rather a little rusty and dusty from hiding under the soil for who knows how long. This was the kind of jewelry casket that the vintage girlies would not hesitate to snatch up from their grandma's burial ground. 

Aiden rushed forward and hunched beside Noah, taking the casket in both of his hands. It was too big to be carried by just one hand, but fit snuggly into Aiden's two wide palms. Noah quickly shuffled the pebbles back in place, but the removal of the box had flattened the soil. We replaced it with a random book we found in the shelves, to avoid suspicion.

The silver casket glinted beneath the moonlight beams like a broken mirror. Aside from the intricate carvings and detailing, a dull patch of velvet was attached on the lid of the box. In bold, capital letters, it read 'ANNAFELLEUM'.

"Noah..... No way...." Aiden's speech functions refused to cooperate with him.

Noah was not very different either. He swallowed slowly, as if the action pained him in some way. It didn't take a genius to figure out that both of them, especially Noah, were in denial.

"I know.... There's no way we found it so easily..... Aiden, you're seeing this aren't you?" Pause. The air around us stilled, the two boys were looking starstruck, still absorbing the fact that the Annafelleum was finally found.

 "We've found it! Aiden, we found it!" Noah frantically looked at Aiden, seeking for affirmation. His eyes lit up when Aiden nodded back with the same enthusiasm. Both of their gazes held such melancholic emotions, communicating through expressions because of the deep bond they had formed over the years. 

The emotion was far too familiar to me. Unmistakable to be anything else other than longing. They had been longing for a sense of belonging.

Suddenly my perspective of viewing them changed. 

I tried imagining how hard it must have been to get kicked out of their only home, for something they weren't even responsible for. To get seperated from their people, and forcibly get pushed into a sea of unfamiliar faces. To get stranded amidst a whole unknown world, to feel alienated with no one by their side. To be abandoned by their own blood, their own species. Not to mention, they were just kids back then. Two kids all alone, overwhelmed with the foreign feeling of trying to survive among other humans. It must have been horrible.