Lights Of The Memory Lane ✔

#15 Remember

   The bright light motivates and forces Emily to open her eyes, so she does it slowly. She squints her eyes and rubs them gently.

   "Huh?" Emily looks around after realising that she is in a familiar room. Is this her bedroom when she used to live with her mother? But it looks very childish because there are a lot of toys and Barbies lying around the room. Then, her gaze stops at a figure sitting cross-legged in the middle of the room. It is a little girl playing with Barbie dolls. She moves closer and gets goosebumps when she realises that she knows the little girl so well.

   The little girl was her when she was about six years old. And this is her old bedroom! Wow.. She is dreaming about her past. 'Little Emily' does not seem to notice her, so she moves even closer until she is about her arm length. She wants to touch her. Maybe put a hand on her shoulder........

   Out of the blue, there is a sound of slamming door outside of the room. Both Emily's raise their heads simultaneously and walk towards the bedroom door. Little Emily opens it carefully, not making a slight sound, and tiptoes to the living room where the entrance is. Emily follows her little self and stops behind her. The two of them peek their heads from the wall, overlooking the front door where they spot Jennifer talking to someone.

   "I've told you that I don't want you to get involved in our lives anymore!" Jennifer says sternly and coldly to the person who is standing outside. Emily cannot see the person clearly as her mother blocks the view. She wants to move forwards, but to no avail. It seems like she does not have the power to control her dreams.

   Both Emily's can hear the person's voice a bit and it sounds like a man. Jennifer looks like she is arguing with this unknown person.

   "Please.... Just leave," Jennifer sighs and runs a hand through her hair.

   "Mummy?" Little Emily walks out of her hiding spot, causing Jennifer to turn around and widen her eyes. Then, she turns back to the door.

   "Just go. We're better off without you."

   Jennifer moves her hand to close the door and Emily sprints towards it to look at the mysterious person at the entrance for the last time. Just before the door shuts, she eventually perceives the face of the person and it makes her stomach churn because..........she swears that she sees her father, Andrew standing outside with the look of confusion mixed with disappointment on his face. And by the look of Little Emily, she seems to notice him too, but she is bemused as she does not recognise or know him at that time.

   Little does she know that she is staring at her estranged father who came to visit her for the first time since he left.

   "Daddy!" Emily yells whilst running towards the door and opens it swiftly. She squints her eyes again when she sees coruscating light in front of her. She blocks it with her hands and when the blinding light starts to fade, she steps forwards to find a black void surrounding her this time. There is literally nothing around her except a pitch-dark space. What is going on?

   A few seconds later, on her right, there is a path which is illuminated by gleaming and luminous lanterns on each side of it, so she goes to it curiously and the sight of it takes her breath away. Before her eyes is another elegantly gravelled pathway which makes her think of serenity and calmness. Its quietude is the quintessence of peaceful life at the countryside and that is one of her favourite places because it is far from the madding crowd. She begins to enter the pathway and takes in every aspect of its magnificent facade. She cannot help but notice the subtle hues of the multicoloured trees, bushes and grass there. The combination of colours is so harmonious that she almost feels like she is in paradise. Moreover, she even hears the sound of musical instruments such as piano, violin, cello and harp being played around her, accompanied by the delicate twittering of birds.