I hurriedly stepped down the stairs towards the living room. As I came to the last step of stairs, I looked up and my sight found my mom sitting on the sofa in front of me. My tears could not help but form as her figure blurred. I miss my mom so bad and I still cannot believe she’s here alive and well. It feels surreal.

As if feeling my gaze on her, my mom looked towards me and smiled.

“What are you crying for? Do you miss your dad so bad that you’re crying here already?”, she asked while smiling.

She put her phone inside her bag and stood up. She walked towards me.

“Mom”, I called her as I started to walk to her. I hugged her when I got closer. She chuckled as she hugged me back.

“You’re really like a child when you’re already 15 years old. We’re going to see your dad later, so, don’t cry anymore, hmm?”, she said as she patted my back lightly.

I did not respond as I recalled my memories of the past. On this day, I remember that I opted to not go with my mom to pick up my dad from the airport and continued sleeping. My dad was from another city to solve a problem for their company. He’s been there for almost two weeks. My mom decided to go and pick him up without me. When they were going home, they met with an accident that took them from me forever.

“Shall we go? So, we won’t be late”, my mom said as she let go of me and fixed my dress. She later on wiped my tears. I snapped back to reality and nodded at her.

We held hands as we walked to the door and closed it.

My mom opened the car door and I walked to the gate and opened it. She started the car and maneuvered it out of our yard. When the car was outside, she lowered down the car windows and said, “You lock the gate. The lock and key are —”

“On the table beside the door. Don’t worry mom, I got it!”, I finished what she should’ve said, smiled and presented to her what I was holding.

She laughed and said, “Yes, that’s the one.”

I laughed too and started to lock the gate. When I finished, I trotted towards the car and opened the door of the passenger’s seat. When I had already sat properly and put on the seatbelt, my mom then started the car.

I looked at the surroundings as we were passing through them. The restaurants, stores, roads, and even the way people dress are really different from my memory of the future.

I sighed as the realization hit me that I really am back in my last year of high school.