Chapter 54: The Heart that Became Light

Haru grabbed Ali's tiny hands and they walked towards the direction they saw the glowing orb.

As the grass rustled beneath their feet and the plants and flowers led their way, they saw a huge botanical garden. Its texture was similar to that of a glass, but it is glowing green and it doesn't hurt the eyes as much as he thought.

The hue and glow was soft and enchanting; it was just the right amount of light that lured them in towards that place.

When they went in, it had a tiny farm and little floating lights like those from outside. The difference, though, was that something about it feels healing as much as the magical cave does to them.

For some reason, Haru felt somewhere between light and high. His heart was just enough light, but not too relaxed to make him indifferent and just enough high, but not too much that it's dizzying or addicting.

It's just… refreshing.

Haru crouched down and gently pulled Ali over to him.

"W-What do you think, Ali?" He asked, unsure if this was the right thing. "What does this place exactly do? You… You always know what's going on. Why? Why do I feel so light? It's as if… I don't have any worries or anxieties anymore. Like, I would probably fall down from feeling heavy in the heart once I step out of this garden."

Ali looked at him with as much of a softened expression. It seems like the garden was affecting him as well.

Haru let out a sigh and grabbed the little boy by his shoulders.

"Stay here. I'll see if Mr. Wang's still awake. He should be here instead…"

He remembered once more the memories of a soldier that was released from war. It was all from Mr. Wang's scarred traumas. Ali stayed in the garden, while Haru fetched the old man from the cottage.

Thankfully for him, Mr. Wang was still wide awake when Haru announced what they found out about the world and the garden they saw.

And as soon as Mr. Wang stepped inside the botanical garden, the memories gushed in again.

--

The trauma and nightmare that Mr. Wang had experienced from the war went on even after returning home to the warmth of his wife's arms.

Every night, he would dream of that dying man, that enemy he couldn't save from the brink of death.

He wondered during the day that maybe, even with that blood loss and those wounds, maybe if he didn't hesitated, the dying man would've had a miracle and lived for much longer.

And maybe, he may have returned to his home and found out about his child's gender, meeting in his arms the warmth of his lovely wife as well. It almost felt like a burden to Mr. Wang, that he was able to experience these pleasures when there was a pile of corpses at the battlefield then, wanting to return to their homes badly and enjoy the things he's enjoying right now.

The homemade cooked foods, meals with family, warm embraces, soft beds, good baths, and worry-free nights.

The peace, too, scared Mr. Wang.

However, throughout those nightmares, his salvation was his wife, Chu Hua. That woman was the only light across the darkness he's walking in.

She would always embrace and comfort him as he woke up from a dreary nightmare and she would always smile when he feels like crying.

To an extent, Mr. Wang even thought that if Chu Hua didn't exist, he wouldn't have survived this much.

His will at the war to live one was because of his wife who was waiting for him back home. And the reason he's getting through all the pain of the war's aftermath was because the woman was beside her.

She was a ray of sunshine in his cold and starless night.

However, that didn't last too long either.

Soon, he noticed strange changes from his wife that he couldn't help but feel concerned about.