CHAPTER 1: Open Eyes

On a normal morning, Ashly wakes up to be ready for school. She tied her hair and go downstairs to have breakfast. Their house is a little bit special because the front part is a bakery, so it's half house and half bakery. She sat and eats breakfast with her parent, her little brother, Aunt Chin and Brother Han, then goes to school with her little brother. His little brother is 4 years apart from her and a first-year student in high school (14 years old) while Ashly is in her last year (18 years old), so she needs to take the final exam. She's a soft person but she is also a representative of the school in the taekwondo competition. She has two best friends, Sulli (a girl) and Meng (a boy). Sulli is her friend since they were 5 years old. They met in the playground at the park for the first time. Even though Sulli is naughty and likes to fight but she still has a kind heart, when she is with Ashly she smiles brightly because, for her, Ashly is like a sister that she wants to have in her life. Sulli also likes to fight a bully inside and outside the school. She has 2 older brothers, her mother passed away after giving birth to her. Her father owns a small boxer gym in the same neighborhood. While Meng is a nerdy guy but smart and he is a school representative in the chest competition. He also came from a rich family. They met Meng when they were in their first year of high school. At that time Sulli was on her way to go to school and she saw Meng was getting bullied. Meng got bullied in middle school by the same group, he didn't tell his parents because they were busy and Meng don't want things to get bigger. Sulli kicks one of the bully then grab Meng's hand and run away but the bullies got them because they run into a dead-end. Sulli fights with them, she manages to throw several punches but it's seven of them and she got knocked out from the back. She got punched several times and fell to the ground. Before one of the bullies manage to punch Sulli again, he got kicked. It's Ashly who kicks him. Ashly lifted Sulli and She saw bruises on her, so Ashley asks her if she still wants the fight and she replies while nodding with a smiley face. They beat seven of them and Ashly gave a warning that if she knows that they still bully someone she will find them. Sulli knows that even Ashly is a soft heart person, please don't make her lose her patience, it's scary. Sulli remembers when they were kids, Ashly beat a wild dog that tries to bite Sulli with a tree trunk. Ashly got bitten on her arm and bleeding but the dog's leg was broken. Well, she is a kind person so she brings back the dog and takes care of it. The broken leg is not so severed, so the dog can walk like normal again. Now the dog's name is Dao. The dog was scared of Ashly at first but after that, it turns out to be smart and obedient. Ashly and Sulli go to Meng and ask him if he was ok. Meng thank them because they are the first people who help him. Meng asks them if they want anything but Sulli just tells him to be their friend so no one can bully him anymore. Meng says yes with a joyful face. He never has had a friend before because he is introverted. After school, Ashly helps her parent in the bakery. She can bake a lot of kinds of cakes and cookies, she helps her father count the money because her parent teaches her since she was 10 years old. She also helped her little brother if he has a problem not understanding the homework. Since young their family will go to the park just took 5 minutes from their house, it's Ashly's favorite place.One day, they were on their way to go to the beach. They didn't bring Dao with them, he stays and takes care of the bakery with their Aunt Chin.While they were on their way, they were talking and joking happily in the car like they are the happiest family in the world. But something happens, Ashly opens her eyes and found that she was laying on the road then she faints. She opens her eyes again and found that she laying on the bed and it's already dark. She saw a clock that show it was already 9:45 p.m., but the more she observed the more confused she was because she was in the hospital. And then she saw Aunt Chin and Brother Han were shocked to see her already open her eyes. Brother Han hurriedly goes to find the doctor while Aunt Chin crying and start to thank God. Sulli and Meng from outside run to Ashly after hearing she already woke up, they ask her if she feels hurt anywhere while crying. Ashly look at them and wonders where is her parent and little brother, she asks them about her family, but they are just silent. She asks for a second time    `where is my family?'.       Meng told Ashly to be ready with the most strong heart, he takes a deep breath and said        `you and your family got into an accident with a truck, the truck lost control and hit your car. Only you survive. It's been 6 hours since you have fainted.'        She asks again with tears slowly dropping from her eyes        `where is my family.'      They told her to calm down but then she tries to move to find her family. Sulli hugs her tightly, Ashly crying while roaring. The doctor comes and injects her with lower dose anesthesia, it's enough to calm Ashly down with her weak condition. After a couple of hours, she wakes up with an empty mind. She just stares at the ceiling, Aunt Chin asks her if she wants something but she is just blanking. The next morning, Brother Han goes to her, he says      `Ashly you are a strong girl, it's time to say the last goodbye to them. Aunt Chin will help you change your cloth.Your friends and I gonna wait for you outside.'         Ashly gets up from the bed and changes her cloth with Aunt Chin's help while hoping this is just a dream. She burst out crying loudly because she saw her family laying in front of her and never coming back. Before leaving the cemetery, Ashly blanked alone for a long time while sitting in a wheelchair and trying to face the reality, then with tears and a smile on her face, she said         `thank you for everything, thank you for making me born in this world, thank you because be part of my life, thank you for loving me. thank you for being my parent, thank you for being my little brother, thank you for smiling with me thank you for always making me feel safe and patting my head and hugging me, and .... too many things I want to thank you for. So again thank you for everything, I will always remember our memories and keep living like what you wanted, the Ashly you want.'          Ashly arrived home, she just stares at her family picture without talking anything but then Dao  comes to her. Dao  licks her tears and hugs her, she wipes her tears and begins to smile. Aunt Chin and Brother Han feel so relieved to see her smile again.