Chapter 11 - Throwback

I remembered the skies were a blanket of stifling darkness with no gaps or holes.

In the background, there were howls of winds with their intermittent scratching on the doors.

I will never forget their sounds, which seemed to carry a slicing tone like there were knives in the air.

It pierced the eardrum and knocked on the heart. It sounded like someone was trying to break

into the car. I sat up as my mum held me tight.

“Nani mo kowakunai! Adam, bōya - Mummy, are we lost?”

Before I received an answer, my father, who was in the driver's seat, had ejected his seat belt. He kicked open the car door and jumped out. Without a further word, he shut the door and ran out. He ran fanatically like he was chasing after someone or something.

It happened so fast that I was confused about his intentions.

"Papa." I cried "Papa?"

I looked out of the windscreen. My father had stopped in his tracks like he had seen something.

He paused and slowly turned back. His motion, gradual and pronounced, was unforgettable.

As he gesticulated, there was a pained expression. He started shouting, but I heard nothing of his voice as

the howling of winds was a dominant monster that consumed everything.

“Jonathan! Come back!” My mum screamed at my father, “ No, Jonathan!”

Her face was dreadfully pale and tense with anxiety.

Her hands were running over my thighs as she tried to comfort me.

However, through the icy-cold fingers, I felt her fear. Despite her discomfort, she did not stop comforting me.

My mother has always had a unique personality; a strong woman. I had never seen her so distressed.

“Papa? Where is he going?” I asked.

“He is... in danger.” My mother replied and I remembered her wet eyes.

"What is danger?" I asked"

She rubbed my head. Her irises were dark points of darkness of melancholy framed by steely stoicism.

Her warm tears fell on my forehead, flowing to my chin.

“Mama wa anata o aishiteimasu. Watashi o mattete kudasai.”

“Adam, I love you. We love you!” She hugged me and then dropped me on the seat.

She unbuckled and kicked the door ajar. The gush of wind sliced through my skin.

The sight of my mother running away from me was a stab in my soul.

“Papa! Mummy!” I howled, but that did not deter her.

"I must save your father."

With agility, Mummy jumped out of the car and headed towards my father.

The snowfall has intensified and I could barely make out their presence.

Their voices were the only thing that gave me a sense of their presence.

They were incoherent, drowned in the cacophony of noises.

I tried to open the door, but before I could step onto the ground, a force threw me back into the car.

It was my mother and she had an outstretched hand.

“ADAM!” My mum screamed. “Stay there. Do not move. We will come for you!”

She said, ran a few steps "We will come back for you!"

I remember she made hands in a circular motion and raised it over her head.

In a slicing motion, she brought her hands down, and the door slammed shut.

My father was nowhere in sight, and I began to tear. “Daddy, daddy, where are you?”

I jumped into the driver’s seat to catch a better view of my parents but a crescendo of snow was building up.

There were sparks and light in the air as my mother moved her hands. There seemed to be someone she was battling.

As I stuck my face on the windscreen, in a desperate attempt to catch a view of my mother, the snow built itself into a high wall. Remembering that my father used to touch a device on the side to wipe the windscreen on rainy days, I touched the dashboard in nervousness and finally managed to hit the wiper windscreen

As the piles of snow were swept away, I caught sight of my mother.

The snow was building up around her. It then collapsed like a blanket and swallowed my mother in ruthless ferocity. As she disappeared, darkness enveloped me. The fear of loss surged through my chest. I tightened my hands into fists and began trembling. I threw up and wet myself. I tried again to open the door, but it remained stubbornly shut.

Soon, I passed out. Falling in and out of total darkness, I felt I was rolling through spells of intense heat and cold.

I had odd dreams of walking through forests with big trees and mountains that were high and almighty.

I heard the sounds of animals and sighted deer and rabbits. All through the path, I remembered I was in incessant ascent.

I kept looking for my parents, but they were nowhere in sight. I woke briefly to howls of the winds, and the car was shaking as the blizzard swallowed it.

Between consciousness and slumber, there was someone with me, but I could not tell if it

was real or if I was in a delusional state. When I regained consciousness, I looked around for that familiar warmth that only a motherly hug can give.

Another round of blizzards came, but the wiper has ceased. As I watched the snow cover the car, I sank into depression but there were no longer warm hugs and nourishing pats from Papa or Mummy. I found myself in an icy-cold cocoon. I was too tired to cry, though the pain of loss and separation was unspeakable.

I fell asleep and then felt a surge of warmth. I remembered that nudge on my chest

before I opened my eyes to see people around me.

“Adam! Adam!”

I woke to see daylight in the room.

I exhaled and sat up.

“Where am I ?”

Instantly, I felt aches in my shoulders.

“Where am I? Where am I?" I maffled.

I felt a hand grip my shoulder

"Adam!"