PROLOGUE
It was a late rainy evening when Dahlia was about to get home from work. She stood at the waiting shed near a terminal hoping for a taxicab to pass by but there's none. It's almost 10:00 in the evening when she decided to go for a walk for about 1.5 km to reach home after doing overtime work. She doesn’t have a large umbrella to cover her skin from windy and heavy raindrops, however, she got a smaller one.
When she crossed the street, a dog with dark red eyes from behind startled her with a very aggressive look. But she stayed calm and walked thoroughly. After much delay, she got home. She can feel the old breeze blowing her hair and suddenly heard the rustling of leaves from a huge hollow tree in front of her house. When she was about to open the door, she has this uneasy feeling and goosebumps started to frighten her when she was all alone in the house. Her parents left her eighteen years ago. They died in an airplane crash. That made her so traumatic. She was only twelve that time. Due to that, she was left alone, pursuing her dreams.
She was more frightened when she heard the dog barking.
“ggrr.. rawr!” The dog barked fiercely.
“Was that the dog I met earlier? It’s already late in the evening. Did it followed me?!”, doubted Dahlia as she was afraid while crossing the street.
When she looked behind, a dog with dark red eyes looked at her fiercely beside a huge tree while she was quickly grabbing the key from her pocket when she reached in front of her house. She was astounded when she remembered that was the dog she met on the street near the building she had worked on. She almost peed and immediately opened the main door, ran into the bedroom, locked doors, placed her things and changed clothes in order for her to get ready to sleep. She later turned off the main lights but she thought to turn on the lamp beside her bed instead.
As she was lying on her bed, many things kept running on her mind as she was about to cry.
“I really missed mom and dad.. I was all left alone. It’s very challenging to survive all the time, especially when you’re in thirties”, she said with a sigh.
As she closed her eyes, she suddenly remembered her conversation with the oldest lady in town way back five years ago. She reminded her that there's something malicious on that huge hollow tree near her bedroom window. She reminded her to stay away from that huge tree and find another place to live. But she resisted and didn't listen to every word that old lady have told her since she don’t believe on superstitious beliefs nor fairytales.
The clock strikes at 12 am midnight but still, she can’t sleep. She went to the kitchen to get some tea and midnight snack. She can hear the wild thunder and heavy rains pouring on the ceiling. She is a pluviophile and she really love rain. When she was about to go upstairs, she suddenly heard a knock on the door, "knock-knock-knock!". Dahlia was startled!
“Who was that?!”, she shouted fiercely. But no one answered.
She immediately grabbed a wooden stick from the kitchen in order for her to defend herself from thieves. Despite of her curiosity, she went outside but no one's there. As she looked outside the window, her neighbors from afar were already asleep.
”Who was that?”, she asked again, but no one answered.
“Alright, maybe it was just my hallucination.”, she said.
The rain did not stop. She felt more frightened. When she went back on her bedroom, she can see curtains blowing through the windows because of heavy winds. She can smell the earthy scent which comes from the moistening of the ground when it rains. As she lay down, she noticed something on the mirror in front of the window. She can see the dog staring at her and slowly transforms into a beast with big dark red eyes, has sharp teeth and long claws. Abruptly, she still stared at the mirror, really want to get out from bed but her body was already tired from work, eventually, she fall asleep.
It was Saturday morning and the bright sun came. The rain has stopped. She went to the kitchen to get some tea and baked pancake for breakfast. It was her rest day and she felt calmness. She doesn’t bother what are her plans for the day.
“Oh, what a bright morning. I’m glad today’s my rest day. I can do whatever I want. Maybe I can watch Netflix now with my friends or do the laundry. Ughh!..”, Dahlia murmured.
What happened last night was the only thing she doesn’t remember. As she stared at the huge hollow tree in front of her house, she remembered that was the tree she and her bestfriend planted together three decades ago but still haven't seen him for a very long time ‘till now. She wondered where he is.
