Still

CHAPTER XIII [MISSING CHAPTER]

Ariadne was at the bus stop, still unsure of which bus to take to get home. She went out for grocery and now had no idea how to get back. She just started living at this little province for a week. She decided to get away from all the scandal of her, an ex-convict, getting married to a successful bachelor. The world just can't seem to understand the absurdity of her fairytale-like wedding. She can't blame them though, since she, herself, also couldn't believe it.

She kept on looking at the sign beside the bench to see which bus she should take to get home but the name of places are still unfamiliar to her. She also has used her phone to try to solve her problem but she isn't good with maps.

A kid sat beside her. A three-year old young boy. He saw Ariadne who kept looking on her phone and looks so problematic. Before he could say anything, his father already dragged him towards the nearby fast food restaurant.

Even inside the restaurant, he kept on watching Ariadne who still stayed sited on the bench. He started eating fast so he could run back to her and offer help. He also asked his father to finish eating quickly then run towards Ariadne who has her eyes on the phone.

"Miss, excuse me. This bus" he said, catching his breathe

"what?" Ariadne looked at him, unsure of what he meant

"You can take this bus. If you don't, the next bus will be here after an hour" he explained

"Wow, you are an intelligent boy. You know all of that?" she sure was amazed of what he knows

"I'm sorry, was he bothering you?" a familiar voice, who is the boy's father came to them and pulled him as he apologizes.

"No, he wasn't. He was help...ing" she stopped from talking when she saw who the boy's father is.

Theseus.

"Are you getting on, miss?" the bus driver asked, getting ready to leave

"Yes, she is sir!" answered the boy then pushed Ariadne, "you have to get on, miss!"

That brought her to her senses and got on the bus, still flabbergasted. Tears automatically started falling. Who would have thought she would again see him in a small place very far from the city. Seeing him once again, made her want to hug him tight, apologize and plead to be back to his life. But she just saw his child. He already has his own family. She cried harder because of that. Knowing that she can't run back to him no matter how much she wanted.

But Theseus's wife died three years ago, while giving birth to their child. And having to raise child alone made him miss Ariadne he had never thought he would. He missed how carefree and joyful he was when he was with her. He would most of the time imagine how would their day turn out if Ariadne was with him, helping raise his child. He always thinks his child will be more happy having someone being a mother to him. He knows how Ariadne would be a great mom. But what he actually missed most is not who she is but who he was when he was with her. He was more dependable and a stronger person when he was with her. He actually loves her, but he realized that too late. Truly, you can only know the value when it's already not yours.

And after he met her suddenly today, made him want to badly hug her tight and apologize. He wanted to plead and be back to her life. But he also know the fact that she already has Dionysus, they are married and he can no longer get her back. He didn't know she wasn't even thinking of her husband when she saw him. She forgot everything about Dionysus and it was all Theseus in her mind.

Ariadne tried holding on for another week or two. But she was getting paranoid of crossing roads again with Theseus and will no longer be able to hold back anymore and throw herself into his arms. So she decided to return to the city, to Dionysus. She selected to get as far as she could from him to make it harder for her to run towards him. When in fact, that was what Theseus was hoping for all along.

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***The following were used as reference and/or excerpts were taken from. Credits to:

Pablo Neruda

Herman Hesse

Paulo Coelho

Perry Poetry

Analysis of Ariadne and Theseus