Lights Of The Memory Lane ✔

#8 Home Sweet Home

   This house still looks the same, except for one thing : it seems lifeless. There is no merriment in here. And this house is missing one vital thing : Jennifer, Emily's mother. Emily feels her heart ache as she sits in the living room, thinking about her life without the number one woman in her heart, and also the dreadful things Nicholas Blondeau and his friends said at school.

   "How are you feeling now, Emily?" Mark sits beside Emily and smiles gently at her. Earlier, he was walking with his colleagues when he came across her who looked forlorn inwardly and outwardly. He had to excuse himself, saying that his 'niece' needed him.

   "Much better. Thank you," Emily returns the smile and looks down at her hands on her lap.

   "So, what happened? Why did you cry?" asks Mark.

   Emily lets out a deep sigh and narrates her encounter with the school's bullies. Mark frowns in disappointment as he listens attentively, trying to understand the situation. After she has finished, he leans back on the sofa. His face holds a disgruntled expression.

   "Is it true? Is it true that Mummy went to pubs and got drunk a lot?" Emily questions eagerly. Mark purses his lips before wiping a hand across his tired face and heaving a deep breath.

   "I heard you have amnesia," Mark changes the topic, ignoring Emily's question and earning a nod from her.

   "I'm sorry I didn't come to visit you. I thought after your mum's death, I am not related to you anymore," Mark looks down sadly. And you have your own family...

   "Don't be silly! You'll always be my family because you always took care of me since I was little," Emily pats Mark's arm playfully and giggles. "But, wait! How did you know that I have amnesia?"

   "Your twin brother, Thomas told James who then told me."

   Emily gives Mark a confused look as she doesn't understand the relationship between him and James. Yes, she knows that Thomas and James are best friends, but what about the latter and this man who is sitting beside her?

   "Oh! Maybe you forgot. James is actually my nephew. His father is my brother," Mark explains, making Emily gape at him in shock. Then, she nods whilst blinking her eyes.

   "Hey, you didn't answer my question just now!" Emily pouts and when Mark raises his eyebrow in confusion, she sighs and repeats the question.

   "Oh! Umm...." Mark hesitates about telling Emily the truth. He keeps on looking down and pursing his lips. "Did you know that your mum told me to sell this house?" he finally speaks, but the words are not what Emily had expected for him to say.

   "Wait, what?" Emily exclaims in astonishment. She knows that Mark ignored her question again, but now she thinks that the topic about 'selling the house where her childhood formed' takes the priority. "W-why?" she looks around the surroundings of the house dejectedly.

   "Because your mum isn't here anymore and you live with your father now," Mark states.

   "I know, but......" Emily trails away and pouts. Everything that Mark said is true. There is no use keeping this house because her mother, Jennifer is no longer residing here. Unless, her ghost haunts this house. Haha! Ridiculous...

   "Your mother wrote me a letter the day before she went to rescue you," Mark says, gaining Emily's attention. "In the letter, she said about selling this house and she also asked me to look after you," he looks at Emily and detects a tear falling from her left eye. She sniffs and wipes the tear off, hoping that it will disappear, and yet more teardrops come streaming down her smooth face. She starts to sob uncontrollably, so he comes closer and pulls her into his arms.