Chapter 1

There was a teenage girl with long chestnut waved hair, staring at a window with a moist concealing the view from the outside. Waiting for her lover to come, a cold breeze of air suddenly swept right through her as she went to the wide-open door of their house.

She hugged her arms tightly to prevent herself from shivering.

Where is he? It’s been two hours since he last said that he would be dropping by.

Her mother then gently patted her shoulders and gave her a look of assurance. She felt her heart lighten up a little.

Of course, he’s okay. Why wouldn’t he be?

For the last time, she looked at the door before making her way to her bedroom. The small room has a single bed and a study desk with many books. She laid on a not too soft but also not too hard bed, just enough for her to sleep and enjoy a good night's sleep.

The afternoon light was overlapped by the dark clouds. It was gloomy outside, but the pouring rain seemed peaceful to her.

Undecidedly, she subsequently went back to their living room to sit on the rugged wooden floor by the fireplace. She felt the warmth on her skin and the smell of the burning wood filled her nose.

"Are you still waiting for that young man to come?" A deep voice spoke with a disapproving tone. On the chair near the fireplace, a man in his forties sits, reading a newspaper.

The girl turned to her father, slightly startled. She didn’t notice that he was there. Her mind was too occupied.

"Yes, dad. Lucas said he was going to come by to tell me something."

"Was it that important? The weather isn’t that good. He’s supposed to stay at home." Her father said, fixing his eyeglasses.

She just sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She herself doesn’t know.

"Relax, he will come if he’s going to come." Her father said before standing up and walking slowly to the front door to close it. "And Eleanor, don’t open the door unless you are sure that it is him."

Left alone, she lay on the rug and let her arms fall widely on her sides. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. Staring at their picture together back when they were little, on the beach, smiling and doing the peace sign. They looked so joyful being with each other.

"Where are you?" she mumbled to herself.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling of thunder. She felt her heartbeat arose, her stomach cramping, she became uneasy. She sat and put her right hand on her heart, beating so fast. It calmed down after the last rumble of the thunder faded.

What was that?

Standing up, she looked around the house and noticed the front door was now ajar. Sweat started to run down her forehead. Walking slowly, being cautious, she closed the door and locked it.

It must have been the wind, but why was the wind that strong?

She went to her room and laid there again. While on her side, there was a big glass window with water dripping on it, but it was visible outside. She just stared at the drops of rain falling down on the window as they hit each other.

*     *     *     *     *

She woke up, only seeing a pitch-black darkness until her eyes adjusted with the help of the light from the street lamps, pointed directly at the windows of her bedroom. She sat and tried to get her phone from her pocket, but sighed when she remembered she had forgotten to pick it up from the fireplace.

When she was about to close her eyes again, her eyes widened in panic as she remembered Lucas and sprinted to the door.

What if he had already come but went on because no one was answering him?

When she opened the door, she was greeted by her mother, whose right hand was in the air as if she was about to knock.

"Mom?" Eleanor asked.

"Oh sweetie, you’re up. Come on, it’s time to eat." Her mother sweetly smiled at her and went to the dining room. She followed her, but walked slower than her mother.

While walking, her heart was beating so fast, she expected to see someone sitting with her father at the dining table. But to her disappointment, Lucas wasn’t there.

She sat on a wooden chair with a soft black cushion. They began to pray in silence and she looked at her father, waiting for him to pick up the spoon first so that they could eat.

They ate in silence. Eleanor, trying not to make a sound, suddenly lost her grip on her spoon, causing it to fall to the floor.

"I’m so sorry." She said, biting her lip so hard while looking at the steak that they were eating.

"Go ahead, pick it up and get a new one so that you may continue to eat." Her father replied, slicing the steak without looking at her.

She inhaled deeply as she leaned under the table to pick up the spoon. She went to get a new one and came back to her seat.

"By the way, I thought the young man was going to come?" her father asked, his forehead furrowed.

"Have you heard of him already, Eli?" her mother asked in concern.

"No. I haven’t checked my phone yet." She said while shaking her head slowly.

"Check on him when you’re done." She nodded at her father and continued to eat.

After eating, she went to the fireplace to get her phone on the rug. She checked if it had been stepped on, but thankfully it was intact.

As she sat on the sofa in their living room, she pressed the power button on her phone. To her surprise, there was no message or any calls from Lucas. She combed her hair with her fingers and leaned back on the soft backrest of the sofa.

Twelve years ago, there was a little girl and a little boy who met because of their parents. They became inseparable after that, as they grew closer and spent more time together.

"Mister? Is it okay if I take your daughter for a walk?" The small boy gently inquired of the little girl's father.

"Well, young man, if you can persuade the mother of my princess, I will allow you." The man spoke to him in a serious but lighthearted manner.

The little boy then wondered how he could persuade the little girl's mother. He then returned to the little girl's residence with a flower from his mother's garden. When he knocked on the white wooden front door, a lovely woman answered.

"Oh, Lucas dear, how can I help you?" she asked, her eyes filled with concern.

He couldn't look her in the eyes and asked, "Mrs. Goodwin, may I take your daughter for a walk?" He then presented her with a fresh flower that he had carefully handpicked.

"How thoughtful, well, yes, of course." She smiled sweetly, took the flowers, and called her daughter, "Eleanor! Lucas is waiting for you! Hurry up now or I’ll change my mind!" she yelled, smiling teasingly at Lucas.

Since the two met, their parents seem to be fond of them being together and hope that they will get along well in the future. 

Nine years old, while on a park bench...

"You love fantasy too, don’t you?" Eleanor asked him with a sparkling eye.

"Of course, someday I would like to be a knight in shining armor, protecting a princess." He said dreamily.

"And who’s that princess?" Eleanor pouted while Lucas laughed because of her cuteness.

"It is only you." He stated it with sincerity, gazing directly at her, while Eleanor gazed at the blue sky with a few white clouds moving gently in the breeze.

"If only a real fantasy world existed..." she whispered to herself.

"If it does exist, let us be the queen and king of that world." He said under his breath. Lucas also looked at the peaceful blue sky above them and smiled.

As the years passed, they both grew into a beautiful young lady and a handsome young man. At the age of sixteen, Lucas started courting Eleanor with the permission of Eleanor’s mother and father. It was a year before she finally answered him and dated him officially.

"Do you still remember what we talked about back when we were nine?" Eleanor asked him while the two of them were walking home from school.

"About the fantasy world? Yes." Lucas smiled at the thought of Eleanor, still remembering a piece of memory from their childhood.

"I didn’t really take it off my mind."

"Really?" he asked, while he reached for her right hand and intertwined it with his.

"Yup, but I realized one thing." She paused; Lucas was staring at her curiously.

"And what is that one thing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I don’t need that fantasy world. I just want to be with you and my family."

*     *     *     *     *

Eleanor’s mother and father were taking their rest in their bedroom while Eleanor was still sitting on the sofa, browsing on her phone. After some time, the sound of the rain falling on the roofs was no longer audible.

Wanting to go outside, Eleanor went to her bedroom silently and picked up her white cardigan from her bed and put it on. She gently and silently walked on the wooden floor, trying not to make a noise so that her sleeping parents wouldn’t wake up.

As she went to the door, she carefully opened the locks without letting them make a sound. After successfully opening the door, she went to sit in the hammock on their front porch.

Without minding the cold wind, she stayed there for hours looking at the dark horizon, barely seeing a star.

Staring at the dark, empty, cold streets of their neighborhood.

Until the damp pavements were fully dried, she waited.

But that night, he never came.