Chapter 1: Andrea's Childhood

FLASHBACK

Andrea showed up at their school late for the first class. Her teacher was puzzled because she doesn’t have anything on her, just herself. “Andrea?”, the teacher called her worriedly. “Can we talk outside?” Andrea nodded. Her teacher looked at her pitifully while talking to her. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is there anything I can do for you? Where’s your bag?”, the teacher continuously asked her. Andrea showed only her sad face but didn’t bother to utter any words. Tears won’t come out of her eyes but the teacher felt the heaviness on her chest. Sometime later, her teacher accompanies her to the teacher’s office to call for her parents.

After twenty minutes of waiting, her mother showed up with a question all over her face asking what happened. They talked first before asking Andrea what happened to her. “Andrea, what happened to you? Where’s your bag?”, her mother was puzzled. “I told you my classmates don’t like me. They get my bag while I’m walking, I’m on my way to school at that time. They ran away, I don’t have the energy to chase them.” Tears started to come out of Andrea’s eyes. Her mother didn’t know what to do at that time. She’s panicking and started to utter words like she’s going to explode. The teacher tried to calm her down but fails. “Who are they?! Tell me!”, her mother shouted, her eyes were burning mad. She started thumping the teacher’s table which made the teacher panicky. “Mom tone down your voice, you’re at the school,” Andrea said softly while holding her mother’s left arm. “Mrs. Key, I will assure you that we will investigate what happened here. Please calm yourself down.” The teacher handed her a glass of water before going outside to take a call. Andrea sat down and lay her head on her mother’s shoulder. Mrs. Key slowly caressed Andrea’s hair.

ANDREA’S POV

I woke up at the sound of my alarm. The sound reminded me about the hell I’m experiencing towards the place they told me to enjoy—school. What to enjoy at school? I went straight to the bathroom to wash my face and went back to bed. I lay there for ten minutes before getting my phone to listen to some calm music, thinking if I should go or not.

 I was startled when someone barged in and shouted---- “What are you doing?! Don’t you have classes today?!” My terror mom continuously asked while looking at me angrily. I felt a heavy pain in my chest. It’s contracting, too painful but I didn’t show it. “Bare it until you make it”, that’s my motto in life. I got up to avoid further nonsense discussions with her and went straight to the bathroom. Washing all the fear and anxieties I’m feeling, I’m always wondering, will I ever live a normal life? People saw me as a nerd and weird for someone like my age. My family doesn’t even bother to ask if I’m okay or not. We transferred here from the city because of my father’s job, life here is too different from the one I grew up with. People saw me as different. One word that has a diverse meaning. I didn’t know why they see me like that-- is that because I’m focusing on my studies and they can’t understand what I’m saying?

I finished packing up my school bag when I went downstairs and headed to the kitchen’s backdoor, surprisingly, my mom was there. “You’re not going to eat?” As frustrated as I am I answered her sarcastically went straight outside and bang the door behind me. I heard her loud voice from the outside and decided to ignore it. I started walking toward the school, the peaceful road made me feel at ease at last. No people noise, just whistling of the wind and the chirping of birds. What scenery I have here. The tension and fear reside now in my heart. I’m at ease. The road is huge and you can feel the wind hugging you with its cold breeze. The sun was shining brightly ahead. I missed this kind of feeling.

The only thing I want here was the scenery and the peacefulness that the city can’t give you. Few cars, no pollution, wild but good animals on the road, and your neighbors were pretty good! It’s like a feast every weekend since they have this kind of thing that celebrates Sunday as feast day—thanksgiving for the whole week. I wanted to have a mindset like theirs when I grew up, like being thankful for everything. We’re still adjusting to how people live here since they live simply unlike us, we missed being in a car and airconditioned rooms--- and many things about the city.

I’m so lost in my thoughts when I saw three familiar faces ahead, they have the same uniform as mine. And yes, one of the reasons I don’t want to go to school is because of these people. I want to hide but they saw me already. Maybe, if I didn’t pay attention to them, they’ll just let me pass. I started walking slowly so they do not see me, all the thoughts I have went away when one of them grab my bag and pull it backward. I tried to pull it back to me but failed. They told me things like I’m the one at fault and ran away with my bag. I’m so close to breaking down on that road but my tears won’t fall. My heart was aching so bad. My head was thinking many things again, everything was messy. I can’t understand what’s happening.

My feet started to walk and all I know was, that I’m already in our classroom. Late, without a bag and I know I look like a mess. My teacher was looking at me. Her eyes were asking what happened to you. She didn’t judge me. She looked so worried about me. She asked me to go outside and went to her office. I can’t find the words to tell. I’m too spaced out. Little did I know, she called my mom. I saw my mom barged into the office and looked at me telling me what happened. My teacher talked to her first after she started asking me things. I told her my classmates grabbed my bag because they hated me. I can’t paint my mom’s expression. It feels like she’s not the mom I knew. She started uttering words like will explode anytime soon. I didn’t those eyes that full of anger. Is she that mad because of what happened?

“Who are they?! Tell me!”, my mom shouted that making other teachers panic at their desks. I didn’t know what to do so I held my mom’s arms and told her to calm down. My teacher told her they will investigate the incident and that’s when she calmed herself down. We sat in front of my teacher’s desk and I lay my head on my mom’s shoulder. She caressed my hair and I’m wondering what is she thinking? It looked like she was affected by what happened to me. Maybe because that was a mother was? I can’t understand but I thought that sums it up—mother’s love and instinct.

The next day Andrea went downstairs hastily. She went straight to her mother and hugged her tightly while sobbing. All of them were shocked and curious about what happened to her. Mrs. Key held Andrea in her arms until she calms down. On the other hand, Andrea was sobbing. The atmosphere was heavy and quiet when Mr. Key started to talk. “Did something happen?”, he tilts his head, confusion all over his face.

“I…saw…”, Andrea sobbed.

“You saw what?”, he said while sipping his coffee

“I saw… horrible... acc…accident... at your work-k….”, tears started to fall in Andrea’s eyes. Her mother wiped it out.

“Dear, it’s just a dream. It won’t happen”, Mrs. Key told Andrea while wiping her daughter’s tears.

“I know you won’t believe me but the-there are times th-that my dreams happened in re-real l-life”, Andrea said while sobbing.

“You know what? I’ll go now. I’ll be late. And Andrea, rest well, okay? Maybe you’re just tired”, he put his cup on the sink and gave a little kiss on his wife’s cheek, and pat Andrea’s head.

“B-but D-dad!”, Andrea started to cry out loud.

Her siblings finished eating their breakfast and left it on the dining table with her mom. They didn’t utter a single word before they leave. They thought it was just a mere imagination without a basis like all people. She didn’t calm down for quite some time with her mom. Instead, she went back to her room and cried. She felt frustration and disappointment that her family didn’t believe her, and she felt that all the people won’t believe anything. She laid down on her bed and cover her head. Her mind can’t stop thinking about many things again. She shouted her heart out of the pillow that covers her. She wanted to hurt herself to distract the pain from tearing her heart apart.

A few hours later, someone was knocking at her door--- her mom. “Andrea, it’s late, are you hungry? Will I get food for you?” Andrea was staring at the door without any intention to answer her mother’s question. She went to the side of her bed and hug her pillow tightly. “Just text me if you want any food, okay?”, her mom added and heard footsteps that went away from her room.

Andrea was staring at the ceiling thinking when she grabs her phone and play music.

Playing: Perfect by Pink

Made a wrong turn, once or twice

Dug my way out, blood and fire

Bad decisions, that's alright

Welcome to my silly life

Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood

Miss knowing it's all good, it didn't slow me down

Mistaken, always second-guessing, underestimated

Look, I'm still around

Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel

Like you're less than fuckin' perfect

Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing

You're fuckin' perfect to me

Andrea hummed together with the tune of the music and uttered words, “will a person look at me like I’m perfect even if I’m not?”

Days passed, and Andrea kept silent. She didn’t bother to answer their questions or even look at them. She made them feel like she can’t see or feel them. Everyone in their household felt the tension in the air whenever they saw Andrea. “Andrea, please’, her mother said while stopping her to go upstairs. “Talk to us.” She took two more steps up before looking at her mom that looked worriedly.

“What will happen if I talk to you?”, she tilted her head

“We can talk these things through, please talk to us’, her mother pleaded. Andrea took another step up when her sister shouted.

“Andrea?! Is that how you talk to mom?!”

“Why is it my fault?”, Andrea faced her sister

“We tried everything to talk to you but you keep on ignoring us’, her sister explained

“I tried to talk to you that day! Everyone looked at me like I’m crazy like it was just my imagination. I know it wasn’t. I know everything in my dream came true for some time. But you didn’t believe me. Then how are you going to talk to people who don’t believe you? Tell me! You looked at me like you’re judging me because of my words, you’re like those people outside!”, Andrea shouted as she ran upstairs.

Her mom thumped the kitchen table and put her hands on her ears. “Great, that’s a nice job there. Thank you.” Her daughter rolled her eyes and went upstairs too when she heard the telephone ring.

“Hello--“

“Is this Key’s residence?”, the caller asked.

“Yes, this is the Key residence. How can I help you?”, her voice cracked. She felt something was off.

“This is from the Ferry Contractors; we have an emergency… and we need you to calm down”

(Inaudible noises)

Sadness and shock were drawn on Mrs. Key’s face. She can’t contain her tears and sobbed loudly that her children heard and ran fast toward her. Her two children were confused. They called Andrea to went downstairs. Andrea saw her mom on the floor sobbing, she felt a pain in her chest. “What just happened here?”, she asked. “We don’t know, we just heard her crying.” They helped their mom to sit on the chair and gave her a glass of water. “Y-your... fa-fa…father...”, she stuttered. “What happened to Dad!?”, Andrea exclaimed.

Mrs. Key explained what the company told her and they rushed toward the hospital where their father was admitted. When they got to the hospital, nervousness was the only emotion they felt. Andrea was certain that what she dreamed about her father was the one that happened. They were at the front door, no one wanted to open it, Andrea took the first step and opened it.

They were shocked by what they saw. Some body parts of their father were nowhere to find. He is full of bandages like a mummy. Andrea uttered, “If you just believe me, none of this will happen.” Her mother was frozen as she examined the body in front of her. She can’t believe what she’s seeing, her husband lying on the hospital bed with some body parts missing. “No, no, no, this is not real. That’s not my husband. Tell me this is just a dream. I need to wake up. Please. That’s not your father, right?”, Mrs. Key sobbed.

“Look at the ring”, Andrea pointed out with sadness on her face

That’s the time her mother realized that is her husband. She broke down and passed out on the floor. Her children called the hospital staff to help them get their mother up. Now their parents lay with each other. Andrea and her siblings were waiting outside when one of them asked a question.

“What did you dream last time, Andrea?”, her older sister asked out of nowhere

“Curious now?”. Andrea mockingly said

“Well, this is not the right time to joke around, y’ know?”, she said seriously.

“I know, but are you ready to hear the details?”, Andrea asked reassuringly

“That detailed?”

“Not the whole scenario but I know what happened to him”, Andrea continued

“Okay, let’s hear it.”

“I didn’t recognize the place since Dad won’t let us see his working station but all we know is he’s not in construction but the engineering department. Sometimes he went outside to check the progress of the construction to see if it was accurate according to plan and so. And there I saw him, there’s a huge boulder above him held by their machine. He’s talking to some construction workers there but when it fell, all of them except Dad wasn’t there. He’s measuring something just below that boulder then the machine slipped its grasp to the boulder. It happened so fast that all people there were shocked, even me, even though I wasn’t there. Luckily, his whole body wasn’t crushed into pieces. His left side got all the weight, that’s why he’s like a mummy now. I don’t know if you will believe me but let’s hear what the company will say.” Andrea stated

“Let’s just see if it’s the same as what they saw. I know it sounds like subconscious creation but I read about people who can see the future through dreams, so I don’t know. Let’s wait and see then.”

Their other sibling didn’t join their chit-chat, he was listening to their conversation only. Without any reaction or comment, he’s looking at Andrea like he’s examining her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”, Andrea asked.

“You’re gifted”, he said plainly.

He got up from sitting and went inside the room of their parents. Andrea and her sister followed him inside.