One Dark Night

It was a scary night. The storm was raging furiously, and I was very afraid that my small house would collapse. My little brother was asleep by the fire, a thick blanket wrapped securely around him. I sighed heavily and instinctively stroked his raven hair. Why does mom had to leave at this time of the year?

"Dear, as you are turning 18 in a few months time, we decided that we can trust you to take care of your brother while we're gone. You are grown up now." Mom smiled gently.

Dad, who was standing beside her, also gave an encouraging smile.

"You can sure count on me, mom, dad." I grinned back; my heart was bursting with pride.

Looking back at that time, I sure wished they hadn't left us, especially as seeing the house was in the brink of falling apart! Never before such an ugly storm occurred.

My thoughts were killed by a rap at the door. Staggered, I quickly opened it, praying to God it was a neighbor dropping by to check on us. Outside was a person in a bushy coat, covering from top to snow boot.

He was shivering vehemently.

"Come in," I invited hastily and stepped aside to let the man in. Closing the door, I turned to watch him as he took off the shaggy jacket.

He looked at me and I gasped.

Then fainted.
________________________________________________________________

I stirred groggily when I indistinctly heard my little brother calling me. Opening my eyes vaguely, I could make out two pair of eyes, staring down at me. One was the unmistakable emerald of my little brother's and the other was those unforgettable black eyes, penetrating as ever, watching silently nearby.

I jumped and my head banged into the wall. I groaned at the pain.

"Are you ok, sis?" the little toddler asked worriedly. I patted his head and mustered a smile.
"I'm fine, sweetie." I murmured reassuringly. I turned my gaze towards the visitor.

It was him alright; sure he had turned out to be a young man, but the straight light brown hair and black eyes were undoubtedly. He still looked as attractive as before. Out of the blue, he made a brisk hand gesture, indicating his voice and shaking his head.

"You cannot talk?" I asked frowning. He nodded. Promptly, he took out a notebook and a pen and began to scribe something on it.

'We've met before a long time ago, do you remember?'

I nodded at him and gave a faint blush. I did blacked out because of the shock of seeing him again, for crying out loud! Recalling our last encounter, I asked him how he faded that particular time.

He stared at me in pure incredulity before starting to write.

'It was fogging that time, don't you recall?'

This time, I turned beetroot! Oh, how embarrassing! Thinking back, I guessed it was mist after all. I was so petrified that time I didn't even take in my surrounding.

I feel so stupid right now.

My little brother shook my arm suddenly.

"Sis, I'm hungry." he whined cutely. I got up and invited our visitor to have supper with us. He nodded politely. We had a couple of biscuits and a mug of hot chocolate each. The food sure warmed us up.

The three of us then went back to sit by the fireplace, wrapped snugly in our blankets. We were too tired to talk and eventually just fell asleep. The last thing I remembered before darkness enveloped me was a pair of black eyes watching me tenderly. I smiled a little.

Somehow, I felt safe.
________________________________________________________________

I opened my eyes and inspected my surrounding. My brother was asleep in my arms and I noticed that it was morning and the snowstorm had died. Looking around, I saw a neatly folded blanket and a note on top of it. Reaching slowly as not to wake the toddler up, I read it.

'Thank you for letting me stay the night. The storm had stopped and I had to go. Sorry for not waking you up. You look exhausted.
Sincerely,
Ghost Boy.'

I snorted. Yeah, very funny!

I rolled my eyes. Suddenly, I realized I never asked his name! Surely I'm not becoming dense or something. I sighed and noticed more letters on the paper.

'P.S. We will meet again, definitely. Fate did bring us back together after almost ten years. By the way, you sleep like an angel.'

I reddened at his last comment then a smile crept to my face. Well, he's real after all!
________________________________________________________________

Everyone scrambled to their seats as the teacher walked into class. He looked at us gravely before speaking.

"Today we will have a new student in our class. He cannot speak so treat him kindly and with respect, understood?"

"Yes, teacher." The class answered except me. My mind was racing.

It can't be.

A boy walked into class and scribbled his name onto the board before turning around and gave a slight bow. Few gasps were heard from the girls. His light russet hair shone dimly and his coal black eyes scanned the room and finally stopped at me. A small smile lightened his handsome face, and after a long disbelief stare, I smiled sheepishly back at him.

It seemed like destiny wanted us to be together, I mean, to see each other again sooner than expected.

I realized it there and then, that my life had made a lovely twisted change, that started ten years ago, when I met the strange young boy in the woods.