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"Isn't she the daughter of the CrAzY mother?"
"I wonder if she's CrAzY."
"Like MoThEr like dAuGhTeR, bet she is."
I hear those words everyday, every time and everywhere. My "best friend", Quinn, spread mom's condition and called her CrAzY. Despite of mom's condition, dad became the second hand of his boss and his salary raised. I excelled in our class temporarily. Dad always come home late and rush in the morning. He is even away during weekends and holidays. He did that for two years. He had no time for us.
Today's winter break. I am playing with my cat and I heard mom talking to herself in her room. I haven't talked to her for so long. I went to her room and knocked.
"Come in,"
I opened the door. She was sitting on her rocking chair. She beamed as she caught my eyes. "What makes you come here?" she asked. "I just want to talk to you since dad's out." I said. I sat on the edge of her bed.
"Nona, this is my daughter, Anna. Did you remember her?" mom said to the thin air.
Nona. It must be her deceased friend or relative. "Mom, who's Nona?"
"She's my close friend since middle school."
"Would you mind telling me her story?"
"Sure, Nona's just like you, Anna."
We met at the Tennis Club 30 years ago. I like her for she is adept in tennis and a weirdo. She taught me tricks to win and outplay the opponent. When it comes to doubles, we are the unbeatable pair. We have same interests like tennis, drawing and golf as a hobby. I remembered when she told me the meaning behind her name. Nona is short for Noname. If you will looked at it closely, it's No name. Her parents don't know what to name her. They remove the space between No and name and have the first four words as her name, 'Nona'.
Nona is a perfect friend. I treasured her. We discovered each other's naked hearts and souls. We do silly things together. She loves writing stories that touch everyone's hears. When we reached college, she showed interest in ice skating and gave it a lift. Since then, she always bring home the bacon in tennis and skating.
I remember, she read The House Without Windows by Barbara Newhall Follet hundreds of times that she can almost memorize the novel word by word. She told me that Follet was still eight when she wrote that book and at age 25, she disappeared without a trace. I mentioned earlier that Nona is a perfect friend. But she's also a human. She's the worst person living in the world sometimes.
Even after college, we're still close to each other until she migrated to another country to live with her husband. That was the last time I saw her before I got married four hears after.
"Wait, the LAST time?" I asked
"Let me finish first,"
We met again when you were four years old. She told me you're beautiful and will soon follow my journey. I told her you have your own path. She likes you. Remember when she gave you her The House Without Windows at your fifth birthday? She told me you'll become a writer soon.
It's impossible for me to forget Nona for you're just like her. Your smiles and your habits are like hers. Two years after your fifth birthday, John and Zoey told me a news about her that made my heart sank.
This is it.
"Nona disappeared." Zoey said with the eyes of sorrow.
"What? Impossible!" I said.
"Hagane (Nona's spouse) told us he saw her last winter a year ago. Talia said she was with her, practicing how to ice skate." John said, taking a sip of his coffee.
"If Talia was there and she's the witness, how come the Hagane family are clueless about her disappearance?" I asked.
"Talia refused to testify how Nona disappeared." Zoey said. "Even the professional doctor can't force the child. They said, Talia had a trauma since her mother disappeared."
She knows! I said at the back of my mind.
I was worried about Nona in that time. I burst into tears as I remembered the ending of The House Without Windows. Where is she wondering? What happened to her? Is she okay? Those questions made me stressed. Few days after, when I was about to sleep, I heard banging on my window.
"Trissy,"
T'was a familiar voice. Nona. I'm sure it's Nona. I unlocked the windows and saw my dearest best friend in her winter clothes. I let her came in. I let her borrow my clothes for she's sweating. I asked her where she's been, why she disappeared and how she got here. She just laughed like nothing happened and told me she'll stay in our house.
"Why not go home? Talia had a trauma after you disappeared! Your family is waiting for you to come home!"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
She gave me a hug and laughed. I agreed she'll stay here in our household. She won't answer me every time I ask her why she won't visit her family. She even refused me to spread the news that I found her. You know, my worries suddenly went away when she arrived here. While your dad's at work, I'm still happy for my best friend is here.
"Nice friendship you got there, mom." I said. "I'll go down and play with our cat."
"Okay, sweetie. Thanks for the time."
"About John and Zoey, they're coming today, right?"
"Oh yes! Thank you for reminding me! I'm gonna cook dinner before they arrive!"
While mom was cooking dinner, I went to the garden to get some fresh air. I looked at the skies and remembered the tale of Lyra and Hercules. I was deeply thinking about the condition of mom. She knows. She knows but she denied the truth for it pierced her heart.
"What's with that face?"
I looked at my shoulder and saw the same nightingale I met days ago. "Any stories for tonight?"
He shook his head. "Tristana already told you the story I'm about to share to you."
"You knew," I said, looking at the sky. "Are you there when Nona disappeared? How'd you know about it?"
"I'm not an ordinary nightingale, FYI. Did you see a norm nightingale talking instead of singing like the other birds? Why do you hunger the cause of Nona's disappearance?"
"Unsolved mysteries makes me uncomfortable. I'm always curious."
"Is that so?"
"The next story I'm going to tell you is about her disappearance."
"Whe--" as I looked at my shoulder, the nightingale disappeared. I failed to ask when he will tell me the next story.
"Nona, I've got something to tell you," said John from afar.
"It's Anna!" said Zoey in a soft voice but I can still hear it.
"Shoot, I forgot! I mean - Anna! Come here!"
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