Rain Drops

Chapter 23

"Stop yelling at me!" I screamed as tears flowed down from my cheeks. "I hate everything here. This whole stupid kingdom is full of bullies. It's all fake, just a facade that serves as a cover for bullying. And, besides, who says that I want to leave?"

Mom put her arm around my neck and hugged me tightly. She stroked my hair tenderly.

"Everything will work out eventually," she said calmly. "Your father and I are working hard to protect you. No matter what happens, I will never abandon you. Never! And neither will your sister."

"That's right! We'll never forsake you! Our little princess!" yelled Grandpa with a proud smile on his face. He patted my head affectionately.

"I love you guys so much," I cried while hugging Mom.

A few minutes later, Grandpa and Dad managed to calm me down and we headed home. As we approached our neighborhood, I realized something strange. Everyone was talking animatedly and shouting loudly. It seemed that everyone had gathered outside of my house. All of a sudden I noticed several people standing close by my house and a huge crowd blocking my driveway. Everyone was talking and cheering. There were thousands of people standing there waving flags and waving bright colors at my family as they drove through the crowd, heading straight toward their house, with Mom, Dad, and I riding beside them. In fact, there must have been close to five hundred people standing in front of our house. I couldn't believe what was happening. When we pulled up in front of the porch, the people waiting for us suddenly rushed toward us. I heard Mom and Dad yelling loudly, "Get out of our way! This is our daughter! Get the hell outta our way! Get back here!" I was surprised by the angry expression on their faces. I looked at Mom in confusion. I hadn't known she had been shouting until then. She reached for her purse, pulled out the cell phone she always carried with her and tried to dial someone. After a couple of seconds, Mom's voice grew softer as if she'd given up on the call and lowered her head quietly. I looked at her with curiosity.

"She has lost all hope of calling someone to pick us up," said Grandpa quietly. "They say it's useless to try, since we don't have any money. Besides, it looks like your mother isn' going anywhere now, either. Her legs are shaking so badly, that even Dad couldn't hold her upright now."

I was puzzled by the fact that Mom wouldn't stand up. But I didn't want to worry her even more. My eyes wandered back to Mom as she was slowly losing the battle against the crowd. She was starting to lose control over her trembling body and tears kept pouring down her face uncontrollably. Tears were flowing from her mouth too, despite her best efforts. I felt bad. But I didn't want to be near her, because seeing her that way made me remember her last words before she died. I felt like screaming at her, telling her that everything was her fault, that she had been a terrible mom.

Then, a new thought crossed my mind. Maybe it wasn't her fault, after all. Maybe the accident was a blessing. Maybe I was meant to survive, to live, to learn... Just maybe, I was meant to continue living without her. I didn't want to believe that my own life had ended just like hers. That she had lost all hope of saving herself. That we had both lost our way.

I sighed deeply, while trying not to cry. I wanted to be strong, to be the same kid I used to be... I couldn't cry. Not now! Not ever!

The people around me stopped moving and remained silent. Even Grandma became completely quiet. For a moment I thought we were going to have to wait in silence until someone finally decided to save us from all those crazy, unorganized people. Then I thought it might be a good idea to hide somewhere. Maybe we could stay there for days or weeks, until the chaos subsided. But I decided it would probably be impossible to hide for such a long time, especially not with our two kids.

But fortunately for us, nobody seemed to know anything at all about hiding. They continued standing there, watching Mom crying quietly. I looked at them helplessly, afraid of disturbing their peace.

Suddenly, I heard an authoritative voice booming in every corner of the crowded court yard.

"Silence!" roared the guard angrily. "It's already late and we still haven't done the final tests yet. You may remain quiet, but please keep your thoughts and actions within yourselves. Do whatever you wish to do. Only the important people should be allowed inside the castle and they should not disturb anyone in order to fulfill their task."

With a loud shout, everyone began chanting the names of all the famous nobles of Japan, including some unknown ones that I didn't recognize. I couldn't understand what they were saying. All I could hear was the sound of their voices resonating in my ears. The voices continued ringing inside my head for what felt like forever.

Then, all of a sudden I heard someone shouting, "My Queen!"

At first I didn't recognize the voice, since there wasn't any familiar name in my mind. However, after a while, I remembered where I'd heard it once before. A voice I knew only too well. I recognized the owner of that very voice.

And with that, I knew I had no choice but to listen to whatever the man was going to tell us. The man continued talking, but I couldn't focus my attention on him anymore. Instead of listening to his boring speech, my gaze lingered a bit longer on the woman sitting beside him.

A tall lady wearing a beautiful red dress stood beside him, supporting him gently. Her face was covered with a dark blue veil which hid all of her facial features except her big brown eyes that shone brightly like stars. Her face was extremely delicate and beautiful. A small rose tattoo was located under one of her eyes and around the edges of her lips were two small, red dots. The rest of her face was hidden behind the veil. I knew she was the most influential queen in Korea and had lots of friends. At least according to my father she did. But I couldn't remember the person sitting next to her well because of the veil.