Her Saviour

Chapter 28: Secured, Protected, and Happy

Rin’s Point of View

Rin woke up to the sound of her alarm at 6:30 am. She was surprised to have woken up without the heavy feeling in her chest. She felt light and refreshed. As she got out of the bed, she remembered hearing the lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was young. She does not remember listening to the recording of it. So, she thought that it must have been a dream. It had been a long time she had listened to the recording of her mother singing the lullaby. She smiled as she remembered her mother but instantly tears started falling from her eyes.

She missed her mother. Her mother was her everything. It had been five years since she died. In addition, there was not a day that passed by when she did not miss her mother. There was not a day that passed by when did not wish that she was there with her. She missed her terribly. After she died, her relationship with her father deteriorated. He had always been busy, to begin with. He was always working. Even when her mother was sick and was always in bed, he was not there.

She smiled through her tears as she remembered the day when she recorded her mother’s lullaby.

*Nine years ago*

The moment Rin opened her eyes, she got out of the bed and ran to the living room. Her mother was sitting on the sofa and watching the television. As soon as her mother saw her, she raised her hands and signaled her to come where she was. Rin smiled and ran to her mother’s lap and hugged her.

“Good Morning mommy”, Rin said.

“Good morning darling”, her mother replied.

Rin leaned in and whispered in her mother’s ear, “Do you remember what you told me that I can do today?”

Her mother laughed. Rin also laughed after hearing her laugh. Then she said, “I do not remember anything” and stuck out her tongue at Rin.

Rin laughed and in between her laughter also stuck out her tongue. Then she said, “Mommy, you said you will let me record you singing the lullaby.”

Her mother replied, “But darling, it is 10 am right now. Lullabies are sung at night. To let you sleep” and tickled her.

Rin started laughing and said, “But mommy, I want to record it. Can I please record it?” She had her big blue puppy eyes she always showed when she wanted something.

After seeing those puppy eyes, her mother could not say no.

“Okay honey, go get your iPod and I will go get my ukulele.”

Rin nodded and ran to get it. After she got it from her room, she ran back to where her mother was. She was getting the ukulele from her room. Together they walked back into the living room. After getting there, Rin looked at her and said, “Mommy? Are you ready?”

Her mother nodded and Rin pressed “record”.

Her mother started playing the ukulele and started singing.

“Goodnight, my angel, time to close your eyes,

And save these questions for another day.

I think I know what you have been asking me,

I think you know what I have been trying to say.

I promised I would never leave you,

Then you should always know,

Wherever you may go, no matter where you are,

I never will be far away.

Goodnight, my angel, now it’s time to sleep,

And still, so many things I want to say.

Remember all the songs you sang for me,

Where we went sailing on emerald bay.

And like a boat out on the ocean,

I’m rocking you to sleep.

The water’s dark and deep, inside this ancient heart,

You’ll always be a part of me.

Goodnight, my angel, now it’s time to dream,

And dream how wonderful your life will be.

Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby,

Then in your heart there will always be a part of me.

Someday we’ll all be gone,

But lullabies go on and on,

They never die,

That’s how you and I will be.”

Her mother finished singing and Rin pressed “stop”.

She said, “Mommy, it was beautiful.”

Her mother placed the ukulele on the table beside her and smiled. She said, "You listen to this every night. Are you not fed up with this lullaby?"

Rin hugged her mother and replied, "You are the one singing it mommy. No matter how many times I hear this, I will always like it, mommy." She then broke away from the hug and kissed her mother on the cheek.

After she kissed her cheek, she said, "I love you, Mommy."

Her mother kissed her on her cheek and replied, “I love you more, my baby.”

*end of flashback*

By this time, Rin was sobbing. Even though she missed her mother so much, she had stopped listening to the lullaby on her iPod after she had partly given up on living. She continued sobbing but she walked towards the drawer near her bed and took out the iPod. She connected it with the earphones and played the recording.

As soon as she heard her mother’s voice, she started sobbing harder. She was crying her eyes out. Her heart was aching but surprisingly her head and her eyes were not hurting. She cried until there were no more tears left.

When she was done, she checked the time. It was 8 am. She hurriedly went into the bathroom to take a quick shower. It was Friday, so she still had classes today. After she was done showering, she quickly threw in a black shirt and leggings. She got her bags and walked out of her bedroom.

Since she did not eat anything the night before, she was starving. Her father had left. It was probably one of the days where he had to work the morning shift. Rin did not know when her father worked, and she did not make the effort to know.

She put her bag and her car key on the table near the main door. She walked to the kitchen and washed her hands. She took out a bowl, two eggs, a strip of bacon from the fridge, and a packet of bread. She cracked the egg and put it in the bowl. She whisked the eggs after adding some salt and pepper. She then turned on the gas and put a pan on it. She added some butter and while she waited for the butter to heat, she put two slices of bread in the toaster. She then put the eggs in the pan to make scrambled eggs. She added butter again and placed the strip of bacon in the pan. When both the eggs and the bacon were done, the two slices of bread also came out of the toaster. She grabbed a plate and put the eggs, the bacon, and the bread on it.

She carried the plate to the dining table and sat down. She grabbed a glass and poured the mango juice. Then she started eating.

*20 minutes later*

Rin was done eating and washing the dishes. She dried her hands and then walked towards the main door. She picked her bag and grabbed the key. She also grabbed the house key since his father had already left. She opened the door and walked outside. She turned around and locked it. She then put the house key in the side pocket of her bag. She walked towards the car and unlocked it. She got inside the car and put the car key in. She started the car. Then she started driving out of the gate and into the road.

As she drove, she remembered about Haru. She had been so engrossed in crying that she had forgotten about Haru in the morning. Even though she was worried about Haru, Rin still felt light. In addition, she was also feeling calm. Something in that calm feeling told her that Haru was fine.

Another thing she noticed was that, even though she had cried for a long time in the morning, her eyes felt completely fine. She stopped the car and checked her eyes in the mirror. It was not even swollen.

She was surprised but not that it did not hurt. She was surprised that it had been a long time since she had experienced this. She remembered that in the past when she had scraped her knees once, she was about to cry and run to tell her mother. However, before her tears could fall, the pain was no longer there nor was there a scar. That was not the only time. Whenever she was hurt, the pain would go away. During those times, she had always felt secured and protected. She then realized that maybe the calmness she felt right now was due to the same reason.

She wondered why she did not feel it in the past five years. She pressed the button with which she could control the window of her car. She opened the window and let the breeze come in. It was a breezy morning. She thought that maybe it would rain and she put her hand out of the window. As soon as she thought that, it started drizzling and she felt some drops on her hand. Since she had already stopped the car, she opened the car door and got outside. She loved getting drenched in the rain. However, she had never gotten sick from it. She closed her eyes and turned her head up towards the sky. She let the rainfall on her face. She smiled as she remembered why she loved the rain. She loved the rain. She loved the ocean and the river. She loved bubble baths. All these things she loved were something she had gotten from her mother. Her mother loved these things. Also, Rin had loved watching her mother being happy because of these. So she learned to love them and with each year that passed, she grew fonder of them. When she was young, her mother used to prepare bubble baths. Then she would pick Rin up and they used to stay in the bathtub playing with bubbles.

The rain started getting heavier and this served as a reminder that she has to go. She quickly got into her car and checked the time. It was almost 9 am. She did have plenty of time until her first class began. She approximately had an hour.

She started her car and started driving to the isolated place below the college. Before she turned towards the road that led to the place, she stopped to buy a pack of cigarettes. She also bought a bottle of water with it. After she was done, she drove towards the isolated place. No sooner did she drive into the entrance of the place, she saw another car parked in the place. She could faintly make out a person leaning on the car. As she got closer, she recognized the man. It was Haru.

She was relieved when she saw him. She quickly parked her car and got out. As soon as she did that, she saw Haru looking at her and smiling. She smiled back and ran to him.

“Haru, you are fine right?” Rin asked.

Haru looked startled for a while but he recovered and replied, “Yes Rin, I am fine.”

Rin let out of sigh of relief.

Haru continued, “I am so sorry that I could not make it yesterday. I was free during the time you asked me in the first class. But then, something came up and I had to visit my grandfather. After I got the call, I wanted to tell you that I could not come. However, I could not find you nor did I have your number to contact you. I am really sorry. Please forgive me.”

Rin thought that she might have been a bother to Haru. “First I asked him to meet me and then I left the college. I left him no means to contact me.” She thought.

Before she could speak and start apologizing. She heard Haru say, “Let me make it up to you? Let us meet up after class today. I want to take you somewhere. We can leave your car at the college parking and leave in mine. We will be a little late. Is that fine?”

Rin was shocked to hear Haru say that. She had thought that she was being a bother to him. Instead, Haru was being nice. It did not feel like he thought of her as a burden. She felt a warm feeling enveloping her.

She thought that today was a good day. She woke up feeling calm and like someone was protecting her. Now she felt happiness flow into her. Everything felt right.

She had tears in her eyes as she looked up at Haru's eyes. As soon as Haru looked at her, he started to look panicked. Rin could tell that he was becoming anxious.

Before he did anything, Rin touched his shoulder and calmly spoke, “Haru. Thank you for inviting me. I was thinking that I might have been a burden to you. I was thinking about what to say to you or how to apologize but instead, you made me feel that I am not a burden. Thank you for that." Then she smiled at him.

Haru started to look calmer now and smiled. He spoke, "No, Rin. There was no need for you to apologize. It was mainly my fault. And besides, you could never be a burden.”

Rin started to blush at what Haru said. Before she could say anything, Haru added, “Now before anything else, can we exchange our numbers?” and he smiled.

Rin smiled and nodded. They exchanged their numbers. They then lit a cigarette each and started smoking. In between their puffs, they talked about many things.

One of the things they talked about was what classes they had today. Another one was about when they had started smoking. However, they did not touch upon why they started it. Rin was glad because even though Haru felt like home, she was not ready to share about her mother’s death. They continued talking about their hobbies and Haru asked Rin her favorite color.

Rin was a little stunned by that question. It had been a long time that she had thought about her favorite color. She fell silent. It was not that she did not want to tell Haru. It was that she was not sure how to phrase it. After about a minute, she spoke.

“It used to be blue.”

Haru did not say anything for a while but then spoke, “Blue like the color of your eyes?”

Rin held back her tears and nodded.

*Flashback*

Rin was on her mother’s lap with her arms around her neck. They were sitting on her bed and she was about to sing her the lullaby. Rin suddenly had a question to ask her mother. She asked, “Mommy, what is your favorite color?”

Her mother put her face in her hands and replied, “My favorite color is blue.”

Rin asked again, “Why Mommy?”

Her mother replied, “Because it is the color of your eyes. And I love it so much that it is my favorite color.”

Rin smiled and said, “Okay mommy. Then my favorite color from today will be blue because you love my eyes.”

Her mother said, “Oh my cute baby” and hugged her.

*end of flashback*

Haru said, “The color of your eyes is pretty.”

Rin was nervous and could not say anything in reply to that comment. She changed the subject and asked, “By the way, where will be we going later?”

Haru smiled and replied, “Well, if I tell you then I would be ruining the surprise for later.”

Rin was not a patient person. She raised her eyebrows and then did an eye roll at Haru. Haru started laughing with which Rin also started laughing. They laughed for a while and then when they stopped, Rin asked.

"No, I mean it. Seriously where will we be going?"

With his fingers, Haru zipped his mouth and shook his head.

Rin laughed again and asked.

“Okay then. Do not tell me where we are going. But give me a hint?”

Haru touched his chin and pretended to be thinking hard. Then he finally shook his head again.

Rin smiled and then said.

“Okay then. Let me propose something. I will ask some questions about that. If what I say is correct, then nod your head. If it is wrong, then shake your head. If you cannot answer because it will ruin the surprise, then stick out your tongue.” As soon as she said this, she laughed.

She added, “If you are fine with this, nod your head right now.”

Haru nodded and smiled at Rin.

Rin started asking, “So I remember you saying that we will be a little late. Is the place far?”

Haru nodded and demonstrated with his fingers which portrayed that it is a little far.

Rin said, “Okay, next question. Will we be home by 9 pm?”

Haru nodded.

Rin spoke, “Okay. Will we be taking the Highway?”

Haru stuck out his tongue and Rin started laughing.

She then took out another cigarette while grabbing her phone. Out of habit, she unlocked her phone. She noticed that it was 9:45 am. They had their first class in 15 minutes.

She spoke, “Haru this is not a question related to what we were doing but it is 9:45 am. Should not we be going now?”

Haru looked panicked but still nodded. This made Rin laugh again.

Haru said, “Let us smoke one each and go?” noticing the cigarette in Rin’s hand.

Rin nodded and they quickly smoked. Then they got into their respective cars and drove out of the isolated place to college.

(The lullaby – “Lullaby (Goodnight, My Angel)” by Billy Joel)