An interruption suddenly broke the quiet atmosphere of the room.
It began with a small cough.
Elifero's eyes shifted toward the sound, but he said nothing. At first, he thought he might have imagined it. The cough had been so faint that it could easily have been mistaken for nothing more than a throat clearing somewhere in the house.
Then it came again.
This time, louder.
A rough, aggressive cough echoed through the walls, reaching the room where Elifero and Jon sat. It sounded deeper than an ordinary cough, carrying a harshness that made Elifero's attention linger.
Another cough followed.
And another.
Elifero glanced toward the direction of the sound.
"Aren't you going to check up on her?"
Jon remained calm.
"Don't worry about it. It's just a small cold. A fever, that's all. You shouldn't worry yourself about it."
Elifero continued staring toward the room.
Something about the coughing didn't sound like a simple fever.
But he decided not to question Jon further.
Jon shifted his attention back toward Elifero and began explaining their plan.
They would start the following day, sometime around late morning. They would walk around the village together, allowing Elifero to become familiar with his surroundings.
Perhaps something would trigger a memory.
A street.
A house.
A face.
A familiar voice.
Even the smallest detail might cause something buried inside Elifero's mind to surface.
"We'll walk around the village tomorrow," Jon explained. "Maybe if you see places you've been before, or people you recognize, something might come back to you. We don't have much else to work with."
A loud cough echoed from the other room.
Jon paused briefly before continuing.
"It's not the best idea, but we have to work with what we've got, I guess."
He gave Elifero a small, reassuring smile.
"Let's just hope we can get everything figured out as fast as possible. Wherever your mother and sisters are, they must be missing you."
Elifero lowered his eyes.
He gave a small nod.
The thought of his family tightened something inside his chest.
Jon stood and stretched his arms above his head, letting out a quiet sigh.
"In the meantime, let's prepare to sleep. It'll be a busy day tomorrow."
"Uhm..."
The word escaped Elifero's mouth before he could stop it.
Jon looked toward him.
Silence.
Another cough came from the other room.
Elifero's hands were tightly clasped between his crossed legs. His fingers trembled slightly. Sweat gathered along his forehead despite the coldness of the room.
He wanted to ask.
But the words refused to come.
He wasn't sure how to say it without sounding like a burden.
Jon tilted his head.
"Huh?"
Elifero swallowed.
"I... I don't want to be a bother or an inconvenience, but..."
He hesitated.
"Can I sleep here tonight? If that's okay with your mom... and you?"
For a moment, Jon simply looked at him.
Then a small smile appeared on his face.
"You can stay as long as you need to. At least until you get your memories back."
Elifero blinked.
"Wait. Aren't you going to ask your mom first before you decide?"
Jon casually waved his hand.
"Don't worry. Leave my mom to me."
He turned toward the doorway.
"Now come on. Let's get some sleep."
Morning came quietly.
Elifero woke early.
For several moments, he remained completely still.
Beside him, Jon was still asleep, his breathing deep and uneven. He had apparently been exhausted from everything that had happened the previous day.
Elifero considered waking him.
But he stopped himself.
He's probably tired.
Jon had helped him when he was terrified. He had cleaned his wounds, comforted him, given him food, and allowed him to stay the night.
Elifero didn't want to disturb him over something as insignificant as waking up for a cup of water.
So instead, he carefully turned onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
The zinc roof above them had clearly seen better days.
Rust had eaten away at parts of the metal, leaving patches of corrosion scattered across its surface. In the dimness of the room, the damaged sections were barely visible, except where the weak morning light slipped through the curtains and illuminated them.
The house was almost completely silent.
Almost.
Jon's rhythmic snoring filled the room.
Despite the noise, the silence surrounding it felt strangely heavy.
Elifero's eyes slowly closed.
His thoughts drifted.
His mother.
Bloom.
Raim.
His village.
His friends.
And then...
Pedro.
****Two Years Ago
Mid-morning — around 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.
The sky was clear that morning, almost completely free of clouds.
A cool breeze moved gently through the village, carrying the refreshing chill of the early day with it.
In front of the house, the sound of children's laughter filled the air.
Bloom and Raim were playing near their mother's garden while she worked among the flowers, pulling weeds and clearing tangled roots from the soil.
A little farther away, beneath the shade of a large tree, Pedro sat quietly.
The tree's leaves had begun changing colors, some turning orange and yellow as they swayed gently with the wind.
Pedro leaned against its trunk, his eyes closed as he looked toward the sky.
Beside him stood his horse.
One of Pedro's hands slowly moved through the animal's mane, gently stroking its hair.
For a while, he simply sat there.
Then Elifero approached.
The young boy walked over and lowered himself beside Pedro.
For a moment, he said nothing.
He simply stared at the man sitting next to him.
Pedro had blondish hair that reflected the sunlight whenever the wind shifted it. To Elifero, there was something comforting about simply being beside him.
Pedro opened his eyes.
"Don't you just like the weather at this time of year?"
Elifero looked toward the sky.
He didn't understand the question.
To him, it was simply normal weather.
The same kind of weather he had experienced every year.
"What do you mean?"
Pedro smiled faintly.
Instead of answering immediately, he looked toward the tree above them.
"Look closely at this tree."
Elifero followed his gaze.
"It has deep roots," Pedro continued, "but its leaves are always reaching toward a sky they can never fully touch."
Elifero listened quietly.
"Right now, you're young. You probably don't think much about things like this."
Pedro's voice remained calm.
"But there will be times in your life when the wind blows so fiercely that it sweeps away everything you thought you knew."
The wind moved through the leaves above them.
"But when that happens, you might find yourself somewhere unfamiliar. You might feel lost. You might not understand what happened or where you're supposed to go next."
Elifero's eyes remained fixed on Pedro.
"You may even feel as though everything you've known has disappeared."
Pedro paused.
"But don't forget your roots."
He placed a hand gently against the tree's trunk.
"Trees survive storms because their roots hold them to the ground. Their branches can break. Their leaves can fall. Sometimes they can look completely dead during winter."
He looked at Elifero.
"But beneath the ground, the roots remain."
Elifero didn't fully understand what Pedro was trying to tell him.
Still, he listened.
"When life becomes difficult, remember where you came from. Even when the branches are bare and the night feels endless, the sky is still there."
Pedro gave him a small smile.
"And eventually, morning comes."
A quiet breeze passed between them.
"You don't have to understand everything right now, Elifero."
Pedro gently patted his head.
"Just remember that you're stronger than you think. Whatever storms come your way, don't let them make you forget who you are."
Elifero nodded.
He still didn't completely understand what his uncle meant.
But that didn't matter much to him.
He was simply happy to be sitting beside Pedro.
After a moment, Elifero looked at him curiously.
"Uncle Pedro..."
"Hm?"
"What's it like..."
Elifero hesitated.
"I mean... what's it like outside the village?"
Pedro raised an eyebrow.
"Outside?"
"Yeah."
Elifero's eyes brightened.
"It must be nice, huh? Traveling through all those places."
He smiled.
"Then coming back and telling us stories about all the strange places you've visited."
Pedro remained quiet.
Elifero continued.
"Even though we know they're not real."
He laughed softly.
"You're probably just making them up to keep everyone entertained."
The words struck Pedro differently than Elifero intended.
For a brief moment, the older man's expression changed.
He looked at the boy beside him.
His nephew.
His son.
A child who had no idea how much truth was hidden behind those stories.
Pedro slowly looked toward the horizon.
"The world is big."
He paused.
"Maybe even bigger than you can imagine."
Elifero watched him.
Pedro stood and brushed the dirt from his clothes.
He then reached down and gently rubbed Elifero's hair, a faint smirk appearing on his face.
"One day..."
He paused.
"One day, you'll see it for yourself."
End of the Memory
Elifero's eyes opened.
His hand was raised toward the ceiling.
For a moment, he simply stared at it.
"Uncle Pedro..."
His voice was barely audible.
"Mom..."
He swallowed.
"Bloom... Raim..."
His hand slowly curled into a fist.
He held it against his forehead.
He remained like that for several minutes.
Silent.
The memories hurt.
But he couldn't explain why.
Eventually, he lowered his hand.
His throat felt dry.
He was thirsty.
He glanced toward Jon.
Jon was still asleep.
Elifero didn't want to wake him.
It's just water.
He could get it himself.
Carefully, he slipped out of bed.
He opened the door and stepped into the hallway.
The door closed behind him with a faint, breathless click.
The hallway was freezing.
Elifero walked carefully on his toes, his bare feet pressing against the cold floorboards.
Every step felt louder than it should have.
Behind him, Jon's rhythmic snoring gradually faded.
The farther Elifero walked, the quieter the house became.
The silence felt strange.
Heavy.
Almost suffocating.
He continued toward the kitchen.
Then he stopped.
His eyes shifted toward another door.
His mother's room.
The door wasn't completely closed.
A narrow gap remained between it and the frame, allowing a faint strip of grey morning light to spill into the hallway.
Elifero hesitated.
He had only intended to get water.
He should have continued walking.
But something made him stop.
Then he smelled it.
A strange metallic scent.
It reached the back of his throat.
Elifero frowned.
It smelled like rusted iron.
Like old pennies.
Then—
Cough.
Elifero froze.
The sound was different from the coughing he'd heard earlier.
It wasn't light.
It wasn't a simple throat-clearing.
It was wet.
Deep.
A choking, rattling sound that seemed to come from somewhere far inside the person's chest.
Elifero slowly turned toward the door.
He took a careful step forward.
Another.
His hand hovered near the door, but he didn't touch it.
Instead, he leaned closer.
He pressed one eye against the narrow opening.
Inside, the room was dark.
The only source of light came from a single candle flickering on a bedside table.
The weak flame illuminated several objects.
A tray.
Dark glass medicine bottles.
Scattered white pills.
A glass of cloudy water.
But Elifero barely noticed any of them.
His eyes had already found the bed.
Jon's mother was sitting hunched over.
Her back was curved, her body trembling with every breath.
She looked as though even sitting upright required an enormous amount of effort.
One hand tightly gripped a white cloth against her mouth.
Her shoulders shook violently.
Another convulsion ran through her body.
She coughed again.
Elifero's eyes widened.
She slowly pulled the cloth away from her mouth.
And Elifero stopped breathing.
The cloth was no longer white.
It was soaked in dark crimson.
Blood.
A fresh drop slipped from the corner of her mouth.
It travelled slowly down her chin like a red tear.
Elifero's stomach tightened.
The woman's eyes looked sunken and hollow beneath the candlelight.
She appeared exhausted.
Not merely tired.
Exhausted in a way that made her seem as though she had been fighting something for a very long time.
She stared down at the blood covering the cloth.
She didn't notice Elifero.
She didn't know that someone was standing just outside her door.
Elifero remained completely frozen.
His thirst disappeared.
His thoughts disappeared.
Everything disappeared except the image in front of him.
The coughing.
The blood.
The trembling body.
The crimson cloth.
A cold realization slowly settled over him.
Jon had been wrong.
Or perhaps...
Jon had been lying.
Elifero's fingers tightened against the doorframe.
His heart began beating faster.
This wasn't a small cold.
This wasn't just a fever.
Something was seriously wrong with Jon's mother.