He doesn't know how long he has been floating in the sky with no land underneath him. Hell, he doesn't even know where he was or how he got up there. All he knows is that this is something he cannot question about and let the river flows towards the sea. It was like he was a jellyfish with no goal or ambition. Just wandering for a long time until the cycle broke. How long has he been here? Hours? Days? He doesn't know at all.
He was about to close his eyes to sleep when a woman suddenly appeared. She looked exactly like him with that golden hair, amber eyes and freckles around her body he even thought that it's his mother finally taking him along with her but no. It was not her at all.
"We've finally found you!" She spoke first, "Who...? Me...? Found me?" He then asked."Uh-huh! The lost Solveig!" Well, that was a shitty name, ain't it? Solveig? What does that even mean? "The lost what? I'm not lost", He denied.
"You are!" She argued back, "You had been taken far far away from us! From your descendants and family!" Tears then rolled down her cheeks as she weeps pitifully and covered her eyes with her palm. "I am not. I am with my family, what's wrong with you?" He asked again calmly which makes the woman pause her weeping and looked at him confused, "...You don't know...? Oh, heavenly dear...! They had erased everything from you! Our pitiful child..." She then extend her arms and then smiled softly, "Come with me...! I'll take you back to our home!"
"No way! I don't even know you!" But the woman did not mind, she gripped his arms tightly and strong that it's surprising that the strength is coming from a woman like her, "I know you're scared... But trust me, dear. I am going to take you home again!"
Markl doesn't even know whether to trust her or not. Sure, she looked like his mother or he but he doesn't remember having another family member or aunt that has the same looks as him. All he remembers is that his mother is an only child who had run away from their cruel grandmother. "...And how should I know if I can trust you...?" He asked once again which makes her laugh "Don't be silly! You cannot trust anyone!"
What?
He was about to ask for more but he suddenly fell like gravity remembered what it's what about to do. He was no longer floating from the sky which makes him got scared and tried to helplessly hold the woman's hand for dear life but he slipped and the woman just stared at him as he falls,
"NO! HELP ME!" He desperately calls for her but there's no avail, she just hummed a tune that was familiar for Markl but he didn't know where he had heard it before. Suddenly, he can see land before him and before he was about to land—
"MARK!" His grandmother called out which makes him wake up all drench in cold sweat and face of fear. "Granny Jo..." He called out for her he doesn't he even knows that he was already crying. "Good lord, what has gotten into you!? You were screaming and you can't even move while sleeping! I thought–"
"I'm alright, gran...! I just have a nightmare... I think..." Still, he stared at the floor, refusing to look at his grandma's eyes that were already seeing blurry, she rubbed her forehead and asked frustratingly "What are you even dreaming about for you to act like this!?" At the door, Maurie and Colleen were eavesdropping though they were worried on what was going on. Seeing the stressed state of their brother can't help them feel all stressed too. Mark had never acted like this.
"It's nothing, granny... It's just a weird dream is all! Don't get too worked out and please perhaps go back to what we're you doing earlier...? I'm really okay!" Still, you can see how he brush his finger through his hair and that action is only done whenever he was stressed, scared, or worried about something.
"I'll look after him, grandma. Don't worry about him and you can go downstairs now." Colleen reassured them and their grandmother reluctantly agreed. "Grandpa needs some help with his vegetables I think. He might damage the crops again...!" She spoke again and finally, their grandmother left the room and walked downstairs, "Just tell me if something's wrong, okay?" After her, Maurie then went inside too and that's where the questions all began,
"Alright, Goldilocks. What really is going on with you?" Colleen asked seriously as she rest his palm on her hips and raised her eyebrow.
"You already know, it's just some weird dream! Why are you so pressed!?" He yelled but Colleen did not wavered, "I think you're the one who's so pressed right now. Why are you so defensive over a dream, man? Just tell us, it's not like it's some top secret!" At that, Mark groaned but he knew he can't keep everything a secret anymore. He knows that this sister of his is can read people's emotions and knows of something was wrong with them seriously. "...I dreamt of someone... Someone that looks exactly like me."
"Like you? Like mom or something?" Maurie asked and Mark shooked his head. That's when Colleen's expression turned sour. "...What do you mean...? Tell me everything..." She asked with her face dark and unreadable. Like she knows something but doesn't wants to believe in it, "A woman... I dreamt of a woman that has the same face as me or mom but she's different... We were floating and she was wearing a white robe or something–I don't know, but she said she wants to take me and–"
"Stop. Stop speaking...!" She cutted him off. Her face all scared like she had seen a ghost. Maurie and Mark were more confused now and doesn't know what to do. Just stared at their sister's pale face as she tried to process everything, "Colleen...?" They both called out for her, "Is there something you're hiding from us...?"
"...Listen. It's best to forget your dream of yours from now on..."
That morning felt like a blur. Mark cannot process everything. Forget his dream? What is that supposed to mean? All the answer he gets is the quiet confession of Colleen to their grandparents who's faces also turned pale and a silent breakfast that morning before heading out for school. His sisters didn't even glanced at him. He knows that his mother has a lot of secrets from them that only his older siblings and grandparents knows for some reason. They said it's best not to find out about everything but the way they're acting feels like it's more than just a lot.
The two of them got on the bus, still quiet but finally had calmed down and we're just waiting the bus to pick up their friends. Even the loudness of the students in it feels so quiet with that awkward air surrounding them.
"Hey... Do you think it's just nothing? The dream I mean..." Maurie broke the barrier. Mark looked outside the window and thought about it, "I don't know either... But something is definitely fishy about the way they act."
"I know right? There's something they're not telling us at all... I thought we're families..." Mark nodded at her. "I'm sure they'll tell us when the time comes."
As the bus drove, more students came and soon—James and Ume first came in and James immediately sat besides Markl who was trying to lighten up the mood while Ume talked about the new book about galaxies she had just read last night but Maurie definitely doesn't know anything about it so she just listened as Ume yapped everything about it.
"Didn't brush your hair, bird nest?" James asked jokingly to Markl who immediately fixed his hair, "It's just stick out like that sometimes. Don't mind it..." "Hm, if you say so..."
"..."
"..."
"Alright! I had the weirdest dream and now our whole family is acting suspicious and we don't know why but I'm sure it had something to do with our mother...!" He blurted out of nowhere that was, of course heard by Maurie and Ume who paused their own conversation. "...Pardon?" Ume asked,
"You heard me!" He confirmed. "Woah, is this a family drama?" James asked as he forced a laugh, "Our family has a lot of family drama even before we're even born..." Maurie confirmed and James got quiet, "Yeah... I have no words."
"It's just a dream, how can you be so sure it's about your mother?" Ume piped in and she earned an answer, "It's because all family drama is rooted in our mother's family tree."
"Is this some kind of soap opera?"
"Honestly, I don't even know how they got a lot of drama. They just do."
"Family drama eh!? You could've wait for me to arrive!" Opal who just got in, overheard the four of them and sat in which makes them surprised, "it's not something you can just hear about, y'know...?" Markl scolded her and she just smiled widely. "So what? Just tell us!" She encouraged them, "the thing is, we also don't know everything and just knew that mom ran away with us all when me and Mark turned four years old."
When Maurie mentioned that, James suddenly remembered something she said ages ago when they first met. Something that left him wondering and more curious about the Rosewoods.
"Said that, I remember you telling me something when we were young that your mom's mom favours Markl because he looked exactly like her."
"Really? I don't remember saying anything like that..." She scratched the back of her head as she tried to remember that time, "Maybe it's because you're still young. Everyone mostly forgets memories from their childhood." Ume explained simple enough to be understood. "It was around the time when we first interacted." James gave more information. "Hmm... Nope, don't remember saying it at all... Maybe I do forgot about it or maybe I was saying things out of nowhere!"
"But why would she be obsessed with your brother just because he looked exactly like your mother though?" Opal asked curiously. She was right. Why would that woman be obsessed with Markl just because he looked like their mother? Favouritism? An unknown illness or possibly dementia? "She was one hell of a crazy woman, alright? I remember back then she used to dress Mark in white pristine clothes that is definitely for girls..."
"She WHAT!?" James bursted out laughing and Markl got red in embarrassment. "Oh my god...! I wanna see that! Did your family kept some pictures of it!?"
"NO! DEFINITELY NOT!" Markl defended himself but Maurie just snicker quietly and spoke, "Actually... I heard that granny Jo have your baby pictures hidden at the attic. Including those where you wear girl's clothes." James laughed harder now as Markl go more redder you can see his freckles stand out more.
"I'll go later just to see 'em!"
"Wait a minute! Aren't we getting far from our topic!?
"This is a part of the topic, alright? We need to see it to know some of it!"