Like sweet bells, soft laughter rings in my ear. A bright smile stretches across her face as our fingers intertwine. I'm sitting side by side with this woman I've never met before, gazing off into the distance admiring the view. Together, lovingly holding her soft hands and letting her lean into my embrace, a woman I do not know. Yet, I feel my heart pound like a drum, staring into those smiling eyes.
Why is it that my heart is beating for this woman? Is it her voice? A voice that has no unique distinction. No seductive tone nor alluring timbre, yet so addictive. I seem to have been charmed by light whispers of love.
No, it is not only her voice that made me fall. Hair like a bird's nest, messy, curly, and tangled yet surprisingly soft. Her hair gives her the appearance of a fluffy animal, cute and lovable. Whenever I comb my fingertips through her hair, she would affectionately rub her head against my palm, eyes filled with delight.
Oh, her eyes! My god, her eyes. Every glance is mesmerizing. It's like she could tell a story with her eyes alone. Each expression is so captivating. Every scrunch of her little nose and every wrinkle of her brows has me spellbound.
I lean in closer, hands cupping her face. Both of our eyelids gently fall close as my lips slowly draw closer to hers. Finally our lips tou—
"WAKE UP, YOU LAZY ASS!"
Covers jerked off his bed by his mother, Oliver received a rude awakening from his blissful dream. He slowly sits up his now barren bed, scratching his bedhead and wiping the dried drool from the side of his mouth. Still somewhat half asleep, despite her earth-shattering yells, he couldn't dodge in time for his mother's hand aiming for his back.
"What am I gonna do with you! Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!"
Each smack felt like a boulder landing on his back, each hit heavier than the one before. He jumps up in an attempt to escape his routine morning as always, but this morning was different from usual. Usually, after hitting him a few times to wake him up, she'll stop, but this time his mother chased him even after ran out of his room.
"Wait, Mom! Hold up—why are you still trying to hit me! I'm awake, I'm awa—AH!"
Oliver quickly ran to the dining table, where his father was already having breakfast. He quickly hid behind his father who was calmly eating his meal.
"Why? WHY? You're asking me why? No, you're right, why? Why the hell did I give birth to this good-for-nothing son who can't even wake himself in the morning even though he's already a grown-ass man!? This disappointing excuse for a son who can't even find himself a wife. Did you know what I heard by the water well this morning? Gale's boy, Landon, already found himself a wife, and he's two whole years younger than you!?"
Her hand shakes as she points her finger at her son hiding behind her husband. The boy shrinks himself in a futile attempt to hide from his fierce mother.
Oliver was already twenty years old, three years past coming of age. As the son of the most beautiful woman in the village, it should have been easy for him to find himself a wife. But even after a whole year had passed since he reached marriageable age, she couldn't find a glimpse of a woman near him. Even after taking things into her own hands, every woman she sets up with him gets rejected on the spot. Now, it's been three years and Oliver still refuses to get married.
“Mom, is that what all of this has been about? I already told you, it’s not like I’m unwilling to marry at all, I just feel like I’m not ready yet! After all, I’m still quite young and can afford to continue living by your side, right, Mom?”
Oliver looked at his mother from behind his father’s back with pleading eyes. Every time his mother brought up marriage, he pulled the “I’m just your precious baby boy who’s not ready to leave his mother that he loves so much” tactic. Usually, it got his mom to drop the subject for a while. Unfortunately, he seems to be out of luck this time.
“Ya think I’m stupid enough ta fall for that, huh? I’m not backin’ down this time, Oliver Ruste! Come‘ere, Imma smack some goddamn sense into ya!”
His mother was flushed red to her ears. She chased her son in circles around the table, her beautiful face contorted in anger. Since his mother was a beauty, she didn’t like to act like the rural girl she was. So she uses the capital’s dialect when speaking and presented herself with class. However, unlike the feeble and gentle upper-class ladies in the capital, Oliver’s mother was inherently a fierce and strong woman. Whenever she gets heated up like this, bits of her roughness and rural background would show. When she spoke in full rural dialect, that would be when she’s really angry.
Seeing that Plan A had failed, Oliver knew he had to put Plan B into action. Inflating his mother’s ego.
“Wait, mom, calm down. I’m just trying to find the right one!”
“Don’t lie ta me! I’ve givin’ ya so many girls an’ ya rejected them all! Each an’ every one of them! Come’ ere before I kill ya!”
“No, wait I have a reason. I have a reason to reject them all! Hear me out mom!”
At that moment, Oliver’s father, who had been silently eating his breakfast, finally spoke up.
“May, maybe you should hear the boy out.”
Oliver’s mother slowed her footsteps and looked back at her husband. She pouted at him a little before reluctantly turning back to her son.
“...Okay, I’ll listen. Speak.”
Oliver, who already had sweat dripping down from his forehead, let out a small sigh of relief. Okay, it was time to initiate Plan B.
“You see, Mom, the reason I rejected all of those girls is somewhat your fault. I’ve been raised by my mother who is the most beautiful woman in our village, and now I can’t accept anyone who isn’t as beautiful as you Mom. I ended up having high standards being with you all the time Mom!”
Plan B: Compliment his mother’s beauty. Oliver’s mother always took pride in being the most beautiful woman around. So to escape his possible death by the hand of his mother, he must suck up to her. It also seems like it worked since his mother calmed down quite a bit.
“...I know what you’re trying to do, but I’ll let you off for now. But you better find yourself a girl, understand?
“Yes, ma’am!”
Oliver gave his mother a silly little salute while watching his mother go into the kitchen to get breakfast. Oliver smiled to himself as sat down beside his father. He leaned over to whisper into his father’s ear.
“Thanks for helping me out there, Dad.”
Without even sparing him a glance, his father responded.
“I only helped you this time because it seemed like your mother might go through with killing you this time. You better start thinking about Plan C, because Plan B won’t work forever.”
Being seen right through by his father, Oliver sheepishly brushed his fingers through his hair and drank a glass of water. Nonetheless, he was still thankful for his father helping out this time.
This event of yelling, beating, and occasionally chasing happens pretty often because Oliver refuses to marry. Although it usually happens after his mother comes home from weaving and chatting with the other village women, unlike in the morning like today. And each time Oliver’s mother would throw a fit, his father would just watch on the side without helping his son.
One time, Oliver asked his father why he never helped his son out every once and a while, but what he got was a shot straight through the heart from his father. Oliver’s father had look at him with disdain “You think I would fight against my wife for you?”
Oliver quickly finished his breakfast and prepared to head down the mountain. Oliver’s family lives in a village up on the mountain. At the foot of the mountain, is a large town where merchants and travelers come and go. He works there as a blacksmith’s apprentice, working till dusk.
Going down the mountain trail, his mother’s words rang in his head. He didn’t want to marry any of the village girls. Not because they weren’t as beautiful as his mother nor because he was still his mother’s precious “baby”. It's just that he'd given his heart to someone already. With both hands behind his head, he sighed at his thoughts.
“Too bad she only exists in my dreams…”
I am thoroughly captivated
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Well cya gl with writing!
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