Alicia and the forest star.

"Will tomorrow ever come?" Alicia asked with tears dropping from her eyes as she questioned. Her emotions were all over the place as she placed her hands on the picture in front of her.

Her hands, though shaking, were filled with deep emotions as the question popped into her head again and again like it was a mantra. Her body shook tirelessly as she held the picture close to her chest.

"Will tomorrow truly ever come?" She questioned again like a lost soul with no bearing. "I guess our tomorrow will never come, right?" she asked, staring at the picture in her hand.

"Our tomorrow ended in this life until we meet again in our next life, I love you both so dearly." she said before planting kisses on the picture.

Holding the picture closer to her chest once again, a single tear fell on the picture as a glimmer of light overtook her dark room. Alicia closed her eyes immediately from the strange light.

And as if she was in a trance, Alicia found herself all alone in a forest with mist covering her path. With a mini nightgown that has a tiny hand and feet without shoes on, she stood. A sad smile graced her lips as the memory of the gown filled her mind. Opening her eyes to the place she was transported to, she felt a little bit of familiarity with the place, but she was sure she hadn't been there before.

"Is this some sort of dejavu?" her consciousness questioned, but no answer came to her.

As she walked through the mist, the cold air around hugged her like she was their savior. With cold hands and feet, she tried to remember the season they were in. "Winter shouldn't be here yet, but why is everywhere cold like ice?" she questioned again.

With her barefoot on the forest soil, she walked on, blowing some steam off her mouth with her hands rubbing on each other to push the cold off her. And as she walked on, the forest didn't seem to want to end. It felt like she was lost in this world as well.

A single sound escaped from her lips and echoed through the forest like a talking drum. "I can't seem to find my way again ever since I lost you both." she said, wearing a sad smile. Just then, the glimmer of light that shone on her came forth again.

Alicia closed her eyes to brace herself for the new world the light may take her to again. But then, as she opened her eyes, she still found herself in the forest. However, this time around, she wasn't alone. The glimmer of light pointed a road ahead of her, and like she was holding a compass, Alicia walked again to see what lay await her in this familiar yet unfamiliar world she found herself.

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"You are here." A voice said calmly.

Looking around her, Alicia questioned, "I am where?"

"Here... you must have not remembered. You were little when you came. A lot of your happy memories started from here, but then, a sad one crushed them all. However, I know you felt it. Your body knows, and so does your heart. They know about this place. If you want to remember, you need to absorb the energy around here then, you'll see." The voice replied.

"I'll see what?" Alicia asked.

Chuckling deeply, the voice replied, "You'll get to know why the promise they made to you about tomorrow coming was never fulfilled before their demise. And then, you'll understand. You need to let them go. They've been struck here for 19 years. If you don't let them go now, they'll have to wait for another 19 years in misery." The voice replied.

"Who ar they? And who are you, and how do you know about the promise they made me?" Alicia questioned.

Just then, the mist parted like the red sea and up ahead lay a star shining so brightly like a volcano, but then its light soothes the skin.

"I am the star that keeps this place alive in your mind. Also, I am what you humans call a guardian. The number 19 in the afterlife is the number that grants the living soul a moment with the soul that is lost to them so the living can let go and the dead move on. Now do as I say, seat calmly on the soil, close your eyes, clear your mind, and then breathe. Absorb the energy around you, and you'll remember." The star said before the mist swallowed it up again.

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Sitting on the forest soil, Alicia did as she was told. She cleared her mind before taking a deep breath. As she released her breath, an energy surged right into her body, and like she was in a cinema, she could see what seemed to be fragments of her memories as a baby-self played before her eyes.

"Da..ta..." she heard her little self say to her father as he squealed in happiness.

"Honey, see... she called me "Dada." She called me first. Shouldn't you be jealous?" Her father said playfully to her mother whose face was in a faint angry pout.

Giggling to herself, Alicia smiled heartily as her memories came to her from one scene to another. "How could she not remember this?" she questioned out loud. She had always wanted to go camping with her parents in the forest as her mates boasted about it all in school but then, her parents always promised to take her tomorrow. And then she remembered asking them, ”Will tomorrow ever come?” A sigh escaped her lips as she watched on.

"Darling! Come and see. She took her first step. Our baby took her first step." Her mother said, raising mini-Alicia up in joy as her father came over.

"Omg! I saw her through the window. She took her first step, and I am glad we witnessed this together." Her father replied, kissing her mother passionately.

Laughing heartily, Alice smiled as she watched the life she once had with her parents like it was a TV show.

As she watched on, Alice swallowed an unrecognizable lump in her throat as the scene which she thinks blew everything off came forth.

"Darling...I... I can't find her!" Her mother said with teary eyes as she saw her father.

"Honey, calm down. You can't find who?" Her father asked.

"Our daughter... I.. I was with her then I went in to drink water and came out but I couldn't find her where she was playing." Her mother replied.

Alice saw her parents run out to find her. A single tear dropped on her cheek as she watched on. She watched as they kept running around calling her name as they moved around the forest, searching endlessly for almost an hour before her dad found her.

Right on forest soil, her small body laid. Her baby self had seen and followed a butterfly that came to where she was playing.

Closing her eyes, she watched as her parents cried as they took her home to care for her. As she watched on, she saw when they made a promise to themselves to never bring her to a dangerous place again.

"They had left the house because of me." Alice said with a deep sigh.

"Yes, they did. But when you asked them continuously, they decided they'll let you go when you were older, but death took them away when you were nine, so they couldn't fulfill that promise." The star replied.

"I didn't know..." Alice said.

"Now you do. You understand now. Add the moment seen to the other memories of them you cherished like the night gown you always put on because it was your Mom's favorite. You are 28 years old now. Live life truly." The star replied.

Smiling deeply, Alicia nodded. "I'll do that. Thank you, my star angel." Alicia said before closing her eyes and waking up to her real world.

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