Chapter 6: A Familiar Feeling

It’s as if I’m floating. I’m at a place where the sun shines down bright and colors flood around me. But it’s all in a blur. It’s like a painting made with fast and careless of a brush. I couldn’t make of anything, but I knew that I’m in a place that I love. I don’t know how I know that. My heart just told me that it’s precious. It feels that I have been here somehow. I don’t know. I don’t remember anything going here.  But I feel at ease. Is this how we dream? Beautiful… Confusing yet beautiful. Then the place changes right before my eyes. Everything is still blurry. Bright colors and the sun are replaced by somewhere dark. I could make of the color red around me. Different shades of red. I could hear explosions behind me. Then again, my heart tells me that this is where I have been. Have I been in hell? Then suddenly, I hear a faint whisper.

 “Am…” It says.

No… This is not hell. This is my paradise.

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My eyes shoot wide open and I sit up, cold sweat running down on my forehead. I’ve been having recurring dreams. Almost every night it’s the same thing. It’s like I’m forgetting something. My heart is beating fast. My dream is full of colors and promises. At first I paid it no mind but as it recurrs almost every time I sleep, it became a constant thought for me. And then there comes a faint voice of a girl. I feel like I’ve heard it before but I can’t remember anyone who could possibly own that voice. Argh! This is so confusing! My usual carefree self is constantly overshadowed by this brooding of mine. I put the thought aside for the thousandth time.

“Amber Josephine Liu! Wake up! We have a plane to catch!” I hear my sister, Jackie bang against the door.

“Yeah yeah!” I reply.

I forgot. We have a flight to the US today, specifically at L.A. We’re going to spend the summer vacation there at our aunt’s place. I get up and go out the door, down the stairs and into the kitchen.

“Well look who finally showed up early for breakfast.” Jackie smirks at me.

I walk to the kitchen counter and take a seat. I rustle my hair and pat my cheeks to douse my sleep.

“Eat your breakfast then get dressed. Okay, Amber?” My mom kisses my head and places a plate of food in front of me.

I nod and eat. The food that mom makes never fails to start up my day. I finish up the bacon, eggs and toast she made and I excuse myself to get dressed. I hurry upstairs back to my room. I enter the bathroom and cold water comes in contact with my face, completely blasting me away from sleep. I get dressed without paying attention to what I’m wearing. I just put on a simple white shirt, a dark grey hoodie, a pair of pants and a pair of sneakers. I hear another knock, this time it’s from my mom.

“Amber? Are you ready? We’re going.” She says.

“Yeah, mom. Just a sec.” I say, picking up my backpack.

I go out the door and everyone’s already waiting for me in the car. I lock up the front door and the sun meets my eyes. It’s a beautiful day. The clear sunlight touches everything around me, while the cool wind caresses my face… I’ve felt this before… But I don’t know when. I don’t know why but it seems that I feel really excited about going to L.A. I don’t have much to do there but I still find myself skittish whenever I think of arriving there. I wonder…

“Hey, mei mei! How long are planning to stand there?” Jackie called out.

I snap back and jog towards the car. I enter and our journey starts. It’s a thirty-minute drive to the airport from our house. We arrive and since it’s the holidays, the airport is bustling with people going on their respective vacations.  We unload our things and start to head on the entrance. We go on the basic airport security, check-ins and then finally we are now sitting at the waiting area of the terminal, waiting for our flight. It’s a twelve hour flight to L.A, so it’s going to be a long one. I might as well just sleep then.

The plane finally arrives and the land crew starts calling for passengers. We get up and proceed inside the plane. Jackie and I find our seats and I get the one beside the window. We depart at exactly ten in the morning. So we’ll arrive at ten in the evening. Without any hesitation I recline my seat a little bit, put on my hood and effortlessly drift into slumber.

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“Hello, princess.” I hear a voice behind me.

I look around and find myself face to face with someone who looks exactly like me. Only… Her clothes are like from a medieval era. A white tunic with blue trims and a sword strapped at her side. Am I the one she’s calling princess? I look at her, confused. But it’s as if she’s looking straight through me. Then I take another turn and I see a girl with long flowing jet-black hair not far from us. Her back turned from us, she’s tending flowers. Then I just notice that we are in a garden. Another place that seems familiar. Suddenly I felt weight drop into my chest, then it was gone. The girl who looks like me just passed right through me as if she’s a ghost… Or… I am the ghost.

“Princess…” She once again says.

I see my mirror crouch and caress the other girl’s hair. The other girl giggles and I crane to look at her face. But it just seems that whatever angle I look at, I couldn’t see what she looks like.

“Amber!” The long haired girl says.

My heart stops. It isn’t the name that made it stop. It was the voice of the long haired girl. A voice that I’ve heard before. Something so distant yet so precious. It rings through my ears like a melody. It’s like I yearned to hear it for quite a long time and now that her voice met my ears my whole being just felt… really happy.

I run to her, but the more I run the farther they go. I tried running as fast as I could just to get to her and see her face. Just let me see her face…

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My consciousness slowly comes back as Jackie shakes me. I open my eyes and find everything out the window dark.

“Good evening. In five minutes we will proceed to land at the Los Angeles International Airport. So please put your seats upright, trays up front and fasten your seatbelts.” A voice on the intercom says.

“Amber. You were crying while asleep. Bad dream?” Jackie says while looking at me.

Confused, I wipe my eyes and indeed I found tears. Why was I crying? My dream isn’t sad. So why was I unconsciously crying?  What was that dream about? It was the first time that I dreamt of myself. Why was I wearing a medieval type of clothing? And who was that girl with the long dark hair? Questions fill my mind and I find myself looking out the window, with the ground slowly coming closer. I feel the plane touch down the ground and we are finally at L.A. My heart is pounding in my chest. I feel like I’m finally was able to achieve something. I don’t know what it is. My brain keeps questioning why my heart feels this way. It’s as if it’s yearning for something.

We board down the plane and I look at the sky. It’s covered in a veil of stars, shining bright up above with the cold evening air howling against us. We walk towards the airport arrival terminal to get our luggage. After that, we hail a cab to my aunt’s place. The drive is short and we arrive there in no time. My aunt greets us with warmth and full of hospitality.

“Amber! Oh my! You’ve grown so much. Ah… It was just like yesterday when I saw you walking around here as a toddler. Now look at you, you’ve grown so handsome!” My aunt says, laughing.

I give her a smile and my cheeks form a light blush of embarrassment. She shows us our room, Jackie and I are going to share. It’s a fairly large room with a bed at the side which if you pull underneath it, there’s another bed that slides out. Up the north of the room, there is a balcony which the setting sun could be seen. This is the west coast so instead of sunrise, this time we get to see sunsets which is cool. I can’t wait for tomorrow to see it. I have this special thing about sunsets, I find them really beautiful and worthwhile. I look at my watch and it’s already late.

“Jackie. I’m gonna turn in first. I’m beat.” I say as I lay down the bottom bed because I knew that she would claim the top one.

I’m too excited to close my eyes for I might encounter that girl again. I just wish that she visits me in my dream again. I close my eyes and let sleep take me.

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Unfortunately for me, I didn’t dream of anything. It gave me a bad morning. I get up, still frustrated and head out to the bathroom to gargle and splash some water into my face. What was I expecting? That dream was completely random. It’s not like it meant something… Didn’t it?

“Morning.” I grumble.

“Woke up at the bad side of the bed, didn’t we?” My aunt says.

I nod and sit beside Jackie for breakfast. I eat like there’s no tomorrow, food has always been my comfort.

“Whoa whoa! Slow down, Amber!” My dad says to me.

“Who wants to head out to the beach today?” My mom says.

“I do!” Jackie enthusiastically says.

“How about you, Amber?” My mom asks.

I reply with a nod and a mouthful of food. The beach seems to be a nice place to unwind and get this bad side off of me. After breakfast we fix our things and put our clothes in the closets and try to settle things a bit because we are going to be here for a while. It’s already four hours past noon and it’s time that we go to the beach. I get my skateboard and head out. I just follow them from a distance on my skateboard, doing some tricks in the process. Then we pass this house, it has a flower garden in front. I see a girl tending them, humming a tune. I stop then so does my heart. Everything blocks out and all I could hear is her voice. That melody. I’ve heard it before. I look at the girl’s back, she has long jet-black hair. Could it be her?

“Amber!” I hear Jackie call out.

I see the girl’s head perk up and my heart skips a beat. My eyes go wide as she stops working. Then suddenly I feel Jackie’s hand grab me and drag me away.

“No, Jack. Wait a second.” I say.

“Mom’s looking for you, Amber. You know how she is. Let’s go.” She says while dragging me.

I go farther and farther away from the girl whose head is still up. Then as we round up the corner and is about to go out of sight, she turns her head at my direction. But sadly… I didn’t see her face. Bummer! I don’t know why but I feel frustrated. Wait… Why should I? I mean she’s only a random stranger who I saw. We arrive at the beach and there’s a fair amount of people around. I see some guys surfing. Hmm… I need to try those sometime. My mom and dad let me go wherever it is I wanted to go. I thought of going back to see that girl. But that would make me a creepy stalker. I decide to walk around the beach and just absorb everything new. I reach a part of the beach where there aren’t much people and I sit with my sneakers off, feeling the sand beneath my feet. I assume that it’s already late in the afternoon since the sun is beginning to set. I smile at the beautiful sight before me. It never fails to bring me bliss, it’s like I’ve been doing this for quite a while. I don’t know how or why but I think I have precious memories that I want to relive at sunset.

The sun is starting to touch the horizon as the cold sea breeze caress my face. The salty smell enticing my senses. The sound of waves crashing fills my ears. It’s so peaceful here but there seems to be something lacking. Something is missing from the picture here. I feel someone behind me. I look back and my heart stops once again. I am greeted by cold cat-like eyes. A girl with long jet-black hair, pinkish white skin and intriguing eyes is standing behind me, looking at me with curiosity. I couldn’t say anything, I am lost for words. My mind puzzled of why I am acting this way. I am unable to move, unable to escape the spell this girl has put on to me.

“Amber?” She suddenly says.

My eyes go wide and my mind goes blank. That voice… That’s the voice that I head in my dream back at the plane. The same voice who’s humming that enchanting melody back there at that house. Is she the girl who was tending the flowers? I look at her. She’s so familiar. I can’t describe what I’m feeling right now. Happiness along with utter sorrow blankets me. I feel suddenly excited, it’s like I want to stand up and hug her right there. Talk to her, ask her how she’s been and tell her that I’m okay. But why do I yearn to do those things to her? Why is she anyway? Why does my heart know her all so suddenly? Amongst all those questions, only one thing is certain…. It’s her.

“How did you know my name?” I ask her.

“I don’t even know myself. Or maybe you were the one whom I heard being called while I was tending the flowers at our garden.” She replies.

“Oh. Okay then.” I say as I look back at the retreating sun.

“Mind if I join you?” I hear her say.

“Go ahead. I don’t mind.” I say.

I feel her sit right beside me and I instantly feel at ease. Like we have been like this for the longest time rather than just meeting a few minutes ago. Even if there is just silence between us, I feel comfortable.

“The sunset is extra beautiful today don’t you think?” She says.

“I think… Every sunset is extra beautiful” I reply, unconsciously smiling.

Déjà vu. I’ve been in this scenario but I don’t know when. I already did this with someone with the same words as she said.

“You know my name but I don’t even know yours.” I say as I look at her.

She looks at me then she smiles. A smile that could melt my heart right this instance. A smile that makes my bad mood go away completely. The smile that makes everything so clear as day. The smile that my heart has been yearning for.

“My name is Krystal Jung.” She introduces herself.

“Jung? Isn’t that Korean?” I ask.

“Yes. I’m actually Korean but I was born here.” She replies.

“Oh, so you’ve never been to Korea?” I once again ask.

“No. My family has long been here in the U.S. My grandmother said that my great grandmother was from Korea and an American soldier brought her here because of the war. The soldier was my great grandfather. But they decided to separate years after their marriage. So my grandfather was given to my great grandmother, giving him ‘Jung’ as his surname.” She explains.

The story strikes me. Something about that story made me unconsciously hold my hand over my chest.

“Oh… I see. I’m actually from Korea.” I say.

“Really? But your name is ‘Amber’.” She says.

“I’m Taiwanese-American but I was born in Korea.” I say, playing with the sand in front of me.

“You have a Korean name then?” She asks.

“Nope. Just Amber and my Chinese name ‘Yi Yun’“. I reply.

“How about you, Krystal? Do you have a Korean name?” I add, looking at her.

“Yes. It's 'Soojung'. ” She replies, smiling at me.

Then at that very moment, the scenery before me that I said that something’s missing… is finally complete.

“Princess?”

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Heya! So here's chapter 6! Yay! I'm sorry if this took a bit long [there isn't much kryber. :( ]. I try to update every month but I think it isn't working. It's either I'm busy or lacking inspiration. LOL. Anyways... Yep. I continued this story. Even I couldn't let them have a cliffhanger ending! Okay... Kryber's in L.A... Now what? Oh, god of fanfic inspirations... Enlighten me please! :))

I hope you guys like this latest chap. Comments, suggestions and violent reactions are welcome, as always. Thank you for all the support! :D