This is long, its about 6000+ words, for part one. So there are going to have part two. Enjoy :3

☆Jar

***

The sky is blue and the sun is hiding behind the big clouds. The air slowly wandering around, sweeping off and caressing everything it meets; the palm trees, the plastic bag on the road, the long hair of girls and else. The weather is calm and refreshing. Hakyeon exhales contently.

Wearing a short pants and a loose shirt with a bare foot, Hakyeon walks around the coast of the beach. His long legs gently steps on the soft and brown-like-gold sand, leaving footsteps behind.

The air roughly blows Hakyeon’s hair, his fringe sweep to the left, displaying his forehead. Hakyeon doesn’t mind it, he already use to it. Living near the beach for almost half of his life, he already use to the sometimes-rough and sometimes-gentle wind, the crying of the beach, the angry waves and the calming sound of its humming in the night.

Hakyeon looks to his right, to the beach, the blue and clean beach. His eyes focus on the island. It’s just a small island, seeing from here, but when you get there, you wouldn’t know where the edges are.

Hakyeon stops walking, he stands on the warm sand, and looks at the island. He can see the tallest palm tree there, shaking. He wonders if it just by the strong wind, or by monkeys. He wonders if there are monkeys—or even a person there.

Hakyeon continue to walks, again, leaving only his footsteps behind, because there are no people here. Because this is his grandfather’s island, or so he thought. When he sees the wooden house— just a small house enough for two people to live— he fastening his steps.

Within a minute, he already stands in front of the house. He steps on the first of the two foot stair, the wooden stair creaks beneath his feet. He opens the door slowly, and the smell of fish and mushroom soups fill his nose. He smiles widely, thinking of the delicious soup make by his grandfather make his throat dry.

Hakyeon walks to the small kitchen, where his grandfather is stirring the soup. “Tomy!” He calls out excitedly, “Oh, you’re back Hakyeon-ah.” Tomy puts the ladle on the plate gently. He turns around and gives a big smile to Hakyeon, the kind of smile where you will feel at ease. But when he sees the footprint of sand behind Hakyeon, he sighs slowly.

“Hakyeon, how many times do I need to tell you to wear your sandals?” Hakyeon pouts, and plays the hem of his loose shirt, “It’s uncomfortable, to have something beneath my foot. I’m already uses to bare foot,” He looks down a while, before looking up at Tomy and says, “Tomy, do there have monkeys in the island?”

Tomy’s face immediately tightens up, “I don’t know. Don’t ask about the island, how many times do I have to remind you for not to care about the island?” Hakyeon pouts again, he wonders why Tomy always angry whenever he asks about the island.

“Now now, let’s eat the soup,” Tomy says. Hakyeon nods and sits on the chair.

~*~

“I’m going to sell this fishes to the city. You stay home today. Okay?” Tomy says while wearing his coat.

“Why can’t I follow along? I want to meet Nanny Rose, I miss her fishcakes.” I say. “No, until you learn to wear the sandals I bought.” My eyes shift from the old book in my hand to the mention sandals on the top of the small cupboard. I must make a face, because Tomy smile softly.

“I will tell her you miss her fishcakes, she will probably wrap a bag of fishcakes for you right away after I mention your name, considering you’re her favorite grandson.” Tomy presses the word grandson.

“I know you’re jealous, now go sell the fishes and bring fishcakes for me!”I shoos him away jokingly. He rolls his eyes and step outside, “Come back home safely!” I shout after the door closed.

I smile sheepishly at the thought of Nanny Rose’s fishcakes. Nanny Rose is Tomy’s friend in the town, where Tomy sells fishes or crabs, or shrimp. Nanny Rose has a calm face, though she had wrinkles all over his face, well, of course, she is 70 years old, so does Tomy.

I shook off the thought of Nanny Rose, because I will miss her more than ever. My eyes land on the book in my hand, though I already know the full story of it—I had been reading the same book since kid. I can even memorize the words in the book. Guess I read it to kill the time.

I yawn and stretch out my hand, then put the already finish book on the table. I blink the sleepy feeling away, but it doesn’t go. I stand up and walk to my bedroom, just a small room enough to fit me. I lay down on the soft mattress, as soon as my head hit the pillow, I fall asleep immediately.

When I open my eyes, it’s dark. Where am I? I can’t see anything. “Tomy!” I call out. But what I got as reply is only the sound of my voice bouncing away. “Tomy!” I call out again and got the same reply.

Suddenly, there’s a light, coming from a distance. I blink my eyes repeatedly to get a clear vision. The white light then develops to an image. The island.

I blink confusedly. Then the image disappears. Again, I’m in the dark.

“Hakyeon.” A voice calls softly, a woman’s voice.

“Hakyeon-ah.” This time, a male voice is calling out my name. It seems familiar, somewhere in my mind, I recognize this voice. But I cannot remember who it belong to.

Before I can ask who it is, I suddenly wake up by the sound of creaks of the door. Tomy must be home. I blink my eyes, confuses by the sudden dream. I wipe away the sweat formed on my forehead with the hem of my shirt. I walk to the small living room, where I read the book earlier. “Tomy?” I call.

There is no reply. It must the rough wind that pushes the door. It always likes that. I walk to the door, passing the sandals on the small cupboard. I stop, and stare at the sandals. And the sandals stare back at me. The sandals is like “don’t wear me you ugly fat belly” and I says, “Please, I don’t even want to touch you” before I walk away, bare foot.

I walk along the shore, sometimes playing with the teasing little wave that comes to me. I stop when I’m directly facing the island. The island is, shining. Little waves come playing at my feet where I stand, and go away within a second. They come without being ask, and go as soon as they can. I get that feeling, that curious feeling. It grows in me, I can feel it.

What is going on in there? Do there have someone living in there? Why Tomy is so grumpy whenever I mention the island? There are so many questions, yet there are no answers. For now.

Then suddenly, I heard the voices in my dream earlier, calling my name. The male voice, who seems very familiar yet I doesn’t know who. I wonder if my head is just playing with my mind, or I really hear it. But that voice seems real, and seems like it just around me.

I look around, seeing nothing but the palm trees and the gold sand. I look back at the island, and it is at that time, where I see something, shine. It shines like a crystal, before it dive down in the water and disappear. Just a few meters from me.

I swear, I think I saw something like, tail.

~*~

Tomy comeback home late at night yesterday, thank goodness he brings back fishcakes with him. I have a same dream as yesterday’s evening. But this time, it’s just the male voice, calling my name over and over again. And before I wake up, the voice calls a different name. A name like, Cha Jung Woon. Well, the surname is same as mine.

This makes me curious, more curious than I already am. Who is Cha Jung Woon? Is it the name of the male voice in my dream? I shook off the thought, doesn’t want to miserable up my mind.

I see Tomy in the living room, wearing the same coat as yesterday again. Whenever he wears his coat, it only means one thing. “Where are you going? You aren’t going to catch fishes with a coat.” I ask, he looks at me and smile softly. Then I notice how old he is, how the blue and green eyes that I once exclaim beautiful in my child time, turn into dark green that seem like black. It’s still beautiful, though. I remember asking him why his eyes looks blue but not really blue, and green but not really green. He just smiles softly, the same one he did just right now, and says, “I’m different from any people out there.” And I remember I see my eyes looks like his.

“I’m going to the town, have something to settle on.” He says. “Do you have something you want?” His question shocks me, well of course it is, he never asks it, except from Nanny Rose’s fishcakes. I wonder if he going to meet her. Maybe he is.

“Can you buy me a mirror?” I ask, and he looks at me questioningly. “So it is easy for me to cut my hair.” It is not, I just want to see my eyes color again. But the excuse comes out right away, and he seems to believe it as his eyes drift to my hair that already on my shoulder. Well, I need to cut my hair too. But I’m okay cutting it without a mirror anyway.

“Well, okay then. I will buy a small mirror for you.” He says, and I smile. “Thank you.”

“Do me a favor, set up the net at the usual place. You know how to catch the shrimps. I’ll leave it to you.” Oh, the shrimps. Of course I know how, he teach me since I was kid. “Alright,” I say.

After a few minutes Tomy gone with the old minivan to the town, I already change to a different cloth. Well, a kind of cloth where specially wear to go to the sea. I stop again at the cupboard, staring at the sandals. The sandals is like, “don’t wear me you—“ I cut it off by grabbing it and shove my feet into it.

I walk to our small boat and start the engine up. The engine is on after a few try, I remember how stubborn Tomy is to let me go alone to the ocean. Saying that he afraid of losing me in the ocean, funny though, because there is no one here aside from us.

After about 10 minutes, I arrive at our usual spot of catching the shrimps. I set up the net the way Tomy teach me. I done within a minute and stay in the boat, before my eyes drift to the island on my right, not so far from me, maybe about 100 meters. I can see the white sand on it, the palms trees, they way the big rock and small rock place beautifully. Like a sign of welcome. I wonder if anybody had been there. I wonder if Tomy had. The way he always mad at me after mentioning the island, the way his eyes wanders around—shaking, afraid—the way his voice always tightens up, like someone is choking on his neck, I think he had. And maybe, something unfortunate happened on him whilst he in it.

My eyes then catch something; behind one of the big rock surround the island. A pair of eyes. Staring directly at me. I can feel my hair stands, a chill runs in me. But when I blink for a second, it’s gone. Only the big rock is left. I feel uneasy, am I hallucinating? Or is it real? I’m thinking of going to the island, since Tomy is not here…and I have the boat all for me…but the sun is going to set soon.

I un-tie the net and bring it up in the boat. Only a few shrimps caught in the net, I sigh. We should find a new spot. The shrimps already know there will be net here. Genius little creature.

~*~

I wake up in the dark, again, alone. I wonder what will happen in this dream; will there a voice calling my name over and over again?

Suddenly, there’s a light around me, I squint my eyes shut, and when I open them, I’m at unfamiliar place. It looks like an unfamiliar place, because I never had been here. But I know where am I. I’m at the island.

I look down at my feet where white sand lay beneath it. I look around at the palm trees, the tall palm trees, and the rocks, and the island in front of me. No, it’s not an island; it’s the beach where I live. I can see a small square shape; my house.

Then I heard a cry, a baby cry, not so far away from me. I look at my left, and I see a man. A grown up man, squatting down, in front of him lay a baby, wraps with leaves; seaweed. “Jungwoon-ah” A voice calls, I remember this voice, the woman voice that once appears in my dreams.

The said man turns around, and I hold up my breath. I can’t believe this. The man, who has a long black hair resting on his shoulders, and a small beard on his chin, and a pair of blue like green eyes, is Tomy. The Jungwoon, the Cha JungWoon name that the male voice once mention in my dream, is Tomy.

He looks young, like he is in his 50’s. He gets up from his squatting position and walks towa