"What is that?"

 The power of curiosity, the seduction of the unknown is one so alluring that rational sense is easily overcome...

 "Mama, what is that you ate?" Jiho inquired with a naive spirit. Her usual mind had quitted the helm and in its place remained the infant soul. Gone was the air of contention, welcome familiarity having suffused the atmosphere for her.

Yente grunted. A scowl visited her haggard face. Not a fraction of a second did she waste in exiting the kitchen but like a storm had she advanced and moved past her daughter. It was quite evident she wanted nothing to do with her.

Jiho groaned. 

 Upset, she gave up the notion of satisfying her mother's wishes and so stirred the maverick heart as she retaliated with a petty counterattack. If her mother was a storm then she was the violent shifting of tectonic plates. She stomped down her black boots with every step and slammed the door once she made it to her room. 

It was in her own secluded paradise that she devised ways of venting her frustration and anger, first by slamming her fists on her mattress, then by banging her head against the wall. She wanted attention. Jiho wanted her mother to approach her and offer some sort of bargain deal where they could both compromise. Following the passing of nearly an hour, she recognized that her earlier intuition was correct; her mother would not change her stance and demanded she take the job.

 "Why is she like this?" she asked as she lay in bed.

 Turning on her side with wisps of hair obstructing her view, she directed her eyes to the window and gazed at the night sky where the full moon hid behind passing clouds. Eventually her twitching nose picked up on the scent of meat coming from the first floor. Jiho closed her eyes and strained her ears to listen to the sizzle of frying meat. Her stomach grumbled and her tongue her lips, imagining the savory taste of meat which she guessed was now being drizzled with gravy. While her mind gravitated around the singular thought of food she recalled the tiny disk her mother ate.

 "What was that? I think I've seen it before but where?"

 A new quest began, abandoning the transient pangs of hunger. Without rising from her bed, she lazily stretched out an arm and clutched the closest book stored in the shelf adjacent to her. Sat up with her back against the wall, she flipped through the pages of the cooking book and searched for anything that remotely resembled the small white disk. 

 "Maybe it was a confection of sorts," she mumbled.

On her two feet she reached for the highest shelf, the section where she kept her favorite books, and pulled down a pastel pink hardcover. She flipped through the pages of this one as she did the other and paused only when distracted by the appetizing pictures of cakes; the thought of eating lingered in the back of her mind. Too bad owning a camera was forbidden, else she would photograph all the dishes she planned on making one day. After concluding this book did not provide the clear answer she hoped for, she replaced it atop the shelf and retrieved another from the lowest shelf.

She patted herself on the back for organizing her books following the mess she made the previous night and continued her search. This paperback proved to host no answer so she quickly exchanged it for another and then another until she exhausted all the books in her collection. Falling backwards to be received by the soft embrace of bed, she groaned. How could something so small be so mysterious?

 "Maybe it was some type of sugar candy like the one that becomes powder when you bite into it... I feel I saw it when I was a child, but where?"

The clouds had shifted and the moon had moved on its axis since Jiho last stared outside. Without her knowing several hours had passed. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and breathed out a deep exhalation. 

 "What am I doing? Those two monsters might not even be real. I should just apologize and take up the job."

 Her stomach grumbling lent further reason to her mindset. Slipping on her boots, she chose to concede to her mother's suggestion to at least eat and walked out her door. Quietly closing the door behind her she descried a glow from the floor beneath; the living room lights were on, indicating her mother had not yet retired for the night. What should she do? Well, she had already stepped out her room so she decided to hold onto her initial determination and thus continued her way to El Dorado, the kitchen.

If she could sneak past her mom the better, but if not- she began to mentally rehearse an apology for her earlier tantrum. She made it to the kitchen without being noticed. There, with eyes constantly darting between her dish and the entrance, she feasted like a raccoon on leftovers that were purposefully waiting atop the counter. It was when she finished her meal that she was confronted by the silver pate. Yente was walking toward the foot of the stairs.

 "Mama- Listen I-"

Her mother was unfazed by the sweet tones that pled for her attention. Never once turning her head, she averted Jiho's glassy eyes and ascended the stairs. The sound of a lock clicking in place followed short of a grumble, "Ungrateful."

 "Fine! If that's how she wants it then I'll! I can keep living like this," Jiho asserted, the last few words spoken in a whisper. To add insult to injury Jiho even washed her dishes and calmly made her way to her room where she found transitory respite. 

She awoke to the bugging mystery of the white disk her mother swallowed. The ambiguous feeling of having seen it on a foregone day hounded her. She travelled backwards in time, drawing up her earliest memories till a migraine hit her. 

 "Was it my father? Did he take one?" 

The mystery, with all its wonder and vexation, persisted in her mind over the next few days until she finally found a resource she knew she might pry an answer from.

Her mother left at the break of dawn today, to what affair Jiho could only guess nor did it matter much. What was of significance was the discovery of the secret behind the miniscule white edible. Her eyes stalked the window, waiting for the moment her neighbor would come out. Then as the clock struck 10 am, like on all other days, a graceful figure with long, flowing, golden hair and a smile brighter than the sun moved on nimble feet out the home adjacent to hers.

Jiho called out to her with a wave to which she nodded and yelled back, "Good morning!"

 Desperately flailing her arms, she motioned for her to wait. Her neighbor Irene nodded again which in turn prompted her to dash out her home to meet her.

 "I almost thought you were going to fall out with the way you leaned half your body out the window."

 Jiho smiled as she caught her breath. Her eyes traced Irene, a woman renowned as the flower of her neighborhood. She was surely cast in a different mold, one perhaps divine, yet her icy blue eyes always betokened the existence of something poignant residing in her. True beauty must always contain a hint of sadness.

 "I remember when you were just a tiny girl hiding under your mother's skirt-" she stopped to cough. "How is she? Can't say I run into her that often, though I imagine her hair should be fully gray now."

 "She's fine," Jiho mumbled, lacing her fingers behind her back. 

 "Ah, you two are fighting," Irene answered. A satisfactory smile adorned her face once Jiho groaned; she judged her guess was correct.

 "I wanted to ask you something."

 "Well it's a good thing you caught me."

 "I won't keep you too long. I know your work- whatever it is- is quite important."

 Irene smiled once more as she gathered her hair to tie a neat ponytail. "I'm going away today but not to work."

 "I wanted to ask you only one question. It'll be quick, I promise."

 "Ask away."

 "My mom," Jiho said, firmly grasping her wrist, "I asked her directly but she wouldn't give me an answer. You see, it's been bugging me for a few days now and just last night it occurred to me that you might know the answer since mama- my mother said you work with people who know a lot of things."

 "She always loved to gossip, but what is it that's been pestering my cute neighbor?" 

 "It's a small disk this big," Jiho said, indicating with her fingers the size of the mystery edible. 

 "It was white?"

 "Yeah," her cute neighbor replied with quick successive nods.

 Irene undid the latch on the purse that had been dangling off her shoulder and took out a small vial, identical to the one Jiho saw her mother pop the disk out from.

 "That's the one!"

 Her neighbor smiled at her. She seemed almost hesitant to share her knowledge, but did so after pulling Jiho to herself in a tight hug. 

 "If she started taking them just recently then she'll be here a while longer, but then she'll be going where I'm going," Irene replied in a soft voice, her hand Jiho's brown locks.

 "Where are you going?" 

 "To the place where even your greatest happiness becomes small in light of the new glory you shall witness. The place where I will dance among the butterflies and sing amidst the birds- where my fragrance will pale in comparison to the scent of grace fully manifest."

 "To the Promise?" Jiho mouthed as she pulled herself away from Irene. 

 "Yes. If this here, our residence, be a foreshadowing of that paradise, imagine how gay that land will be." Her eyes fixed on Jiho, she continued, "Those 'disks' as you know them are but little angels we call 'pills'. They make our body ready for the reception of divine glory once we pass through the Iacobus Gate."

 "Pill? Iacobus Gate?"

 "Yes, I'm sure you've seen it before- it's impossible to miss. Remember the giant arch at the center of the main plaza of the Inner Circle? That's it."

 Irene coughed, snatching Jiho's attention who up till then was confounded by the gravity of the revelation.

 "My mom can't leave yet! She's arguing with me!"

With a kind and understanding smile on her face, Irene swayed her head. "Not yet but soon I said. In the meanwhile I'm sure you'll be able to reconcile. But- what about you? I know the latest batch of youths are soon to be integrated into the workforce. Service is one of the greatest things we can provide for the Motherland, you know."

 "Huh?"

 "I asked what job was selected for you."

 Replying with a listless voice and without much thought, Jiho said, "A soldier. The letter said I would deploy in-" Reacting to her own words, she hastily counted the days left in the week with her fingers. "In two days," she gasped.

 "Congratulations! You'll make a fine soldier!" Irene applauded. "I wonder what division you will enter in!"

 "But I can't!" she protested. Stunned by the celerity of her tongue, she covered with her palm. Though at several points the fear of the two childhood monsters may have diminished, it was not enough to completely disregard them as vain speculation. There existed in her core a very real part that believed the ominous myth of Death and Decay.

Wrinkled brows, crossed arms- all the exhibitions of consternation in full display, Irene questioned the emphatic objection. "Why not?"

 "Because!" 

 "It's okay you can tell me," her neighbor insisted as she held Jiho's hand. 

Taking slow and long breaths, Jiho paused to gather her thoughts. There was a maternal aspect  to Irene. The way she rubbed her knuckles and the manner in which she tilted her head while looking directly at her eyes- Jiho felt she could trust her without fear of ridicule.

"You remember the stories your father used to share?"

 "He was a soldier like you will soon be."

 "Yes, but-" Jiho gently moved her hand away from Irene's in a way that would not be perceived as gross rejection. "He talked about seeing things while on different planets."

 "You are correct. On his voyages he saw many things; things that are totally unlike what is presently disclosed to us. Flamboyant plants, planets with two, four moons at a time-"

 "That's not what I mean," Jiho cut in.

 "Well then, what is it?" Irene said with a slight chuckle. "You said you would only ask a single question."

 "I mean monsters! He said one day to your mother that he saw these two monsters called Death and Decay."

 A grin on her face, Irene swayed her head and rolled her eyes. "My father loved to invent stories that would thrill the listener. At any rate, I don't recognize those two terms but there are many aliens that are designated numerous monikers. Maybe it was just that."

 "No. He gave a terrible description of them."

 The fair neighbor sighed as she studied Jiho's disposition. Eyes aimed at the sward beneath with an arm crossed to hold the other; the air of worry and of being misunderstood hovered over Jiho. She could not guess exactly what her taller friend meant by Death and Decay, but that it inspired some type of apprehension was clear.

 "I don't mean to mock you. Perhaps you read of these Death and Decay in a storybook."

 "No."

 "Jiho," Irene called. "My father helped spread peace as a soldier before he left for the Promise. I forget most of what he used to share; like a foggy mist has overtaken my memories of him but that matters not. All that matters is that he did his part to serve the Motherland and now our neighboring planets are finally living in harmony."

 "Exactly how did he help bring harmony? What does it entail, specifically, to be a soldier, a Peace-Walker?"

 "That's already several more questions than you promised. Look!"

 Jiho aimed her sight down the road where Irene pointed at. On both sides of the wide street stood two-story apartments of uniform shape and of a single color palette. The lawns directly before the homes were all closely cropped, the work of obeisant residents that served even the smallest whims of the Motherland. A huge vehicle with a pearly sheen at the far end of the road was approaching them. 

 "I will finally join my parents, and I'll say hi to your father there too, Jiho."

 Jiho was oblivious to Irene's comment. She existed in a vacuum where the only other thing that moved was the strange automobile that presently stopped at the space in front of her. It was a pearl color, trimmed with gold and driven by a figure cloaked in white. How the driver steered without constantly swerving left and right, veering off into the sidewalk eluded her. Most curious were the actual passengers of this hulk: another robed character, this time having his garb weaved with many flamboyant colors, the predominant of which was gold, and a small entourage of hooded people. This uncanny experience seemed familiar to her, and then she remembered. These odd people, the clumsy vehicle, were the ones that took away her father into the Promise when she was very young.

 "You'll make a great soldier," Irene whispered into her ear. 

 "Huh?"

 The light in Irene's eyes were at their brightest now, sparks of pale-blue fire. Her cheekbones tugged upwards as another Cheshire grin adorned her face. At no other time had Jiho seen her this happy. The Promise held this much power. It was the habitation of all true delights and lofty glories. It was the paradise all inhabitants of the Motherland were permitted to enter after their allotted time in this terrestrial plane. 

The disintegration of bodily flesh is an unknown concept here, and so is the idea of disease and the mortal end. All are known to be lesser gods here, beings capable of fostering peace and harmony, immortal and unending even before passing through the gates of their hereafter. There is no strife in the Motherland, only peace, only serenity. But if contention arises, that is no laborious task for the Motherland. 

 "Farewell!" Irene said as she joined the hooded crowd inside the pearl titan.

While Jiho slowly raised her hand to wave goodbye the person clothed in the colorful robe approached her. "If you feel an excessive amount of sadness at your friend's departure, fear not. She will partake of that which we all long for, the Promise. And even then, if sorrows persist, go seek help at the Inner Circle, and there a faithful steward will make the sorrows flee. The Motherland makes all your sorrows flee and grants you peace, daughter."

 Jiho nodded, the man donning the exotic colors stirring apprehension within her. He was a tall, lithe person, with pale fingers poking out from the sleeves which skirted the concrete sidewalk. She couldn't get used to him although she recognized memories of this very man from years ago when her father was taken and on other occasions. Shy as she may be, she often accompanied her mother in errands and recalled seeing this strange procession several times as they zoomed by in their own vehicle. These were the holy ones who carried their passengers to the edge of the Iacobus Gate, the final stop before the Promise. Jiho had read of them in books that consisted of solely text; pictures of the holy ones are forbidden.

 "My father took those pills!" Jiho exclaimed shutting up the book in her hand. "That's why they seemed so familiar. I saw him swallow those white disks before he left."

 It was now some hours past her final encounter with Irene. Dusk was soon approaching and her mother had not arrived from her errand. Jiho was restless and how could she not be?  Soon, though just how soon was unknown, her mother would abandon her and enter the Promise. The thought of being left alone in so big a house without anyone to talk to, to share meals with, to hug and kiss terrified her. A home without her mother was no home

It was selfish thing, she recognized, that she desired her mother to stay by her side forever, but it was not without validity. She would be without family, and the Motherland pushes family/community far above all else. "There is no Motherland without family," they claim. To Jiho, everyone besides her mother were strangers that merely took up the guise of "friends" or "acquaintances". Even Irene whom she considered somewhat close before she left held her secrets, Jiho keeping her own share of secrets away from her too. And though controversial as it may be, no family is family that engages the use of secrecy and by extension, dishonesty. Family is built on trust.

Jiho spied out her window, hoping to see the little red car parked in the driveway. Nothing. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. As she undid her firm grasp on the windowsill, turning away to pick up a book in hopes of distracting herself from the thought of loneliness, she chanced to see the headlights of a car illuminate the street below. Her head quickly poked out the window and there, coming out of a taxi, was her mom.

Words cannot relay what joy she felt in her bosom once that short figure approached the front door. Jiho burst out her door and ran with much alacrity to twist open the doorknob. Without affording Yente a chance to reject her, she crushed her against herself in a keen display of affection.

"Crazy child!"

 All the more did Jiho persist in her embrace. Then, slowly receding, she grasped her mother's frail hands, and with a strained voice demanded her mother not to leave her.

 "Stop taking those pills, mama! Please!"

 Swinging the door behind her shut, Yente replied with a sway of her head. "Who told you? But I guess that's not relevant."

 "Mama, I can't live without you. I can take your silence, your scolding, and all of your scorn but not your absence. Stop taking those pills. Or else take me with you to the Promise!"

 "Nonsense!" her mother exclaimed with a scowl. "When the Motherland says for you to enter, then you may take up the journey to the next realm of existence. But not yet! Bah! You don't even want to face employment," she added with a dismissive wave of her hand.

 "I'll do it!" Jiho shot out. "I'll do whatever it takes just as long as you swear not to take those pills again." 

 Yente looked curiously at Jiho. "You mean you'll finally quit your idiocy and be a soldier?"

 "Yes. Death and Decay are imaginary but you leaving me an orphan is real!"

 Nodding in agreement, the haggard elder grinned widely. "That's all those two monsters are, daughter- imaginary. There is only peace for those in the Motherland. And as for those at the far ends of the universe, you," she alighted her hands on her daughter's cheeks from which she wiped off tears, "You will bring peace to those frontiers. Yes, as a Peace-Walker, you will eliminate all strife and create harmony."