Chapter 01
A Town Beyond the Vanishing Road

".... riverrrr flowwwsssszzzz.... "

He stirred.

"to the zzzeeaaa...."

He felt a little off.

"... ssssooo it goewwwsszzzz..."

He shuddered, finally realizing who that screeching and high pitch voice belong to, ‘! ! !'

"Zumssthangsszz.... "

It was his mother, 'Urghhhhh.... No!'

"Are meant to bbbeeeee...eeeeeaaaa"

His ears were ringing and it was all he could do not to shout for some silence and reveal his waking status. But that revelation would prove to be fatal for his sanity. He'd rather risk his eardrums ruin than his sanity in pieces.

"Tthhhake maiihhh hhhhand..."

His headset was still plugged to his head/ears but there was no more music coming from it, 'Why is it not playing? Did I not place it on repeat?'

"Thhake my hulllle layfff tttooouuu...."

With still closed eyes, he stealthily tried to reach for his iPod. Very carefully he slowly reached his side where he remembered he had placed it last.

"Forr I can't Hheeeeiilllppppp..."

'Yes! Thank! You! God!', when he finally felt it in his hands. Slightly opening his eyes, he went to operate to turn in his music in repeat and almost groaned when he saw that it was not turning on however strong and many times he pushed the turn on button.

"Falling innn luuuv with youuuuuu...."

'! ! !' He cursed remembering that he had not charged it the day before they left. It was just his luck to forget charging it when he had the chance.

"Darling, come on sing with me....". Came the chipper voice of her mother. 

He cringed worse now, if there was anything worse than her mother singing..

"Oh, Likkkkeeee daa rivvver flowzzzz" it was his dad out-of-tune voice doing a duet of King of Pop song with her.

He was literally going to gag.

"Zurely to the zeee..." --- "Yes, surely to the szzeeaaa... aaeeee", they sang together so out of sync.

'Urghhh. God stop them from singing'.

"Dahling zoo it goes.... somethingz are mean to veee"

He wanted to put a gag at his parents’ mouth. What they were doing was not singing, it was making air pollution aka noise.

"Thaaakkkke myyyy hannnddd...", his father was getting into his groove.

"Honey. Ahhhh.. After all these years, this song and us singing it always makes me so happy", his mother announced

 'Okay! Officially someone kill me!', his parents was already starting to thread at cheesy fest lovey-dovey land now. It was all he could do to scream for them to just shut up. 

"Take my whole life toooooo..." 

He restrained himself; he would never 'out' himself as awake especially with this particular song playing. To do so, would mean running straight at the worst case scenario ever.

"FoorI cann'tt hellllpp..... Falling in Luvvvve with youuuuuu"

He shuddered. This song was his parents wedding song. And with it as wedding song, it meant singing it whenever it is played, anywhere and together. 

"FoorI cann'tt hellllpp..... Falling in Luvvvve with youuuuuu"

And together meaning including him. And that is his worst case scenario that happened a couple of times in school and family gatherings.

"I love you, darling..."

It was mortifying. He shuddered those bad memories away.

"I love you more, honey" his father told his mom.

They are officially in lovey-dovey land! 'Urghhhh!'

"No.. I love you more..." his mother answered back

'Somebody, save me from this. from them!' he prayed.

"No. I love you way way more and that is why I just want to say sorry for bringing you in this so far off assignment yet again" his father stated so heartily and solemnly.

He calmed down now sensing that they were done with their horrible singing and also almost done with their cheesy talk.

"Don't be sorry, honey. It was my choice to come with you" his mother's voice came out gently and the music was turned off with a click in the car's component.

"But still, it was a little selfish to drag you and our son to this place. It would have bee----",

"There is no where I would rather be than by your side. I am sure our son feels the same way..." his mom interrupted his father words

'I beg to differ mom, I wish you guys left me at Uncle Sam's', was what he wanted to say. But the words continued to get stuck in his head

He heard his dad sigh as his mom's chipper voice came again, "And besides, this is another adventure for our family. I heard and read a lot of things . And I got to say I am looking forward to seeing it"

His dad chuckled a little, the good mood back in the air. "I am sure our son would be so happy with this place. Additionally as you have said, the most we'd stay here would be a month or two. You've said that the predicted success rate of finding anything here is 20%. So with the 80% probability we might just be here for the summer and our son can re-enroll in his old school for this term."

'Oh I did not know that!', he had thought that they would be there for the usual 6 months for his father's assignment. So he was wrong, he might just be staying in this new place for the summer.

'Yes!', he rejoiced.

"But Hon, don't tell him that, there is nothing definite yet until I've checked out the place", his father warned.

His mom chuckled, "I know, don't worry. This is the last we talk about this until we have a definite timeline of our stay here. Seeing how sound asleep he is right now, we don't need him to worry about this"

'Worry? Me? uh-uh. I am not worrying', He felt awesome.

He had been in a very black funk ever since his father announced the new assignment two days ago. It was just like his father to announce such a thing to create shock and mayhem to his life. They always stick together, whatever happened and wherever one goes. And so all his life, he had always been uprooted an average of 5-6 months depending on his fathers work.

As a kid, it was great to travel all over the world. He was always in a new place and in the company of new friends. When he was in grade school, his classmates were amazed at all the places he has been to. Most of them lived and breathe their town. Not him, courtesy to his father. He could tell them about the month he was in a boat. Or the summer he was living by the see or the first memory he had of swimming with dolphins.

They were always enthralled by his stories. And he was always the popular guy, well liked and befriended always.

But as a teenager, having to move twice or thrice in a school year was such a pain in the . He turned into the guy who came to class in the middle of class who had no clue at what the lessons were. Either that or ‘the guy’ who talks alot about things on fishes and the sea. But most of the time he was the guy who was not in sync with the new 'IN' thing among peers. 

When he transfers from the city to country schools, they call him a snob for using city slang words, when he moves back to the city from the countryside, they laugh at his countrified get up. He always turned into an outcast. It was such a pain!

It was more a pain when he goes to a foreign school. He had a hard time communicating, and just when he learns the language it was already time to leave.

Because his father's usual projects in the recent years have lasted from 2 - 3 months, he does not even have the time to take out all his things from boxes and bag.

He had no friends and no place to call home. 

He had argued to stay with his mother's parents, but that was easily turned down over and over again.

'Home is where we all are', always his father would state. It was cheesy but that was unbreakable code.

It was their family code. 

The worst part is that due to his usual transfers in the middle of the school year. One school he had attended did not allow him move to another school level due to missing units due to school hours. It was infuriating. He had sulked for almost 6 months he was in that town but however much he sulked and protested, he was not moving with all same age classmates to the next level.

His parents did everything they can to petition his school papers and units but it was no use. He was going to repeat a year.

That was what made the once awesome lifestyle they had into such an infuriating circumstance.

'But, whatever. In 2 months time I will be 19. I'll be an adult and I can do whatever I want...'

"Ohhh honey is that it?" his mother's ecstatic voice broke through his reverie.

"Uh-uh. What do you think?", his father asked.

"Oh it is just so... ohhh... ahhh, honey wait... ahhh he would not want to miss this. Ahhh... Wait I will wake him up. Sooo... ahhh,, wait... Stop the car." his mother muttered almost excited-confused.

"Baby.. wake up." He knew his mother was calling him as he felt the car slow down.

"Hey sleepy head, open your eyes...", his father chimed in.

'Whatever it is, I doubt it is anything I have not seen before. The sea has always been the same at sunset.' He defiantly continued to be 'asleep'

He felt the car stop and hear some shuffling noise in the front seats, "Baby, wake up... Come on now, I know you are tired from the car ride but this you gotta see"

He felt the doors in the front of the car open. Next he felt the door in his car open before his mothers gently pat him awake, "Baby come on, open those eyes..."

They were treating him like a kid. His mind revolted, 'I am not a baby anymore, I am 18 years old and going to 19 in two months.'

He signed, and slowly opened his eyes, "hhmmmnnn.... what is up, mom? Are we there yet"

His mom smiled at him, "Yes, we are almost there but for now we are stopping here because I wanted you to see this..."

He followed his mother gaze to the sea. He sighed 'Yup! The sea is always the same... in all places!'

He looked at his father and asked, "Uhmmm... what are we supposed to be looking at"

 "There..." his father motioned at the sea ahead of the road.

He looked with half opened eyes. He saw a beach at sunset with a faint drizzle in the horizon. Up ahead he saw the orange and indigo hue fighting over the sky. The dark blue water sending ringlets of waves to the dead brown sand on the beach. 

He sighed; there was nothing new about it. He had seen same type of scene in the beach a couple of times.

He felt his stiff legs, and knew that it was time to straighten his legs to prevent cramps. His parents had already left him in the car and were busy doing their usual thing. By the time he was out of the car his father was already toward the beach with a tripod on hand.

'Tsk, tsk tsk', He looked around again, but like the first time he looked there was nothing except beach, sea and end of the road.

It was an eerie feeling, "Where are we?"

The sea breeze blew past and it was making the hair in his nape tingle.

"In the middle of nowhere...", spoke a breathy voice at his ear.

He jumped and turned around, he was just a breath’s away control from cursing on seeing the smile on his mother's face.

"Mom! Cut that out", he shouted. She laughed and ran toward his father who by now setting up tripod and SLR.

He was exasperated, it was just like his mom to play a prank and act like a kid. Caressing the hair in his back to tingly-free, he watched as his mom leaped to his father's arms, turns to him and motioned for him to them, "Baby...!"

He shook his head and bellowed, "Coming..!"

And that is when he noticed the island.

He squinted his eyes, not really sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He blinked a couple of times but it was still there,. He closed his eyes shut and opened it fast, it was still there. 

One could almost not see it. It was hidden in a fog and rain that showered that part of the sea. That was the area he had looked on earlier when he was in the car, but he had not seen it like how it is now. It is like a dark silhouette in the shadows of a dark cloud. He focused his eyes and the more he looked, the more it was visible.

"Dad, what island is that?", he asked pointing at the island he saw.

Without looking back his father smiled wide, "That is where we are going..."

He looked around to see any indication of any human life form in that island, but it was too far too dark to see anything. He looked around for any other people going to that island but there were the only ones in the barren beach front. He looked around but still nothing. There were no boats, no other cars, and no people.

The sound of the waves hitting the beach and the sea breeze blowing past were the only sign of movement in the area.  There was nothing in the area but a sad beach, a road that ended at the beach and a eerie looking island.

"Wha--?", he almost shouted still looking at the sea.

Something caught his eyes, "What do you mean?"

He blinked his eyes looking in the same area he saw what looked like a head.

"Dad... did you..?", his eyes were playing tricks on him.

He shook his head, "Dad, what do you mean?"

His dad cleared his throat and spoke in imitation of deep voice of an announcer, "Well my son, that is a secret...."

Pausing, he created a somewhat suspenseful suspenseful reverie, "...but if you tune in for an hour you will see my powers."

His mother chuckled, "Powers indeed! What powers? Parting the sea?"

"Daaad---!", he protested at their playful banter. His parents really gets on his nerves whenever they behave like kids, 'I am the kid, and they're the parents, they should be serious'

His father just grabbed his arm, "Don't shout, you might wake up the dead"

"Woooohhhh", his mother howled and giggled.

"Aissshhh, you guysss---", He was bear hugged then. He tried to wiggle from his fathers’ embrace but it was useless. He was dragged in front of the camera. 

"Okay, on the count of three" his father started

He sighed, it was tradition, and anytime they go to a new place they will get a 'family picture'.

"Baby----" his mother whispered who flanked herself in his other side.

"One"----"C'mon, Smile a little...", they were talking simultaneously

"Two", he continued to wiggle as his father counted.

"Anndddd------ three!", and he was smacked with kisses in each cheek as the camera flash blinded his eyes.

"Ugghhhh..... ahhh.... let go!", he shouted as he pushed them away from him.

"You are such children! I am going back to the car", he announced as he heard his parents laugh.

"Don't sulk. Come back...." his father shouted.

"Baby, we'll stop messing around....!" his mother's voice was nearer

He ignored them as he ran to the car. He hastily went to his seat at the backseat. He put on his head seat and closed his eyes.... 

IT was just a moment of his eyes being shut when he was shaken, "Baby.. wake up and see where we are"

He drowsily opened his eyes, he blinked a few times, "Hmmmnnnn... did I sleep?"

When he finally fully opened his eyes, all he saw was darkness. It was nighttime. 

His eyes refocused and he saw the twinkling stars in the horizon, "Where ar---?"

Only gentle waves echoed in the air with the car was not moving and the engine was turned off, "Did we not move? Is something wrong?"

"No... We are going there...", his father pointed at the stars he had seen.

He looked around again; with his eyes now more focused he realized that the twinkling stars were not stars but light. 'but that is weird...'

He looked in front of the cars spotlight and saw a narrow road, sandwiched by water. the road's path headed straight to the twinkling lights town, the silhouette of which is the familiar island from earlier.

He looked back. He squinted his eyes until he saw a single light post at a far horizon. That light post was bringing light to a familiar beach from this afternoon.

His eyes followed the red tail light of the car and saw the same road, this one heading back to the beach earlier. He focused his eyes more and saw that the road sliced the sea to the beach. 

The road was a continuation of the broken road in the beach, through the sea and then to the twinkling lighted town in the island. 

"Cool right?" his father asked.

He was speechless, 'it was beyond cool'

He nodded, he had travelled with is parents all his life. He had travelled to some of the most remote places in the world but never has he seen a unique road like this one.

'A vanishing road...' he concluded.

His father the engine and drove at the epic vanishing road. He looked out at the window, trying to see the sea in the moonless night.

Her mother started humming, it was a familiar tune. It was his lullaby. The drive was slow and eerie, the only sounds in the air was the waves lapping at the side of the road and his mother humming solemnly.

He did not know how long it took but when a hard thud came from the brake, he looked ahead of the car.

The distant twinkling lights town was very clear to his eyes.

His mother stopped humming, the car engines irregularly churned, the waves lapping at the beach was volumed down and the sea breeze was blowing stronger and colder.

"We are here." his father announced.

He breathe in the smell of the sea and nodded, 'yes they were here....'

He looked at the welcome sign of the town. He could not decipher the name of the town, all he saw was a big WELCOME sign.

'Welcome....', he thought solemnly

He took a deep breath, 'Yup. I guess it is now welcome to A Town beyond the vanishing road...'

To be continued...