| No matter what he does to distract himself, Adam cannot stop thinking about the situation his father described earlier. |
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| He and Luke had talked for at least an hour about his birth-mother, Anna. Adam’s father tells the funny story about the night she she slugged him just to get him to notice her; and how it was true love after that. Some bad things had happened to her, and she was in the hospital for a little while. He explains how Anna was still very sick while she was pregnant. And when Luke got to the part about her trial, he’d said very little; simply that she was sent away to jail for something that happened at Fort Gnome. And even though they knew it wasn’t her fault, they punished her like it was. |
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| His father did not go into great detail about the specifics, but he didn’t have to. There had been a deliberate injustice committed. It would have been like punishing Adam for Noah’s prank at school. Adam immediately understands what Kay’s big project is. She has been working to find a way to have Anna released from jail. She’d spent years searching for some legal loophole or advantage, but nothing has ever come to fruition. |
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| Apart from discovering that his mother is in jail, Adam noticed another interesting detail. However subtle or unconscious it may have been, Adam did not miss the distinction that his father made between he and Noah. Anna is Noah’s biological parent. As for Adam, she is his birth-parent. No matter how curious he was about difference, he was far too interested in what his father was saying to change the subject. Besides, any conversation including Noah, always ends up being about Noah. |
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| Adam purposefully did not mention the gnawing sensation that has been bothering him recently. At first, he’d chalked it up to wanting a sibling that didn’t completely hate him. But there’s something more urgent about this. It feels stronger that just wanting sister. Inexplicably, it almost feels like he needs to protect somebody. His mind warders to the girl with silvery hair. Is she in trouble? He relaxes on his bed, intent on staying awake until Kay comes home. |
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| As Adam’s mind continues to explore what his senses are trying to tell him, something like sleep washes over him; and he finds himself visiting another distant memory. But is it just a memory? He recognises the library immediately. Strange how it hasn’t changed that much after such a long time… |
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| If there’s one thing Adam absolutely cannot stand, it is wasting a perfectly good day sitting inside the library. What kid in his right mind (besides Reid) would spend such a beautiful day reading geo-something-or-other maps of Sunset Valley? Adam had figured that, at least, he’d be able to convince his best friend to do something other than study on his birthday. What’s worse, is that it’s studying for stuff not even related to school. |
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| Reid had gathered a stack of books and had asked Adam to find a bunch of others. It’s physically painful for Adam to look out the window and see the beautiful day with him not enjoying it. He focuses only enough to locate the correct numbers marked on the spines of books Reid had asked for. |
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| Adam deposits the books next to Reid and considers wishing his friend a happy birthday, then escaping to the beach to catch some fish by himself. |
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| His thoughts of fishing are interrupted by an oddly familiar sound. He hears her voice again, and the faint chorus that accompanies it. The cute girl with silvery hair rounds the corner into the main area where they are sitting. She had found the maps Reid is looking for in the archives. The girl stops and smiles upon seeing Adam. He can feel his cheeks blushing as his own smile appears with a will of it’s own. |
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| Reid instantly buries his face in the new books, ignoring both his sister and Adam. She takes a couple graceful steps closer to Adam, then blushes in kind. When she is close, she just studies him for a short time. A sweet smile appears on her face, as if to thank him for visiting. But before either of them can speak, the memory fades, and Adam emerges again into his bedroom. Kay is standing beside him, commenting on the plaque above his bed. |
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| Still slightly spooked, Adam blinks then finds he is staring at Kay. She scrunches her eyebrows and asks, somewhat worried, if he is okay after talking to his father about Anna. Adam nods absently, but says nothing. |
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| The corner of the room is occupied by an antique sofa that has graced many different rooms in the Barimen household across several generations. Kay sits gently on the comfortable sofa and breathes a heavy sigh. She has been wanting to speak with Adam for a long time about his mother. After all, she owes him some kind of explanation; considering his adorable attempts to bring her and his father together as a couple. |
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| Having no “good” way to approach the subject, she explains that for all of the different reasons why she and Luke cannot be to together, the most important reason is because Luke already loves Anna. Kay describes her memories of his parents’ amazing love story. She also emphasizes that just because they are apart from each other, does not mean that there is any love lost between them. |
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| Adam nods and frowns. After awhile, he regards Kay with bright, blue eyes, and asks if he can still call her “Mom”. She smiles broadly, marveling at Adam’s ability to say exactly the right thing. |
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| Kay stands up, then rustles his silvery hair. She tucks him in, turns off his light, then tells him that hearing it is, without a doubt, the best part of her day. |
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| After Kay leaves, Adam lays awake in his darkened bedroom and thinks about his mother, Anna. It must be really hard for them to not be able to see each other. Then, as the fog of sleep settles around him, his mind wanders again. And he sees the girl with silvery hair. She has been waiting for him. |
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| He falls asleep enjoying another memory of her, while quietly wondering to himself whether the empty and anxious sensation he gets when the memory ends, is anything close to what his parents must be feeling. |
Stories by Zoxell 
Ohhh so sad, but so sentimental! I love how insightful Adam can be to feelings. He’s a lot like how his dad was, but different. Luke I think was more in tuned to the physical world and perhaps past memories…Adam is more to feelings and is understanding. It’s so sweet! 😛
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