La Richesse ou L'amour ?

Third Person's POV

A little girl just woke up from her sleep. She sat up and rubbed her eyes off, despite her hair sticking out, she was very cute and adorable. With her rosy chubby cheeks, alluring eyes, and her bubbly smile.

"Where are we going, mom?" pagtatanong niya sa kanyang ina. 

Her mom didn't answer so she decided to get off the bed. She ran and cling to her mother's arm, her mother did stop and faced her. She cupped the little girl's face.

"Pupunta tayo sa napakalayong lugar, baby. So get ready na and take a bath. Ang baho baho mo na oh" sabi ng ina sabay pabiro sininghot ang bata.

With glittering eyes, the child answered, "Okay mom!" with her high-pitched voice.

She ran but stopped midway, she then faced her mom with a pleading expression.

"Pwede ko po bang dalhin yung friend ko?" she showed her puppy eyes and her mom just chuckled with the overloaded cuteness of her daughter. She really wanted to bring Vlax—ang kanyang best friend.

The mother couldn't help but also smiled as the little girl climbed on her back. She's really lively and energetic.

"It's just us, Esche." sabi ng ina habang hinahaplos-haplos ang buhok ng anak.

"Awww." Esche, the name of the little girl, started sulking upon her mother's statement.

She doesn't want to leave his one and only prince.

She sluggishly went to the bathroom and turned off the faucet as her bathtub was full. She excitedly jumped and giggled as the water splashed.

"Mag ingat ka sa banyo, Esche!" her mother shouted in fear of her child having an accident.

"I'm fine, mom!" she shouted and giggled again.

Her mother just heaved a sigh, she really can't get used to Esche's buoyant energy.

"Bilisan mo na, Esche. Dadating na ang driver natin!" the mother commanded.

Esche followed her mom's orders and hurried herself up. She didn't want to upset her mom.

She happily got out of the bathroom. Her mother then changes her clothes. The little girl giggled when her mom sniffed her on the neck, which somewhat tickled her.

"Okay, get your stuff toy." the mom said as she stood up. The little girl hurriedly gets her favorite toy, the one Vlax—the little girl's boy best friend or the so-called prince, given as a birthday present.

"Mom, where are we going?" the little girl asked for the second time but the mom didn't even get upset, she just smiled and squatted in front of the little girl so that they were on the same level.

"We will go to a faraway land." the mother said. Once again the little girl's eyes twinkled as she imagined a castle-like house and a fairytale-like story.

"Why?" the little girl once again asked.

Her mother's smile vanishes. She looked at Yumi seriously but the innocent kid just stared—she couldn’t even understand what her mother had to say.

"We would run away from the bad guys." the mother said as she put a strand of hair behind Yumi's ear.

"Bad guys?" the little girl smiled and her mother nodded as a response.

She was thinking of a cartoon-like monster that would eat some innocent people and she would fly there in order to help the people.

She's grinning widely while the mother just sighed.

"You won't understand." the mother added.

"I'm excited, mom!" the little girl exclaimed.

Her mother just didn't mind her and continued packing their things. The little girl was bored playing with her stuff toy so she decided to go out.

She happily hops out of the door and she met Vlax leaning onto the wall.

"Vlax!" she happily goes near to him.

Vlax—a boy who has the same age as her, stared at her seriously.

"Anong problema?" the little girl asked as she creased her forehead.

"You're moving out?" he asked and sadness is evident on his face.

"Paano mo nalaman?" asked the little girl.

"It's obvious," Vlax said as he looked at the man carrying the luggage out of her house.

Esche on the other hand just sheepishly smile but her smile vanished when Vlax asked her a question.

"Will you leave me?" she saw a hint of sadness in the little boy's face. She wanted to deny it, she was fidgeting her fingers because she didn't know what to say.

She was shocked when suddenly Vlax dragged her out of nowhere and her eyes widened when they arrived on the playground.

She remembered the day it started, the day they first met.

They met coincidentally, niligtas ni Vlax si Esche laban sa mga batang nambubully sa kanya. Esche seems to be an outcast of the group and can't play with other kids normally. She tends to distance herself because she thinks the other kids hate her.

Not until she met Vlax. The little boy became her one and only friend.

Days, months, years passed. They became closer to each other.

In every laughter, cries, smiles, talks, they only have each other.

They made memories. Fun memories of their childhood.

They reminisce about the past with hands holding tightly on each other with smiles on their faces.

"Aalis ka ba talaga?" Vlax once again asked while staring at the playground in front of them.

She remained silent and because of this he turned at her and panicked when he saw her silently sobbing.

"H-hala? Bat ka umiiyak?" he was hesitant to touch or hug her. But in the end, he hugged her.

"I-I want to bring y-you with us but m-mom doesn't w-want to," she said between her sobs and cried out loud.

Vlax even more panicked with her shout. She faced Esche and cupped her face, she stopped crying but her sobs won't stop.

"Wait for me," he said and ran away. Esche was confused pero nanatili pa rin siya sa kinatatayuan niya at sinunod ang utos ni Vlax.

She waited for minutes and then Vlax came, he's panting and catches his breath. Esche came closer to him, still sobbing.

He tiredly handed over the strawberry ice cream, she immediately grabbed it out of his hands.

Her eyes then twinkled and excitedly licked the ice cream. Vlax on the other hand just smiled, thinking how naive and silly she is. He patted her head.

"Esche!" Esche's mom is now calling her.

Esche on the other hand was startled. She looked at Vlax with sadness but Vlax just smiled.

"Go on. Okay lang ako, don't worry about me. I'll just find you in the future. Promise me, you'll be my wife." Vlax said. Esche innocently smiled and nodded.

She then runs onto her mom, not knowing what will happen in the near future.

"Did you say goodbye to your friend?" her mom asked and she nodded.

She then hopped onto the car. She looked at the window and saw Vlax, she then waved her hand as a goodbye. She hugged the unicorn tighter as Vlax got out of her sight.

"Mom," she called. Her mom glances at her.

"Will we go back here?" she asked.

"Yes." her mom answered.

"When?"

"When everything's alright." She looked at her mom but her mom just smiled.

Her mom held her face and kissed her on her forehead. "I love you." her mom whispered.

"I love you too!" she cheerfully answered.

In the middle of the road, the car suddenly stopped. Yumi almost bumps her head but her mom protected her from the impact.

"Manong, anong nangyari?" pasigaw na tanong ng nanay ni Esche.

"May nakaharang na sasakyan sa harapan ma'am, di tayo makakadaan." the driver said.

"Oh my god." Esche's mom whispered. She's on the verge of crying.

Esche was innocently looking at her mom's reaction. She was worried when her mom's expression turned into fear.

"Mom, what happened?" she asked. She cupped the face of her mom, she looked at her with tears in her eyes. She suddenly hugged Esche.

"No. Not her, not my baby." she shakingly said. Esche, on the other hand, was bewildered, she doesn't even know what was happening around her.

Her mother faced her. "Whatever happens don't get out of the car, understand?!" she said. Esche can feel how cold her mother's hands are but she just nodded vigorously.

"I love you." and she once again kissed her forehead.

Esche was astounded when her mom gives her the necklace she was wearing. It seems that the necklace is really important to her mom, so she's confused as to why she's giving it to her.

"I think they could identify you because of this." her mom whispered under her breath.

Parang istatuwa namang nakatitig si Esche sa kanyang ina. Hindi alam ang gagawin.

"Mom, where are you going?" she asked when her mom get out of the car

She once again kissed Esche on the forehead and said "I love you" thrice. Esche looks out of the window to answer her question.

She saw a man wearing a black shirt and pants and sunglasses with a bonnet on his head, the other one is also wearing an all-black outfit, a black shirt, pants and also have a black leather jacket.

Esche gasped when he saw them bringing a gun.

"Manong, bad guys po sila! I need to save mom!" she exclaimed. She continued banging the door but it wouldn't budge.

Her tears are now streaming onto her cheeks. She kept on calling her mom. She cried and shouted but nothing happened.

The driver started the car. "No, di natin pwedeng iwanan si mom! Go back!" she once again shouted but the driver continued driving.

She continued throwing a fit but her energy ran out. She hopelessly looked out the window. The rain poured out like her tears, looking like the weather is being one with her. There she saw in front of her eyes, the way they killed her mom using the gun.

She even saw how her mom smiled at her before hitting the ground. She shouted at the top of her lungs, desperately calling her mom. But she can't do anything. 

She was just an innocent kid back then but the trauma did a great job changing her life. She really cursed to death the people behind her mom's death. And someday she would get the revenge she wanted for her mom's death.

—

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