Ch21
My favorite moment is looking in her eyes while I am talking to her. They are so green, and it seems like there is another green world beyond her eyes. I wonder if it’s where her beautiful soul lives.
What would she look like in 10 years? Every person gets old, but I believe that inner beauty becomes more beautiful while appearance is changing. I can’t even imagine how beautiful Sara will be in the future.
-R-
Robert could not sleep at night even though he was very tired. He would sleep for an hour, and then wake up. He tried to sleep, but he could only sleep a couple of hours. He repeated that until the morning. He told Sara that he had only three days until he was leaving. He did not know what to do on his last day. Fortunately, Boldo would be around; he and Boldo could think of something.
He went out and ran with Sara. Sara was in a good mood, and no matter how tired, Robert was always happy when he saw Sara. After running they ate breakfast and went to see her grandmother. Robert did not know Mrs. Olverman well. He only heard the name a couple of times, but when he met her, he remembered who she was. She used to say hello to Robert whenever she saw him.
“You do look like Mr. Mitchell,” Mrs. Olverman said. “Thanks for being such good friends with Sara.”
“Oh, I am lucky to have met her,” Robert replied.
“He is very kind,” Sara said. The three of them talked for a while. Even though she was old, they did not have any problems communicating. Sara listened to her very well. Mrs. Olverman was a person with a lot of love. Robert thought this was because she was raised by people who had a lot of love, shared their love with her, and taught her to share hers with others.
Before they left, Mrs. Olverman looked in Robert’s eyes and said, “You really care for her. I am very happy about that. Sara, I am glad you found a good man.” That made Robert very happy. Robert thought a sincere heart could be felt by others even though it was invisible.
Robert checked the time they got in the car. It was already 3 o’clock. He thought the day was going very fast. Robert wondered what they could do that would be fun. He remembered that the Colombia River was pretty. Robert suggested driving there and Sara agreed.
“I used to fight with Brian a lot. Well. It wasn’t really fighting, but we did prank each other. One time he put a frog in my cereal, and I almost ate it. So after that, Haylee and I put a bunch of snails in his pillow. He screamed that night.” Robert laughed a lot while he was driving. He was happy and sad at the same time. Spending the day and traveling with Sara was great, but he could not stop thinking about leaving her.
“So, when will you have your first vacation from your job?” Sara asked.
“Oh, I am not sure yet.”
“But you will have one at least once or twice a year, right?”
“Yeah, probably.” Robert could not answer clearly. He was feeling uncomfortable lying to her. Robert was not sure if Sara ran out of stories, or if his unclear answer made her sad, but she did not talk much after that. Even though Sara was right next to him, he felt he was already far away from her. His heart was aching.
“I’m sorry.”
“About what?” Sara scoffed.
“Just because.”
“That’s fine.” Robert tried to tell a story, but it did not work. Robert turned on the radio. He hoped that the music could fill the silence.
“Yay, we are here!” Sara said out loud. Robert was excited when he saw the river. The sky was grey, and windy, but there were still a lot of people around the river. It seemed like it would rain soon. Robert and Sara walked along the side of the endless river. Robert thought it would be nice if he could walk with Sara forever. There were people all around, and they were all having fun. It reminded him of the Apple Blossom Festival. That was where he fell in love with Sara.
Since Robert had met Sara, they had never had a fight. They always laughed together, and were always happy with one another. Maybe it was because they started liking each other or maybe it was because they finally found each other; they found someone that could help the other be in love again.
Robert could not believe that it had already passed 5 o'clock.
"Let's go back," Robert said.
"Already?"
"Yeah, I saw a restaurant up there. Let's eat." They walked back to the car and went to the antique restaurant on the hill. Inside of the restaurant, there were many candles and classic ornaments. They chose to sit next to the window with the view of the river. A waiter put down a menu, and Sara looked at it said,
"It's too expensive here. Do you want to go to a different place?"
"That's fine. I have plenty of money." Sara glared at him.
"You have to save when you have money, or you will go bankrupt."
"It's ok. I can always make more money."
After they ordered the food, they were talking about the river while they were looking outside. There were many people outside, but Robert could not focus on anything that day. He kept checking the time. He sighed. Sara was still enjoying the view. Sara's face was glowing lightly from the candle light. When she looked at Robert, he could see her eyes sparkling. Sara smiled at Robert when their eyes crossed.
"What?" Sara said.
"Nothing. I just love being with you so much." Sara laughed at what Robert said. And I won’t be able to see you anymore. Robert became so sad. As soon as he thought that, the tears almost came out of his eyes. He went to the restroom and wiped the tears away. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down. I don’t need to be sad. I still have time, and most of all; I earned everything I ever wanted, so it’s ok. I’m good. He washed his face and went back to their table.
"It was a good meal," Sara said after they walked out of the restaurant.
"It was." He did not remember how the food had tasted; he could not taste. It was getting dark earlier than usual.
The day is over. It's gone. He felt lost.
“Are you alright?” Sara asked when they got in the car.
“Yes, I am just a little bit tired.”
“Do you want me to drive home?”
“No, I am fine.” Robert started the car.
“I can help you pack.”
“It’s ok. I am not bringing much stuff.”
“Yeah right. You have plenty of money so you can buy everything new,” Sara said playfully.
“Whatever…” Robert smiled.
“Well. Since you have plenty of money, you have to come see me often.”
“Of course.” Robert answered without thinking, but he could not come back. He felt pretty bad, but he noticed that Sara was feeling anxious about him leaving. That meant she really liked Robert. He really wanted that, but now he was feeling bad about making promises that he could not keep and hurting her heart in the future. If I don’t contact her again, how would she feel? I don’t want to hurt her. I may have to ask Boldo for help tonight. He must have a good idea.
“Do you want to go to a club?” Sara said, and that made Robert laugh. “What? Why are you laughing?”
“No, it just didn’t sound like you.”
“Why not?”
“I thought you hated clubs. Michelle might like it.”
“Um. How about Karaoke?”
“Well, we’ll see.”
“Do you want dinner with everybody tomorrow?”
“Mmm, yeah that sounds nice, but I want to spend most of my time with you.” Robert held Sara’s hand.
When Robert came back home, Boldo was eating fried eggs, bacon, and orange juice. It was a normal breakfast that he was eating for dinner.
“You're back.”
“Yeah.” Robert had hard time letting Sara go. He sighed again.
“Sit there, I need to talk to you.” Boldo put down the fork and drank the juice.
“Yeah, I was going to ask you something, too.” Boldo exhaled, looking at Robert as if he was going to tell him something serious.
“I will give you a day to think about this.”
“About what?”
“How much time were you happy in your life?”
“What? What do you mean?” Robert did not understand the question.
“You are changed.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
"You are a different person."
"Thanks...?"
"You will make your life a lot better if you had more time." Boldo drank a little bit of juice and stopped. He stood up and grabbed a beer from the refrigerator.
“Do you want one?” Boldo asked.
“Yes, I do.” Boldo passed a can and he opened and drank a sip. He sat down and kept talking.
“I don’t think I can live my life well.”
“I will give you some money. I actually already got some cash for you.”
“No, I mean, uh, I don’t want to live. I don’t think I will be happy.”
“What?” Robert did not know what Boldo was trying to say.
“On the other hand, like I said, you’ve changed. Now you can make differences in your life. You can restart your life. You can patch things up with your children, and find another wife. You will have a good family this time.”
“What are you talking about? I will be dead in three days.”
“I can restore the spell.”
“What?”
“I mean if you want to. Since you have lived as a young man quite a while, you can probably live 5 years more, but that’s enough time for you to enjoy your life.”
“What about you?”
“I will take the curse back, and die in three days.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Like I said, I am not happy, more like I feel terrible all the time, and I don’t think this will get any better.”
"But..." Robert was at a loss for words. Boldo put the leftover food in the trash and said,
"I feel haunted all the time except for when I am eating." Boldo laughed bitterly. "Anyways, we have to start tomorrow morning if you change your mind, so, make up your mind." Boldo stood up and walked out of the kitchen.
“Oh, wait, I would like to order pizza and some wings. Is that ok?” Boldo asked Robert.
“Yeah, sure.” Robert could not think about anything else.
I can live longer?! Robert did not know how he felt about it. What about Sara? I could see her two more days. If I change I won't be able to talk to her like before. He remembered some of the movies he watched, how people experienced a different life, and came back, and made their life much better. It sounded like it could happen to Robert. But they didn't have Sara. Sara is the most important thing to me now. Robert was puzzled.