"Did some force take you because I didn’t pray?" Taylor Swift - Bigger Than The Whole Sky

https://open.spotify.com/embed/track/71CBDRKmF2VeRKYMG1DFBh?utm_source=generator

Ramiel stands in front of an empty stone-house;

His chest is pounding so hard it’s starting to hurt.

As the memories start to flash inside his mind like an old movie, he can vividly picture his old car on the garage; and younger version of him in his denim overalls, trying to fix whatever needed to be fixed on that car. He follows that memory, and he swears he could hear a door opens on his side. He looks to his left, and sees someone wearing a sundress comes outside from the side door, bringing a tray filled with freshly baked melon bread and a jar of cherry juice. He still remembers her melodious “Love, can you stop for one sec and compliment my melon bread?” and younger him would appear from under the car, face full of dirt and smiles.

He can remember it all as if it was just yesterday.

He’s back to reality, and now all he sees is just an empty yard, his oxford shoes upon the gravel path and the wildflowers growing in between. The house remains empty after he left it years ago, Eden’s family refused to sell it even after he transferred the ownership to them. “That house brought so much joy for Eden and we couldn’t let it go just yet,” was their reasoning; and Ramiel couldn’t completely comprehend that. For him, that house is now haunted —not with the ghost of her, but the ghost of all the good times he once had with her.

They were never afraid of big dreams; youth was that time when you felt like you had the world within your grip, when impossible was just another word unknown to them, forgetting that fate didn’t favor them and their time was somewhat limited.

He wonders what kind of crime he made in his past life that he had to bear such a cruel punishment in this one?

“Ramiel? Good God, is that really you?”

Eden’s family is known for their best quality: they’re a bunch of warm lads. As Ramiel steps into their house, he can hear Frank Sinatra’s songs played from the corners, the smell of day-old tea and puddings from the kitchen, and the rustling sound from the windchimes above the door.

This place feels like a home he hasn’t stepped in for years. Familiar yet foreign at the same time.

“Mom, look who’s here!”

A middle-aged lady turns away from the kitchen counter and her eyes widen at the present of a familiar being in her kitchen. “Ramiel?”

“Hi, Grace.”

Eden’s mum throws the towel in her hands and runs towards Ramiel. She envelopes him in the tightest, warmest hug possible and Ramiel can feel a lump in his throat. He returns the hug, and the kitchen suddenly swells in so much emotion it’s almost difficult to breathe. Everyone’s chocked up.

They look the same in his eyes. A picture of him and Eden in front of their stone-house still hangs above the dining table, with a bouquet of fresh peonies beneath.

“Where did you find him?” Grace traces Ramiel’s face, looking at him as if she finally finds his lost son after years of searching. Andrew laughs. “He told me that he’s in London for work, and before we could arrange a meeting I found him stranded in front of the stone-house. Good timing, out of all time you had to be there when it’s my time to clean up the front yard.”

Ramiel gives a slight smile. “It was close to my client’s whereabouts, so I thought of dropping by just for a second.” He looks back at Grace —she’s mellowing with age, and it crushes Ramiel when he finds Eden’s eyes on her mum’s. “Glad to see you’re healthy, Grace.”