Where could she be?
Letta chose to end her debate with Abian, as she was too tired to think about everything related to Marco at the moment. Somehow, when she had to remember all the memories with Marco, there was something that felt suffocating in her heart. Letta fell silent as Abian left. Of course, Letta was very grateful for the help Abian had given her. Since leaving Marco, Abian had always been by her side, finding a place to live, helping with the business that now helped manage her vineyard, and staying in the same place, just to protect her and Freya.
But for some reason, even though she and Abian had almost had a beautiful past, Letta still questioned why accepting him back felt so difficult. Letta questioned this to herself. Was Abian right in saying that she didn’t dare to forget Marco in her life? Yet, with all her heart, Letta insisted that Marco was a problem that she needed to forget in her life.
Eventually, Letta chose to let out a long breath. It was enough for today to think about that person. This made Letta look to her side, where just a few minutes ago she had seen her little daughter gazing at a butterfly. But now, Letta couldn’t even see her little daughter, making her slightly startled as she straightened her body.
“Freya, where are you?” Letta called out, looking left and right, bending slightly to search for her little daughter, but there was still no sign of where Freya was, prompting Letta to quickly run through the grapevines.
“Freya, are you listening, honey? Where are you?” Letta shouted again, until her cry caught Abian’s attention, who was in another row of plants.
“Did you see Freya? Wasn’t she with us earlier?” Letta asked again, making Abian immediately look around, but there was no trace of Freya.
“Stay calm, don’t panic. She must be around here chasing butterflies. Let’s look for her again. You go that way, I’ll search this way,” Abian said, causing Letta to nod. They ran, calling out Freya’s name, but there was still no response from the little girl, making Letta increasingly panicked. Letta then stopped in her tracks.
“Could she be in the straw?” Letta muttered, as Freya had been difficult to find before. It turned out she was playing in the straw, near a cherry tree, burying her little feet. Letta turned around and ran towards the cherry tree not far from her vineyard. However, Letta’s steps halted when she didn’t see Freya among the piles of straw.
“Freya, are you listening, sweetheart?” Letta called out again, hoping she was nearby and just hiding, but only a gentle breeze answered Letta’s shout, making her start to panic a little. Usually, this was the only place Freya would visit when she was hard to find. Eventually, Letta turned back to her grapevine.
“So, did you find her?” Letta asked, making Abian shake his head.
“Where could she be?” Letta muttered.
“Perhaps she went to the main road near the grassland?” Abian said again, catching Letta’s attention. A few days ago, when she went with Abian and Freya, they pointed to the flock of sheep in the grassland. It was quite a distance for Freya to cover, and the grassland required crossing the main road. Although the road wasn’t as busy as city streets, Letta still felt worried if Freya reached that road.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
Letta and Abian turned back to that spot, hoping their thoughts were wrong, as their little daughter was very clever and easily remembered anything around her, including the places she visited. Letta’s fear was that if Freya did go to the main road and cross it. They increased their pace,
But a few meters before they reached the road, Letta saw her little daughter intent on approaching the flock of sheep that she had seen from the car a few days ago.
“Honey, stop right there,” Letta shouted, still running without heeding her caH, continuing to follow a butterfly flying in front of her.
“Quick, catch her,” Letta told Abian, knowing well that her own running speed wouldn’t be enough to stop her little daughter.
“Freya, listen to Mom, stop there,” Letta shouted again, but the next second, like a loud horn across the street, Letta and Abian stopped in their tracks. A large box truck speeding towards Freya was approaching. If the truck braked at that distance, it would be difficult to avoid Freya.
Abian immediately ran after Freya, while Letta, her legs already feeling weak, watched the approaching truck, seemingly still getting closer to Freya, even though the driver seemed to be slowing down.
“No, Freya,” Letta shouted, seeing her little daughter being grabbed by someone. Abian was also stunned, seeing two people now rolling on the asphalt, with Freya’s loud screams and cries, making Letta feel like her heart was about to break. Letta and Abian immediately rushed towards Freya, who was now crying in someone’s embrace, as was the panicked truck driver.
“Your child suddenly ran, it was very dangerous,” the driver said, making Abian glare angrily at him.
“Stop blaming this child,” Abian said. Letta was truly shocked when someone who was now holding her daughter tightly was the face she had avoided for so long.
A few moments ago, Marco kept pursing his lips as he looked at the pictures in his hands. He would soon meet his wife and daughter. Although he might face bitter realities, Marco would accept them.
At this moment, Marco was where Letta and Freya were. He had entrusted everything to Pedro, and he was driving alone to the address Pedro had given him earlier. It turned out that his wife really lived in such a remote place, where there were only grasslands, grazing cows, and vineyards that dominated the area. The cool and peaceful weather seemed to be the purpose of her departure from the house that she had considered a gilded cage.
“I should have known your desires earlier and not confined you to that big house,” Marco muttered, occasionally looking at the road ahead.
“You should have told me, because I would have followed if you wanted to live in a place like this. I’m willing to leave behind anything I have, just to live with you and Freya. And foolishly, I didn’t realize your desire,” Marco said, truly speaking his mind. Even anything he currently possessed meant nothing without Letta by his side.
Marco’s thoughts stopped when he saw something ahead, causing him to stop the car immediately. He saw a little child running, even in the direction of an oncoming large truck, prompting Marco to get out of the car to ensure the safety of the child without fear. She was chasing a butterfly right in front of her.
But what surprised Marco even more was when he heard someone shouting the girl’s name from behind, at a considerable distance. Marco didn’t mishear that it was his wife’s voice, the voice he had longed for. But that wasn’t the point; it was when Letta called Freya’s name to stop that Marco realized the situation.
When his agile little daughter kept running to cross the road, and there was a large vehicle on the other side, Marco quickly ran. Compared to the distance Letta and Abian were chasing Freya, he was closer and could surely prevent any harm from befalling his daughter.
Without thinking twice, Marco ran across the road. Marco didn’t care about what would happen to him. He was even ready to sacrifice his life if Letta wished it, to save their daughter. Of course, it was a good idea to end his life, thought Marco, as he hugged the little body that was screaming and crying in his arms.
When the front of the large vehicle touched his shoulder, he was thrown back and rolled on the asphalt, feeling the pain in his hands and his throbbing head. But that wasn’t the point. He felt the pain as if defeated when he saw his little daughter’s face in front of him. Marco could see, even though she looked scared and was crying, it was as if she was looking at his own face, making Marco smile, until his vision began to blur, with Letta’s shouts growing closer.