Another Realm

Before her grandmother takes her last breath, she pulls Aria closer and whispers her last words.

"If you ever dream of passing by a dilapidated and filthy house which reeks of foul odor, remember to pay it a visit. Never ever forget this."

Surrounded by grieving faces, she was unable to contain her sadness and started to scream with her might while hugging the cold body that once warm with love.

A rough pair of hands pull her shoulders in an aggressive manner. In a blink of an eye, she was dragged away from the body that slowly grew stiffer as time went by. It is the same hand that threw her in the small and dark storage when she was seven years old.

"Aria, you need to go to the funeral home and make all the arrangements."

With glassy eyes, she looks up straight to her uncle's eyes. Henry's stern voice that never showed any compassion towards Aria impales her heart deeply as always. He has always treated her like one of his platoons just like he is still in the army. She gritted her teeth indirectly showing signs of disobedience.

"Stop looking at me with your ugly face! Since you earn the most in the family, all of us have decided that the funeral cost will be covered by you."

He scoffed and went outside to light up his cigarettes. She bets that her uncle is already planning on how to win the cockfighting tonight.

'Yikes! I need to take out all of the snacks and coffee powders from the pantry for the relatives and villagers that are taking care of grandmother tonight.'

She straightens her blouse and pants before making her way to the pantry. However, she met with an unbelievable sight of all her cousins watching television in the living room.

"Guys, come help me take out all the necessity for tonight."

With a hopeful look, she calls out all the living beings there but all she gets are blank stares for a moment before they continue watching the show.

"How dare you try to make a slave out of my precious child?!"

Marie screamed then smacked the back of her head and pulled her long hair. All head turns to enjoy the sight of Aria's being bullied by her aunt.

"Get your hands off me!"

She kicks her aunt who then stumbles and falls to the floor. Tired of the abuse, she ran outside and got inside of her car while immediately locking the doors.

"I am lucky that I have never let go of my backpack whenever I am with those jerks. No one could tell when I would need my car keys to scram from this hell."

Aria took a deep breath and headed to the 'Soul Guide' house at the edge of the village.

"Aria, I am glad that you chose to call me to attend the funeral. Despite this family has accepted a new religion but we shall not forget our roots."

"No worries. Grandmother specifically informs me to do the funeral according to our tradition."

The old lady is a woman with little words so she left to inform all the villagers of her grandmother's passing.

By the time she reaches grandmother's house, the two-floor house is filled with the villagers. When she enters the main door, her eyes stop at a makeshift tent made of traditional patterned multicolored ceremonial cotton cloth. Furniture has been removed and the tiled floor is being covered with woven bamboo mats. Slowly she makes her way to the tent hoping that everything is just a dream however she is greeted by a sight of her grandmother's body that is being laid in the middle of the tent.

All of her grandmother's children sit around the corpse until there is no space for someone to squeeze in the small tent. The sound of people wailing fills up the house as her relatives cry their eyes out. Joseph pushes Aria's small body out of the tent as if she is not related to the deceased. Saddened by the action of her uncle, she makes her way to her grandmother's bedroom and starts to pack the things that will be included in the coffin. Her tears soaked her grandmother's clothes as she secretly mourned.

'Grandmother, you should not leave me alone this early. We have yet to explore the whole world together. Now, who will be accompanying me on our planned journey?'

"Aria, stop dilly-dallying. Go to the kitchen and help the villagers cook the food for the visitors. Useless child. I don't understand why my mother would love a lazy girl like you."

Henry peeks into the room and pinches her forearm until a bluish bruise appears. Aria wants to punch that vexatious face however she knows no one would stand by her when the situation gets chaotic. She rubs the painful area and stomps her feet to the kitchen. Like the great actor that she is, a natural smile appears on her face when she greets all the villagers.

'I should have hired a catering service. Yet those jerks purposely announce to everyone that we would need all the villagers' help instead. See. None of them is helping here but they still have the guts to make me do all this.'

She grumbles in her heart while plucking the feathers of the chicken that was slaughtered recently.