Now that Horace wasn’t here, Neo vented all his feeling with Clara’s warm hug.
No one would know how much it hurt him to see Russell dying in front of him, not even his mother Clara.
Because Clara didn’t see people dying in front of her when she was five.
“Neo boy, it’s okay. Don’t cry.” Seeing Neo like this, Clara felt terrible, too.
She knew what he had been through these days. She was not the one who got hurt or killed but they were people she loved.
She empathized with their distress.
It was much worse seeing others in distress.
Clara patted Neo’s back and hoped he could forget about this. After all, it would be a trauma in his childhood if this stayed in his memory.
Clara didn’t want Neo to have a childhood that he couldn’t recall and she just hoped that Neo could live a healthy and happy life.
She was falling asleep as she comforted him.
It was too much for Clara today.
Back then, she was cooking dinner and waiting for Horace to come home. Then she got a phone call, so she rushed over. And there, she saw the horrid scene.
She also saw Russell lying on the ground in blood. It was heart-breaking but she couldn’t cry at that time.
She could only cry by herself when Neo was sleeping.
Clara comforted herself and patted Neo’s back while crying.
They were in sleep but Horace was still there, kneeling in front of Russell’s grave.
He was kneeling rigidly.
Clara made breakfast for Neo the next morning but didn’t see Horace coming back. So she went to find him with Neo a while later.
It was hard to walk on the mountain since it was early in the morning and the plants were dewy.
The view was nice but she was not in the mood to appreciate it as she was worried about Horace.
Walking toward the top, Clara got more anxious when she got closer.
She had no idea what she was anxious about.
So she just wanted to speed up and see if Horace was okay.
But she couldn’t go too fast as Neo was still a baby.
Neo also made efforts and they reached the top in a short time.
Clara panicked when they got there.
Because she didn’t see Horace and there wasn’t even a trace of him being here.
Clara looked around but still couldn’t find him as if he had vanished.
No one could find him.
Clara thought that he must have gone home from another way.
Thinking about this, Clara decided to go back home to look for him.
She rushed home with Neo but still didn’t see Horace.
Clara looked everywhere, kitchen, bedroom, study, and even the bathroom.
But nothing.
Clara knew that he left without saying goodbye to a place that even she didn’t know.
Clara was upset but she didn’t know how to compose herself.
She had used all those comforting words on Horace these days but he went missing.
Clara knew she was the only one who could calm Horace down.
She also knew Horace didn’t go missing. He left her.
She wanted to feel bad but there was nothing to feel bad about as Horace left for the purpose of protecting her and Neo.
Clara knew all this but she just didn’t want to admit it.
She sank onto the ground and stared ahead with dull eyes like Horace was still here.
But it was gone when she looked into it.
Neo knew what was happening seeing Clara like this.
Neo knew that his mother couldn’t find his father but he didn’t know why.
He wanted to ask but then he realized it was bad timing.
Things would get worse if Neo asked Clara right now when she was already sad.
Seeing Neo standing aside, Clara burst out crying and held him into her arms.
“Neo, I only got you.” Clara held Neo and thought about what places Horace could have been, and she still wanted to look for him.
“Mom, don’t cry. I’ll always be here.” Neo patted her back to make her feel better like she did to him before.
Seeing that Clara was hopeless, Neo felt bad as he couldn’t protect her.
“Neo, your dad’s gone, he left for us.”
Clara was worried as Horace was in a bad mood and he left this morning with nothing.
Where would Horace stay at night? What would he eat and how was he gonna support himself?
Clara thought about these questions but she didn’t think too much as she knew she would feel worse.
She knew Horace was in a tough position but what could she do if those bad guys were coming?
Clara thought about what Horace hadn’t thought through.
Horace thought Clara would be safe if he left.
He loved her so much that he could die for her.
Clara felt worse as she thought about more.
They just got back together but now Horace left. Why were there so many downs in their life?
Seeing that Clara cried even more, Neo took some tissue from the couch and gave it to Clara.
But the sadness couldn’t be wiped clean with a tissue.
She didn’t wipe them and just let the tears roll down with pain.
Clara knew they were all kicking down so hard by life that they couldn’t even catch a break.
Enough of shredding tears. Now that Horace had chosen to leave, she should carry on.