Chapter 1: Open Your Eyes

"Come on, it is green now." A man sitting in a black car shouted at the car in front of him in the traffic.

A hand came out of the front car's window. It showed him the middle finger and started moving his car. 

Before the man in the black car could make it through the zebra crossing, the signal turned red and he abruptly stopped.

The man's name was Bale. He was a 33-year-old man working as a doctor in a government hospital.

The frustrated and angry Bale then looked at the small box and a bouquet of roses on the passenger seat.

He smiled and said," Whatever, shits come everywhere. I should be happy today. It is our 7th year together."

Bale then looked at the signal and as soon as it turned green, he rushed through.

After a few minutes of driving, crossing signals and a few streets, Bale finally reached in front of his house.

He stopped his car, turned it off, picked up his coat, the box and the bouquet and got out.

"Hey Bale, how are you? And who is that bouquet for?" A man around the same age as Bale passing asked Bale.

"Hmm? What do you mean? Of course, they are for Selena. She will kill me if I cheat on her..." Bale said as he locked the car and shook hands with the man.

The man sympathetically smiled and said," Open your eyes, friend."

"....What do you mean?" Bale asked confusingly.

"Nothing, you'll get it on your own. By the way, the street management came today, you should get the lawn cleaned soon." The man said.

Bale looked towards the lawn and saw a clean garden, well-maintained grass and healthy trees on the side with small and beautiful flowers near the wall.

"...It's clean, isn't it? What can be better than this?" Bale asked.

The man gave Bale no reply for a while and said," You'll see it soon." He then continued his walk and left Bale there.

Bale made a confused expression as he continued looking at his lawn. After a few minutes of staring, Bale suddenly remembered and went to the gate of his house.

He rang the bell a few times but no one opened it.

"She must be sleeping,"  Bale said as he used the spare key to open the door.

Bale walked in and saw the whole house dark. All the lights were off except in the living room.

"Babe, you should turn on the lights..." Bale said as he turned on the lights and walked inside.

"Sorry, I'll turn it on the next time." A woman's voice came from the living room.

When he walked inside the living room, he saw his wife, Selena, sitting in a wheelchair and watching the TV. She was bald and fighting 3rd stage cancer. 

Bale walked to stand right behind her and kissed her softly on her head. 

He then brought the bouquet in front of her face and said," Happy 7th anniversary, babe."

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"you too, babe," Selena said as she took both gifts.

Bale then went inside the house, took a bath, and a beer from his fridge and sat on the sofa right beside his wife.

"Do you want to go somewhere today, babe?" Bale asked as he watched the TV together with Selena.

"....With me?" Selena looked at Bale with a straight face and asked.

"Haha, what a stupid question. Of course, you're the only one I have. Who else would I go with, my love?"

Selena looked at Bale with no expression and said," You need to open your eyes, Bale."

"W-What do you m-mean, babe? Even that ma-" Bale was starting to get suspicious and asked while fumbling when his phone rang.

He picked up his phone and saw that it was his mother.

He quickly answered the phone. 

"Hello, mom?" Bale asked.

"Yeah baby, how are you?... Did you go to the graveyard today?" Bale's mother asked him.

"Graveyard? Why would I go there?" Bale asked, once again, he was confused once again.

"Because I am dead," Selena answered Bale's question. She had a cold face and an emotionless voice.

"B-Babe, this is no time to joke, I am very confused," Bale said as she looked at Selena.

"Who are you talking to, Bale? Do you have some guests over?" Bale's mother asked him on the phone.

"No, mom, it's Selena, she is...saying weird things."

Suddenly, there was an awkward silence. No one spoke, neither Selena, nor his mother on the phone.

Bale leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes. He was frustrated from what everyone was saying today.

"Baby, I don't know how to tell you this... You, you should open your eyes, Selena has been dead for a whole year. Today was he first death anniversary." Bale's mother broke the silence.

Bale opened his eyes and suddenly stood up in anger. He was about to shout at the phone when he noticed that TV was off.

Bale looked around and saw a messy table in front of him, scattered with beer cans and syringes.

He looked around and couldn't find Selena. He only found an empty wheelchair right beside him.

Bale dropped the phone right there as he rushed to the window. When he looked out the window, he did not see a clean garden. He saw the overgrown grass, the dead tree and wilted flowers.

 

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