Chapter 3 __What Was That__
[Reality]
Tears continue falling, even in real life.
Outside, the rain pours heavily, the cold wind making the trees sway.
RiiAa wakes up, staring at the window.
She checks the clock:
[ 3:20 A.M. ]
She sighs.
“The rain woke me up…”
Sitting on her bed, hugging her pillow,
she wipes her tears.
Her eyes and nose are red.
Still half-asleep, she murmurs:
“When did I stop crying…?”
She gets up and sits at her study table, near the window.
She grabs her notebook and starts writing down everything she dreamed.
But her tears fall again, soaking the pages.
She whispers:
“Was that a nightmare… or a dream?”
Her mind drifts back to her mother.
The tears don’t stop.
Her head aches.
Her eyes burn.
She remembers her childhood—
how she was once so scared of the sound of heavy rain hitting their tiny, fragile roof.
Her mother was poor, and every big wind felt like it could tear their home apart.
Even now, that fear never left her.
