The Way Back Home's
Wandering
GECK! GECK!
The knock on the door surprised Farrell. He rushed to the door and opened it. In front of the room, stood Remy, the chef. He no longer wore a green suit, but a white chef's shirt with a name label on the right. His left hand carried a tray with a semi-circular cover, both made of stainless steel. The furniture must have been cleaned in such a way as to be shiny. Farrell could see his own reflection there.
“Ma— Sorry. A— A— I— I don't— I don't intend to interrupt.” Remy gulped, Farrell just looked at him while waiting. “I just— only— only.. Ehm...”.
Farrell was still waiting for his interlocutor to continue.
“Only... Ha— Just want to bring this.”
“That's for me?”
“Iya. I— That— too if you want.”
“What is it like?”
Remy opened the cover. It contains a square piece of chocolate maple bar. From the appearance, the shape is exactly the same as that presented earlier when they enjoy afternoon tea. Farrell did not dare to guess and Remy was still confused looking for his sentence. After a few seconds of awkwardness, Remy took a deep breath, gulped, and spoke again. “It does not contain coconut. Without coconuts. A— Safe. I guarantee.”
“You made it again? For me?”
Remy. “I— Yes. Earlier... I mean.. You can not ma— eat that earlier. Ja— So... I made a new one.”
“Wow. Thank you very much.”
“Ka— You want— You want to eat it?”
“Of course.” Farrell took one and immediately bit it. Milo didn't lie when he said the bar was delicious. Farrell agreed. It tastes good. Bitter brown and sweet maple dancing in his mouth. “Hmm... It is indeed delicious.”
“Be— Really? I'm afraid.” Remy is silent.
“Fear? Are you afraid that it doesn't taste good? It's very delicious. You are talented cook, huh?” Farrell smiled and got a reply smile. “I think I can even spend it all.”
“Si— Please!” Remy smiled wider and handed the tray and its cover to Farrell. Then, he decided to go back to the kitchen.
Farrell is back on his job. He spent a long time at the chocolate maple bar. He had eaten five, there were seven more. When you look at the clock, it is night. The sun has set. Darkness shaded the inn. When I turned off the laptop, I heard another knock on the door. Farrell opened. This time he found William.
“Good. Oh yeah, you see my sisters?”
William shakes.
“OK, I'll find them before going down to the dining room.” Farrell took the black scarf, wrapped it twice around the neck, and let the tip fall over the blue sweater.
The night was much colder when there was no snow. He could not imagine the storm coming. Maybe they could be snow dolls in bed.
The first thing Farrell did once out of the room was to check the window at the end of the hall. Stupid thought, he laughed to himself. It was impossible to see his brothers from there. There was only darkness and small lights around the inn. After all, in this dark and cold air, Farrell was sure Milo would not take Libby there. Maybe both of them went down to the dining room.
It turns out his thinking was wrong. The restaurant is empty. Food is readily available at long tables arranged in the middle of the restaurant. Soups, meat rolades, vegetables, bread, fruit, and more. That'sallthatis. There was no one there, no uncle, no servant. Farrell just remembered that he hadn't met his aunt. Uncle didn't say anything about their aunt and no one asked either.
Farrell leaves the restaurant to go to the reception desk. Just like the restaurant, there was no one there. He decided to go into the hallway behind the reception desk hoping to find another employee or his uncle or — better — his sisters.
He's down the hall. The door on the right has the inscription ‘Office’ on the front. Farrell tried to knock but got no answer. When I tried to open it, it was locked. Sure oes. There is also a twin door on the right, leading to the kitchen. He peered through the round glass. There's no Remy there. There are only brown stains and white batter marks on the stainless table. Suddenly, Farrell remembered the story of the man in the cabin about wolves. He threw away his bad feeling and moved on again. The next door is on the left that says ‘Laundry’. The door opened easily when Farrell opened it. But again, no one was there. There was only a pile of cloth in the basket accompanied by a soft fragrance.
The last door is at the end of the hall, the back door. The door was decorated with colorful glass ornaments. Farrell could see the shadow of snow behind the glass. Unlocked. Farrell peeked out. He saw a paving yard with a hollow building for a campfire in the middle. Same with the view from the top of his room.
“Where is everyone?” ask him to yourself.
Farrell went back to his room. He walked down the other hallway on the second floor. The hallway has many room doors. Each door shows the room number. Farrell had no intention of knocking, so he chose another option. There is a ladder near the sitting room. He climbed the stairs and arrived at the third floor.
Just like the second floor, there was another sitting room with the exact same arrangement of hallways. Rooms 301-306 in the left aisle while rooms 307-312 on the right. The difference in the number of rooms made Farrell curious. He also walked down the right aisle. The doors of the rooms greeted him on both sides. Starting from the door of room 307 and 312 opposite. Ends with door 310 on the left side opposite the dead end. The hallway is fat but short. The big door stuck there.
Farrell folded his hands in front of his chest. “Why don't they use this for the same room as on the second floor? What room is this?”
Now, he began to observe the door. A one-meter wide door with carvings on the edges. The carving uses vines as motifs with leaves and flowers. There are also clear glass balls of various sizes attached there. Farrell did not find out why the balls were arranged so. They're like laid out carelessly. The door body is made of thick brown wood tends to be black. There's a simple indentation near the carving. While the middle of the door is decorated with a prism of eight bright green colors.
Farrell squinted. He dared to swear just now to see something in the prism moving. Like there's liquid in it, but it's thinner. Maybe the name smoke sounds more appropriate. White smoke wiggled inside the prism, danced in the middle, circled around, then vanished. Curious, Farrell brought his face closer. The smoke appeared again. Wiggling inside the prism was like being blown by the wind, circling around, then disappearing. Only this time it's longer. This happened several times.
Curiosity is struggling with anxiety in the heart. After a minute of good thinking, Farrell decided to open the door. The door handle touched and pushed it. The door was much heavier than it looked. As his previous uncle said, Farrell only needed to open his eyes wide.
