Shhhh... It's my secret
03. Beach House

Ciiip.ciiip.

Craaazss... Byuuurrs....

The sound of birds, waves sweeping the beach and crashing at the reef from a distance like the morning alarm that woke Lucas. It's been a long time since he slept this late.

He tried to open both of his eyes that were swept by the sunlight. His forehead was furrowing trying to understand the circumstances around him. It all felt foreign to Lucas.

Raising one hand, he blocked the sunlight that dazzled his eyes and then slowly came down from the bed.

He walked towards the source of the voice that was unceasingly telling that. He saw a large glass door with a curtain uncovered beside his bed. He did not really remember whether the curtain had opened the night he arrived here or how. But surely the voices are coming from out there he thought.

The night when he arrived at this place there was only darkness, coldness, pain and fatigue mixed into one. He didn't even remember clearly how he fell asleep in this room.

Lucas opened the door and stepped onto the balcony. He was stunned to see what lay before him now.

The voices that had been heard sayup now filled his sense of hearing, the smell of sand gushed in his sense of smell, a breeze as soft as sweeping the skin of his body that was only wrapped in a thin sheet of sleepwear.

It felt all the pain, the tiredness just evaporated leaving his body.

Lucas was drowning himself in this foreign feeling, suddenly there was a knock on his door. He's a little surprised. He looked at the door on the other side of the room. That door is open.

A middle-aged woman poked out from behind the door. He looked at the empty bed. Then his eyes caught that the figure he was looking for was already standing on the outside balcony. He approached Lucas.

Lucas who felt unfamiliar to the woman just stood looking at her with question marks. Lucas did not even return the smile of the old woman who was now standing near him.

"Did that wake you up?" said the old woman gently. "Maybe it's quite noisy but you'll get used to it later" he said, looking straight at the beach.

Lucas understood what the woman meant. "Oh... Um... It was a little noisy but it was calming" he said almost inaudibly. "But who are you?" His eyebrows were crinkled full of question marks.

"Oh what have I done, I am Rosie, I am the owner of this house" replied the old woman whose full name was Rosie Lilian. "Ah how are you, last night you looked unwell, your body was hot" Rosie said, raising her hand to hold Lucas' forehead.

In shock, Lucas brushed Rosie's hand off. Rosie held her slightly hot hand. He just smiled in response to Lucas' actions, at a glance he saw Lucas began to feel bad.

"Ah, I didn't mean to hurt you. I just don't like anyone touching my body" she replied coldly. Well it's not because he doesn't like when he is noticed by someone, it's just a form of self-defense when he feels his pride is stepped on because of someone's excessive pity.

"I know," Rosie replied wisely. "Then clean yourself up, then come down, you should eat something." He was also pleased. Lucas' cold, harsh attitude did not hurt his heart at all. Although he doesn't know much about Lucas, he can understand when Thomas pleads for Lucas to be sent to his residence.

...----------------...

Rosie was the one who worked at Thomas Edison's house long enough to feel like a family to Thomas and his family.

After his body began to age, he chose to resign. The house he occupied was a gift from Thomas as a form of thanks Thomas to him.

The house is big enough to be lived in by Rosie and her two children. The house is located on the beach with two floors and a spacious yard.

Since her son had a family, she lived alone. Her daughter lives with her husband. His son invited his family to live in the city center.

His daughter, Jasmine, whose house is not too far away sometimes often visits on weekends. Although alone, Rosie is not too lonely because neighbors who are the same age as Rosie often gather together at Rosie's house.

...----------------...

Lucas just agreed to Rosie's call. From the moment he woke up, he felt his stomach was completely empty. He went back inside thinking about Rosie's words that were enough to prop up his heart.

So did I faint?

He said my body was hot. Did I have a fever.

I don't think I remember anything about last night.

.

.

.

Rosie sits at the table and reads a book. On the table were various foods. Seeing Lucas' arrival, he closes the book and asks Lucas to sit opposite him.

"Come here, let's have breakfast."

Lucas was eager to fill his stomach, from earlier he smelled the aroma of cooking from various foods. But when he remembered the incident when he brushed off Rosie's hand earlier, he refused it. He felt ashamed for being rude to the old woman.

"I'm not hungry" he said, trying to resist coldly and passing towards the front room.

"Crucuuk." Suddenly unexpectedly his stomach rang out betraying his own words. He was shocked and then froze. He's getting embarrassed.

Rosie just smiled to herself. He began to take some food and put it on his plate without saying anything. He knew he couldn't make Lucas any more embarrassed.

"I'll eat a little" Lucas said coldly as he turned to approach the dinner table. He had to make peace with his stomach, after all, there was nothing wrong for him to taste a little of that food.

Lucas' cold voice was childish for Rosie who had eaten a lot of the salt acid of life. Rosie pretended to hear nothing and let her eat the dishes on the table.

.

.

.

A few minutes later.

Lucas put his spoon and fork parallel to the plate, a sign he was done eating. He cleaned his mouth with a napkin and only realized that he had finished all the dishes on the table. Leave the dirty dishes empty. The napkin fell into his lap.

"Eh." Lucas coughed slightly as he tried to put the napkin back in place. He felt embarrassed, he did not even realize since when Rosie had sat quietly reading his book in peace. As she remembered the old woman eating with her.

Hearing Lucas's voice, Rosie puts down her book. "How are you feeling?" he asked gently as he looked at Lucas from behind his glasses.

"It feels better" Lucas said, sitting stiffly in embarrassment. And again his stomach now feels full.

"I'm glad you like my cooking." Rosie carefully chose the word so that Lucas would not feel ashamed. "I should have prepared something better for you. Just tell me what you want or something you don't like, don't feel shy."

"Good-well, Miss Rosie" Lucas said, trying to be polite because he felt guilty about eating all the food.

"Don't call me that. Kids your age here used to call me grandma."

"Oh. good grandma." Lucas also relaxed his spine a little. He tried to talk casually.

"I'm not gonna ask you why you're here. But as long as you're here I'll treat you like my son, so don't be too hard on yourself, consider me your own parent. My children are no longer living with me, so this house feels lonely" Rosie said a little sad.

"When I heard from Mr. Thomas that there was a child who would stay with me, I felt very happy" Rosie continued. "Mr Thomas is a man I've taken for granted like a son, I'm sure he sent you to me for no reason."

Lucas just stared silently at Rosie, he digested each of Rosie's words well.

"So...."Rosie concluded, "think of me as your own family."

To Lucas those words sounded like impossibility. How could he possibly treat someone he had never met like his own family. He refused to believe those words but he also could not lie that there was some kind of warm feeling when he heard the words from the old woman's mouth.

The family?

I have a family but it feels foreign.

Now there's a stranger but it makes me feel like I have a family.