Love Burned, She Rose Unscathed



You know, Madge was a notorious for her terrible sense of direction.

It wasn't just the large parks that confused her; sometimes, she'd get lost in streets she'd never visited before.

"Mom, how do you find your way around?"

Madge seemed stumped for a moment. "I... I don't really know. I just get this gut feeling about where to go, and I figure, why not give it a shot? And before I know it, I've found my way..."

Norris chuckled, "Trust the wife, and you'll never stray, huh!"

Both daughter and father took it as a stroke of luck that Madge had stumbled upon the right path.

But Madge couldn't help but glance back at the beautifully manicured garden and the hidden gate...

It was as if shadows of memories lingered in her mind.

Meanwhile, in the same garden.

Corley was revisiting the place with his grandparents after many years.

It had been over a decade, and the elders were nostalgic as they saw that the main house remained unchanged.

“When we handed over the garden, our only request was that they keep the main house as it was. If Aberdeen ever came back, how heartbroken would she be to see everything changed?"

Geneva squinted, trying to remember every detail of the place where they had lived for so many years, the images of a young Aberdeen playing around the garden flashing in her mind.

"Aberdeen watching the fish, picking maple leaves, brewing cider, who's going to drink it?"

"For daddy, hee-hee-"

Their daughter's laughter seemed to echo in their ears, and the memories felt as fresh as yesterday.

"Old man, after all these years, I still feel like our daughter is always with us..." She caressed the engravings on the pillar. "Look, the drawings Aberdeen made are still here, unchanged."

If only she could go back in time.

Given another chance, she would never let her daughter out of her sight!

Aberdeen, where are you? Are you doing okay? Mommy misses you...

Seeing her turn away to hide her tears, Neely Rodriguez felt both anger and sorrow, his own grief no less than his wife's, yet he tried to keep a stern voice: "Do you want to go blind? Didn't we agree no@rying before we came?"

Corley, seeing this, gently supported his grandmother, soothingly saying, "Grandma, your eyes were just starting to get better. If you cry now, all that progress will be lost."

"If Auntie saw you like this, she'd be worried and sad too."

When Aberdeen went missing, Geneva cried day and night, damaging her eyes in the process.

Despite constant treatments,

consulting doctors both

domestically and abroad, and trying every medication available, nothing significantly helped. Her eyes would show temporary improvement only to regress again.

They even consulted renowned herbalists, who prescribed various concoctions. However,

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acknowledging the limitations of such treatments, an old doctor. advised, "Emotional healing is what's needed most. The best medicine can't help if the patient keeps crying. The damage to the eyes is just a symptom; the real issue is deeper."

“Alright, alright, I won't cry," Geneva wiped her tears, taking a deep breath.

Corley was right; if her eyes failed her when her daughter returned, what would she do?

The grandfather smiled, remembering the past, "That's right, do you remember how, when Madge used to cry, you'd immediately get teary-eyed too, and that would only make her cry harder?"

"Remember? How could I forget? And you were always so strict with her, always ready to critique and instruct."

After searching for so many years, people around them subtly suggested the elderly couple give up hope, hinting at the bleak outcome usually expected after someone has been missing for so long.