Part 3

The next day, Doctor Hardy arrives at the farm to try to help Lillith. She is now trembling on her bed hugging her knees breathing erratically after seeing the paranormal world inside her shed. However, there isn't much that he can do for her. She is so lost in thought about the shed that words spoken from the doctor cannot reach her.

Rock does not mention to the doctor about the strange thing inside the shed. The last thing he wants to do is cause a panic around the valley. If people did learn about it, the possibilities of what may happen to them or the farm is immeasurable. They may be forced to abandon the farm, and the farm could become destroyed. The farm is too important to Lillith for Rock to allow anything to happen to it.

Rather than say anything, he boards up the shed again and pretends that he didn't see anything. But that is easier said than done for Lillith's case. After seeing what is inside that shed, she is now in the borderline of breaking down emotionally.

After several hours, Doctor Hardy concludes that there is no way he can help her. No matter what he says, no matter what he does, she does not respond to anything. The only thing that he recommends Rock to do is to try his best to calm her down and allow her to get more rest. Rock knows that this will not help her, especially after what she had seen. But he still smiles anyway and thanks him for his help.

After the doctor leaves, Rock turns to Lillith who is still trembling in fear on her bed. It is now just them two. Toby is with Rock's mother at the Inn, the last thing he wants is for their son to watch Lillith in her state. As he watches her sit there still hugging her knees, he wonders what he can do for her. Luckily, Rock knows that he is the only person she would listen and respond to at this point.

Even though he has no idea what to do or say, he still needs to try to help her. The first thing he does is sit next to her, and wraps his arm around her. This at least calms her down a bit. She trembles a bit less as she feels the comfort of her husband, but she is still in a pretty bad state. He then kisses her on the forehead which calms her breathing.

After about an hour of showing affection to his wife, Lillith is now calm enough to speak to. Rock knows that he needs to say something at this point, but he is at a lost for words. How should he start off? He knows that hesitating will not help Lillith at all, so he starts off saying the most simplest and most effective thing.

“Hey Lillie. I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I guess those thing you have seen must have been real.” But even though he said it, he only did so just to comfort her. But whether it was serious or not, it still made her feel better.

She looks up and rock with a terrified look on her face. It almost hurts Rock to see her in this state. “Rock. . . What was that?” she asks. “What is in that shed? I know you saw it too. Is it dangerous? Will something come out and hurt me, or you, or our son? Please, I have to know what that is. . .”

“Hey, just don't worry about it.” said Rock as he strokes her smooth brunette hair. “It's okay, it's over now. I boarded up the shed, so nothing is going to come out and hurt us. Nobody has to know about that shed. Just. . . Pretend that it doesn't exist.”

“Pretend that it doesn't exist!?” yelled Lillith. Rock's carefree attitude towards that situation has made her upset. Even though carefree has always been a part of his personality, but she expected him to be a little bit more upset about seeing something that strange in the shed. She expecting him to be a lot more worried, even too scared to live in the farm anymore. But he is blowing it off like if it's nothing serious to worry about.

Lillith is now standing and pacing about. Even though Rock feels glad that she is no longer on the brink of breaking down emotionally, watching his wife this upset only worries him in a different way. She only paces around the room for a brief moment before she stops and looks at Rock with a mean glare. She then yells, “How can you be so calm about what you saw in that shed!! This isn't a game, or something we can just board up and keep as a cute pet! Whatever it is, I don't want it in my farm, or in the valley for that matter!!”

“Well, what do you want to do about it?” argued Rock. “What can you do? We can't just go up to it and ask it nicely to leave! Whatever it is, it's probably been there forever, and there is nothing you can do about it! Let's just continue to live our lives like nothing strange has happened, and be happy!”

“NO!!!” screamed Lillith. At this point, Rock feels that he may have stepped over the line. “Even if we do just 'ignore' it, what will that change?! Will the strange things just 'go away'?! Will I stop seeing strange things that are driving me crazy?! Will that guarantee that our son will be safe?! Will everyone in the valley stop acting like mindless robots, and start acting like human beings once again?! Tell me!!”

Rock is speechless. He has no idea how to answer her. He knows that she didn't lose her mind. In fact, this is more or less normal for her when she becomes angry. She becomes into a vicious monster that can only be tamed with time. Yelling, screaming, sometimes throwing a swear if she's over the limit. Even though Lillith is acting like her normal self, she notices that Rock is not. Lately within the past couple of days, Rock has been acting rather serious. Rock is usually a goofy and carefree kind of guy. He cares about his son too much that he would never allow anything to happen to him. Allowing such a strange thing to stay in the farm without knowing if it's a danger to Toby was a bit too off character for Rock in Lillith opinion.

At this point, she doesn't want to trust what she is seeing, hearing, or feeling anymore. How can she be sure if the person standing before her is the real thing? What if she's having another illusion. Or worse, what if this isn't an illusion, and the person standing in front of her is a fake? All these questions are running through Lillith's mind, and it's driving her mad.

“Lillie, what are you thinking about?” asked Rock in a worried tone. This is the first time that he has seen that look on her face. The look of a person suspicious about the person they are looking at. She's staring at him unsure if she could trust him. She walks up to him, and takes a closer look at him, which only makes him feel more worried.

As she stares at him, she sees that he looks exactly like her husband. Nothing unusual about his appearance, but she is not convinced. He may be an identical copy, or maybe something has possessed him. Seeing that all the villagers acting like they do, there is little doubt in her mind that someone or something is probably inside of him. Controlling him, and hiding something.

She wants to be sure, she needs some sort of proof that the person standing if front of her is the real thing. Is this the real Rock she married and loves, or is this a fake that came out of that shed? The way she wants to test him is to ask him a series of questions, mostly about their life. Lillith knows that if he is the real thing, then he would have no problems answering her.

She starts off with simple questions, and asks, “Rock, tell me. . . What day is our wedding anniversary?”

Rock stands up and says in a nervous tone, “why are you asking me that so suddenly?”

“SHUT IT! I didn't ask for a question, I want an answer! Now answer the question dammit!!”

Rock is pinned against a wall. He is afraid of what may happen if he answers a question wrong. But he wants her to calm down, so he takes a deep breath and answers as calmly as possible, “we got married on New Years day.”

Lillith nods, and continues with the interrogation, “okay, when is Toby's birthday?”

“Third day of Fall,” he answered.

“What are my favorite things in the world?”

“The farm, your family, and cheesecake.”

Lillith stops for a moment. So far, he has answered the questions correctly, but she is still not fully convinced. There is something odd that she can see behind the answers. So she boldly asks, “So. . . What was my most embarrassing moment?”

Rock sighs and answers, “you were in the hot springs when you were 12 years old in a school trip. You got overheated and passed out in the hot springs. The guy you had a crush on ran to your rescue, and he ended up seeing you completely naked.”

Lillith became furious. She runs to him, and pushes him down on the bed and demands, “how do you know that!? Nobody but me knows that ever happened! I never told you about that! Not even my own dad knew that ever happened! Are you reading my mind?! You better start talking, or else things are going to get ugly!”

“Wait, Lillie stop!!” yelled Rock trying to shield himself from getting beaten to a pulp. Lillith is strong enough to do so, and she is more than capable enough to do it. “I'm sorry! I read your diary, that's how I know that!”

“You did what!?”

“I wanted to know everything about you, even those things that happened when you were younger. I know you told me not to read them, but I did anyway. I'm sorry.”

Lillith calms herself. She is still angry about him reading her diaries that has only the most personal and deepest thoughts she would be too embarrassed to share with other people. But now, he feels that it'll be too difficult to trick him into answering a question he should or should not know. But then it hit her, Rock knows everything that she knows. Now she needs to test on what Rock should know that Lillith doesn't know.

As Lillith was thinking of a good question, Rock stands up again feeling that he is safe from an attack. He sighs in relief, but he is unaware that he is far from safe yet. Lillith then quickly turns to him unexpectedly and asks, “so Rock tell me, how old is your mother?”

“My mother?” asked Rock nervously. He is unsure how to answer that question, so he responds, “why do you want to know my mother's age all of the sudden? What does that have to do with anything?”

“Wrong answer!” yelled Lillith. “Next question. . . You told me that you were not born in forget-Me-Not Valley. When you were younger, your parent's built that Inn to get away from the city. So where were you born? Tell me the name of your home town!”

“I. . . I don't know.” answered Rock.

“Really? Kind of strange that you don't know that about yourself, but you know me soooooo well. Okay, one more question, who did you have your first kiss with?”

“You of course.” answered Rock in a flustered tone.

Lillith grew angry again and screamed, “NO!!! THAT'S A LIE!!! You told me that you used to have a girlfriend before you met me! If that's true, then tell me that girl's name!!”

“I'm sorry, I don't remember. . . It was such a long time ago and. . .”

Lillith shuts her eyes tightly and yells, “You're lying!! There is no way that you could be my husband! Where is my real husband!? Answer me, WHO ARE YOU?!?!?!”

Those last three words echoed over and over through the air. Lillith just stands there waiting for an answer freaked out by the echoing. They are inside a small house, so there is no reason why she would be hearing echoes. But as she waits, she hears no answer, not even a single breath coming from Rock. She slowly opens her eyes once again, and quickly notices that Rock is gone.

She begins to look around yelling Rock's name, but gets no reply. There is no signs that he ever left the room, he just vanished into thin air. Lillith then searches the house, and finds nobody. She begins to worry, so she runs out of the house to look around. She immediately felt something wrong. The valley is silent, too silent. She cannot hear people in the distance, the cicadas buzzing in the trees, the cows mooing in the barn, not even the trees rustling in the wind. The only thing she can hear is her breath getting heavier and heavier. It's like the whole valley went mute on her.

She runs into the barn to check on the animals, but they are all gone. She cannot even see any signs that they were even there to begin with. The fodder bins are empty, and there is no smell of cow dropping in the air. She then runs over to the coop in a panic hurry. Just like the barn, the chicken coop and the chicken yard are empty. The ducks are not in the pond either. Even her crops have gone missing without a trace.

At this point, Lillith is completely frantic. She runs out of the farm trying her best not to cry or shout. The first place she heads to is the Inn to find her son. She slams the door open, and starts shouting names. But the Inn is completely empty, no customers or guests, no Toby, or Rock's parents either. She then runs over to the other buildings of the valley, but she doesn't find anyone at all. The valley is completely empty and quiet, only Lillith remains.

Lillith is now standing in the road in front of the farm. She is terrified at what is happening to the valley. Everyone is missing, including her husband and her son. She drops to her knees out of fear and confusion. Tears quickly filled her face seeing that she can no longer hold her feelings of fear and grief any longer.

She cries for a moment while hugging herself on the ground. She doesn't know what else to do. She has no idea what is happening. As she trembles on the ground she says out loud, “What is happening to me? What is happening to the valley? Someone please, I don't want to be alone. I'm so scared. . . SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!”

“But you're not alone,” said a voice coming from behind her. She gasps quickly recognizing the voice she heard. It does not belong to Rock, or her son, or anyone she has seen in a long time. She is afraid to turn around to see who is behind her. But her curiosity was too strong for her to resist. She slowly turns around and faces this mysterious person who had just appeared out of nowhere. Who she finds shocks her.

The stranger is a man who is in his mid-thirties. Vaguely spiked short brown hair and brown eyes. He wears a bleach white shirt, and overall pants with gloves and boots like an ordinary male farmer. He stands about 10 feet away from Lillith smiling at her. Lillith is still on the ground almost too shocked to see him standing there. She wonders if what she is seeing is real, or is he just another illusion?

“It's been a while since we last met, right Lillith?” he said with a smile on his face.

Lillith remains silent for a moment longer before yelling, “Dad?!”

Things remain quiet for a while longer. Her father continues to smile at her, while Lillith just kneels there wondering what is going on. Her father is standing before her, but she knows that he died about a year before she married Rock. He then turns around walks into the farm. Lillith stands up and follows him for a while.

He walks around the farm looking around as if he is inspecting it. Lillith continues to follow him wondering what is he doing. After a few minutes, she tells him, “dad, I'm glad to see you and everything, but what are you doing here? Was it you who did something to the valley?”

He continues to walk around aimlessly and says, “you did a real great job in this place. Everything looks so real. Even I couldn't create something that looks just like the real valley.”

She stops following for a second and pleads, “please dad, stop ignoring me! What you're saying is not making any sense! Dad, please listen to me, don't you understand what's going on, you died a long time ago!”

He stops walking for a moment. At this point, Lillith feels that she may have upset him. She feels that her father is just a ghost that is haunting the valley. Because of the ghost stories she has heard as a child, she doesn't know what might happen. But her father takes a deep breath and says to her in a calm and deep voice, “yes, it's true. I did die a long time ago. But. . .” He then turns around and continues, “so did you.”

Lillith gasps. Her father sighs and continues, “I guess you don't remember. It's okay, it's natural for anyone not to remember. Allow me to tell you what happened.

“You see. . . A long time ago, I died and you came to Forget-Me-Not Valley to take over my farm. About a year later, you married Rock, and not too long after that my grandson Toby was born. He grew up to be quite the talented farmer. The work was too hard for you to do by yourself, but you still worked hard in that farm for about 20 years or so. Sadly one Spring night, you died in your sleep.
You see, this is not the real Forget-Me-Not Valley. This is a heaven you created that looks like the valley. And the people that lives here are not real either. They are just fragments of your memory. I guess this is your favorite year, because it just repeats itself over and over, and it has been that way for about 20 more years or so. But eventually, your old memories of when you're alive will start to conflict with your current memories, and make you see strange things. Usually older memories from when you were alive suddenly appearing before your eyes. Like the shed crashing down and the blizzard.”

“You mean I'm not. . ,” said Lillith hardly able to believe what she is hearing.

Her father turns around and smiles as he says to her, “Lillith my dear sweet daughter. You’re an angel.”

After hearing those words, a tear falls from Lillith's eye. All the memories that she has forgotten within the last 20 years start to come back to her. She couldn't believe that all that time, she was living as an angel in heaven. The shock from the truth was just too much for her to handle. Before long, she just fell on her knees and starts to cry.

It breaks his heart to stand there and watch his daughter cry. He knows why she feels sad, after all he felt the same way when he learned that he passed on to the next life. The only thing he could really do for her is hug her and pat her on the head like he used to when she was only a little girl. “There, there. Please don't cry my little Lillith. Everything is going to be okay. I promise. You don't have to cry.”

She continues to weep for a while. Even though her father's embrace is comforting, she still feels sad and alone. “But dad, why did I have to die? What about Toby and Rock? Why do I have to be separated from my family? I just want to be with them!”

He smiles and wipes the tears from her eyes. He knows how she feels, he wanted the same exact thing when he learned that he had passed away as well. He knows that the one and only thing that would make her feel better is the one thing she wants to see. So he helps her stand up and says, “Hey Lillith. Do you want to see your real family again?”

She looks up at her father, and nods. She wanted to see them so badly to find out what happened to them after she died. After they get up, they walk over to the pond where the ducks once swam. At first, she doesn't see anything in the pond. But her father touches the surface of the water. An image slowly appears. In the pond, she can see the real Forget-Me-Not Valley and everyone in it.

The farm itself hasn't changed much at all. Her son Toby who has taken over the farm has aged considerably. He is now about 40 years old and still looks very healthy. Next to him stands a woman with a brunette double ponytail and a white and blue dress. She can immediately tell that it's Kate, Grant's daughter who lives next to their farm.

Lillith smiles as she says, “Wow, I guess they got married after all. I do remember that Toby had a crush on that girl, but I never thought that they would end up together. But I guess the farm is doing great without me. I'm so happy that my son took over the farm. But I wonder, what happened to Rock? Did he die too?”

“Why don't you go ahead and find out? Just touch the water, and think about who you want to see,” said Lillith's father.

She decides to give it s try. She closes her eyes, and thought about all the wonderful memories that she had with Rock. When she opened her eyes, she can now see the inside of the farm house from the pond. Inside the house, Rock is still alive as a very old man of about 60 years old. His hair is now bleach white and his skin is as wrinkled as a raisin. His taste in clothing has not changed at all since she last remembers him. He is sitting on a rocking chair holding a picture of Lillith and himself as a young newlywed couple. She can tell from the look on his face that he misses her very much. The sight of this brings tears of joy to her eyes. She can only wish that she could at least speak to him, and tell him that she is in a good place now.

After a few minutes, another person enters the room, and gives Rock some tea. It's a young woman in her early twenties who looks a lot like Lillith. Same hair color, eyes, and body figure. But unlike Lillith, her hair is not tied up into a ponytail and she is wearing a blue medium country style dress.

She points at the girl and asks, “Dad, who is that?”

He smiles once again and says, “Her name is Lily, your granddaughter. She was named in your memory. . . Well, at least your nickname anyway.”

Lillith takes a look at her once again, and smiles happily. The thought that everyone remembers her, and even named her granddaughter after herself touches her heart. Now that she knows that everything is okay, there is no need for her to worry anymore.

They continue to watch them for about an hour. As they continued to watch, Lillith noticed that the old shed is no longer in the farm anymore. She then remembers that about 10 years after she took over the farm, the shed fell apart. She used the wood as firewood, but she never had a chance to look inside the shed.

So she asks her father, “Dad, what was in that old shed anyway?”

“Nothing. It was supposed to be a stable for a horse, but it was so poorly built that we never used it,” he answered. He then laughs and continues, “I bet you were wondering about that white empty space when you opened that shed earlier. You don't have to worry about that, it happens when you see something you don't remember seeing when you were alive. Since you never seen the inside of that shed, you cannot create an image of what it looks like. It happened to me before too.”

“I see,” She said. After hearing that, everything started to make a lot of sense. She remembers when Takakura built the Chicken Yard, and how happy she felt seeing the chickens feel happy about being outside feeding on worms. Or how good it felt to have firewood for hot water in the house. She can also remember the day the goat in the farm died from natural causes. It taught her son to appreciate life and how short it really is. Even the Blizzard is a happy memory; everyone was cozy by the fire telling stories and jokes. It really was a great time as their family only learn to become closer than ever.

After taking a deep breath, she begins to be curious about her father's heaven. So she turns to him and asks, “hey dad, what does your heaven look like?”

“If you want to see for yourself, You'll have to close your eyes and wish to be there,” he answered.

It was so simple that Lillith feels skeptical that it would work. But after what has happened so far, she’d try anything. So she gently closes her eyes and wishes with all her heart to see her father's heaven. After opening her eyes, she is amazed at where she found herself.

Everything is as she remembers it, a small apartment in the city with a lot of noise. The same exact apartment she grew up in. She looks outside the window, and saw the streets packed with cars and little children playing games in the sidewalk. The apartment is filled with plants and herbs that her father had planted. She then takes a walk in her bedroom, and finds all of her old toys of when she was a little girl.

She turns to her father and asks, “Wow, this is your heaven dad?” He nods. “But why here? I thought that the farm was your greatest dream? Why not make a heaven that looks like Forget-Me-Not Valley like I did?”

“Even though I didn't spend much time at the farm, I enjoyed it very much. But all that time I was there, something was missing. It was your mother, and you. I missed you two very much, that's why I created this heaven.”

“Daddy, who are you talking to?” interrupted the voice of a little girl. Lillith turns around and gasps at what she sees. It's a smaller version of herself from when she was only 5 years old. She runs up to her father, and jumps into his arms.

He raises her into the air, and plays with the smaller version of Lillith and says, “hi there sweetie! What can daddie do for you today?”

She giggles and says, “daddy, can I have some ice cream, please?”

“Sure you can, you can have as much as you like. But keep it a secret from your mother. Promise?”

The little Lillith cheers happily. Lillith almost cries at the sight, she remembers doing this exact thing when she was 5 years old. Like herself, her father has been reliving this year for many years. The little Lillith notices the bigger version of Lillith and asks, “daddy, who is this lady?”

“She's someone very important to me,” answered her father.

“Is she more important than me?” asked the smaller Lillith.

Lillith's father laughs and pats her head saying, “don't ask questions you won't understand. Just go to the kitchen, and get some ice cream.” He puts her back on the ground, and she runs off to the kitchen to get ice cream.

After that, Lillith and her father go back to her own heaven. He the looks at his daughter and asks, “you look disappointed. Is anything wrong?”

“Not really,” answered Lillith. “I just had a different image of what heaven looks like. I always thought heaven would be like walking on clouds, and we would all have angel wings and a halo.”

Her father laughs and says, “all that was just folklore. I guess if we wanted our heaven to look that way, we would make it so. But you see Lillith, I loved that time in the apartment because it was a time that we all were still a family. Me, your mother, and you in that small apartment. I always wanted a farm, even before you were born. But even after I got that farm in the valley, I realized that I should have stayed home. Because no matter how great farming was, the most important thing to me has and will always be is you, my precious little girl Lillith.”

Lillith blushes and says, “oh dad, that’s so embarrassing.”

“Well, nobody else is here but us, so who cares?” he said.

Lillith then runs to her father, and gave him a huge hug. It makes her happy to know that even after death, he always thought about her. Just like she thought about her family after she died.

Before long, something unusual happens. A white light in the shape of a door opens up not too far from them. Lillith stares at it wondering what it is, but her father feels drawn into it. Almost like it's calling for him. Soon, he walks towards the white doorway leaving Lillith behind.

Lillith yells, “dad wait, what is that? What is going on?”

He looks back and answers, “god is calling me, I'm going to be reborn. In about 20 years, there is gong to be a farm that needs a farmer. And I have been chosen to take it over.”

“Dad, will I be able to see you again?”

He shakes his head no as he answers, “I'm afraid that when I am born again, I will not have any memories of my past life. Even if we do meet in the future, we will not recognize each other. So I guess this is goodbye.”

He turns around, and takes a step towards the light. But then Lillith yells, “dad wait!!” He stops for a moment to listen to what Lillith has to say. He already has an idea what she is going to say, but he wants to hear it anyway. “Dad. . . Please don't go. I wanted to see you again for a long time, I don't want to say goodbye already. Dad, I miss you. Please stay here with me. I don't want us to be separated again.”

He smiles at her for the last time and says, “Don't worry, just remember this. Everything is going to be okay, I promise.” He then turns and walks into the white light where he will be reborn into a new life.

Lillith eyes drip as the white door shuts behind him. She is not crying because she feels sad, rather she feels happy. She always thought that after her father left to work in the farm in Forget-Me-Not Valley, she will never get to see him again. Just the fact that she got to see him again one last time fills her heart with joy. As the tears continue to run down her smooth cheeks, she says, “dad, thank you for everything. I only hope that when it's my turn to be reborn, I'll be your precious little girl once again. Until then, goodbye. . .”

“Who are you talking to?” said Rock's voice. Lillith turns around, and finds Rock standing in front of the house carrying Toby in his arms. Lillith now knows that they are not really her husband or her son. They are just memories that has taken human shape. Even though these memories can never take the place of the real people that is living on earth, she still wants to enjoy her life in heaven.

So she wipes her tears off her face, and runs up to Rock. She then answers, “Nobody, I was just talking to myself. Lets go inside, I bet everyone's hungry. I'll try to cook something delicious for everyone to eat.”

And so everyone returns to the house, and continues their lives like if nothing odd has happened. Even though Lillith is with them, she will always be watching over her real family from heaven. Someday, she'll return to earth as a reborn soul and find her father once again. But for now, she wants to live as happily as she can be in heaven.

The end.

For Ana J. Vicente

1958 - 1997

“Everything is going to be okay, I promise.”