Vivian had not seen a dead person when she was only five years old.
“Be good, little pumpkin. Don’t cry.” Looking at the state Larry was in, Vivian was broken-hearted.
Only Vivian knew how much she had endured during this period of time. Although she was not the person who was directly affected, they were all her loved ones.
She had seen how much pain they were in and did not have it easy either.
Often, a person would be more distressed by watching others in pain.
As she comforted Larry, Vivian stroked his back in hopes that her son would be able to forget this terrible memory. If Larry could not forget that scene, it would become his childhood trauma.
Vivian did not want Larry to have to deal with a childhood that he would always be afraid to remember. She wanted him to grow up well and in peace.
As she consoled Larry, Vivian slowly fell asleep beside her son.
Whatever happened that day was too much for her to handle.
She had been cooking for Finnick when she received the phone call in the middle of it and had to rush over. Like Larry, she had seen the corpses littering the floor.
She had also seen Samuel lying on the ground. Although she was devastated, she could not cry then.
Only when Larry finally fell asleep did she let her tears fall.
As she stroked Larry’s back, Vivian cried and comforted herself at the same time.
As they fell asleep, Finnick was still up on the hill, kneeling in front of Samuel’s grave.
He simply kneeled there motionless.
The next morning, Vivian made Larry some breakfast and noticed that Finnick was not yet home. After waiting a while longer, she went back up the hill with Larry to see Finnick.
As it was still early in the morning, the paths on the hill were tough to walk on. Some plants along the way still had morning dew on them.
The scenery atop the hill was beautiful, but Vivian was in no mood to appreciate it. She was very worried about Finnick.
As they walked up the hill, Vivian was getting nervous the closer they got to the peak.
However, she did not know what she was nervous about either.
All she wanted then was to reach the peak as soon as possible so that she could find out what happened to Finnick and see if he was okay.
Yet, since Larry was still young, they could not walk too fast.
Larry still exerted as much effort as he could, eventually allowing them to ascend the hill in only a short amount of time.
Vivian was suddenly panicked the minute they reached the peak.
She did not see Finnick. The area no longer had any traces of his visit.
She searched around the area, but to no avail. It was as if he had just disappeared from the face of the earth.
He was nowhere to be found.
He must have gone home, probably using another route.
Vivian then decided to head home for a look and hurried down the hill.
She rushed home with Larry, but Finnick was still nowhere to be seen.
She searched around the house thoroughly, leaving no stone unturned. She searched the kitchen, bedroom, study, and even the bathroom.
But there was nothing.
Realizing that Finnick had left, Vivian walked off in silence, heading to a place where no one would find her.
She was upset but did not know how to comfort herself.
During this period of time, she had spent all her effort trying to comfort Finnick. Yet, he had disappeared.
Vivian knew that in this lifetime, she was the only person who could comfort Finnick.
She also knew that Finnick did not simply disappear. He had chosen to leave her.
Although she wanted to be sad, Vivian realized that there was nothing for her to be upset about. After all, Finnick had left to protect them.
She was clear of this in her heart but simply did not want to admit it.
Vivian slumped onto the ground spiritlessly, staring blankly into space.
She seemed to notice a silhouette of Finnick walking past, but when she moved to take a closer look, it was gone.
Looking at Vivian acting this way, Larry knew what had happened.
His Mommy could not find Daddy, but she did not know the reason for his disappearance.
