37. Chapter 37 #3
I had a dream about you last night. I have been getting more sleep over the past few months than I have in years, thanks to the crazy schedule I used to keep. As punishment for what I did to you, every single one of my dreams is haunted by you, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The dream itself was fucked up and really twisted, where I was a grumpy ogre-bear hybrid who hated anyone near my cave, and the moon princess (you) protected me from the evil queen dedicated to making my life hell.
The moon princess helped me raise the baby bear abandoned in the woods and was the one true person capable of melting my ice-covered heart, and showed me that I was capable of love, after all.
As I said, really weird, Theo has been on a real fairy-tale fad at the moment, so princess movies and folktales have been the only choice of what to watch lately.
So what do you think?
Should I submit my acid dream to the nearest animation studio looking for its next big hit? If I do, I don’t have anyone else but you to play the Moon Princess’s voice actor.
Let me know what you think, il mio tutto.
P.S. Fun Fact - My two female celebrity crushes are Gemma Chan and JLO, two individuals who are the perfect combination of you.
Love Oliver
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Subject: Week 19
To: LooneyLuna@
From: TheOliverwalters@
My Dearest Luna,
We finally spoke about my mother today in Therapy.
It was a long and difficult session, but by the end of it, I already started to feel lighter as I stepped out of the room.
Aware that for many years, voicing my issues with my mother equals the same amount of pain that comes with peeling your cuticles.
An uncomfortable pain that can be ultimately avoided.
But I have learned that change is important, starting with my fight-or-flight response.
I know right now that may not seem like much since I did temporarily move out of the country, but what I do know is that I am capable of putting down roots, something I convinced myself in the past was impossible, yet I did it when I first got Theo; I could do it again - for you.
P.S. Fun Fact - My favourite hobby is cooking; it’s something I don’t do much nowadays, but I grew up making my own meals, so I picked up skills from all over the world - and I can’t wait to cook for you.
Love Oliver
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Subject: Week 20
To: LooneyLuna@
From: TheOliverwalters@
LUNA!!,
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! I MISS YOU!!
I hope you have fun Trick-or-Treating with my friends again this year. Please tell Mei Mei I said hi and that I miss her loads and loads. I’m very sad that I won’t be able to come with you this year like we talked about, but Ollie promised that I can go with you guys next year.
I wish I could talk to you. I’m very really mad at Ollie for breaking his promise and for taking me away from you, but I know we will see each other again soon and can’t hardly wait.
P.S. It’s my birthday soon, and I’m sad that I won’t get to spend it with you - Love Theo
Fun Fact - My Love Language is physical touch. Min-Joon forced me to take the quiz, as he said it’s something you’d very much like to know, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t need me to take such a quiz to know that answer ;)
Love Oliver
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NOVEMBER
Subject: Week 21
To: LooneyLuna@
From: TheOliverwalters@
My Dearest Luna,
I met up with Garret on the subway, then he and I went for lunch, where I told him all about you. When I was done, he squirted mustard all over my tailored blue suit instead of his chilli dog and said, “Sorry, I mustard missed the spot that wasn’t being a jackass.”
How is it that I can hear how hard you’re laughing at this right now, like I can hear it directly in my ear, all the way down to that adorable little snort you do while you catch your breath? I bet you’re wishing you could see a picture.
(See Photo Attached) - I sincerely hope this made you wheeze for hours on end.
You’ve earned yet another fan on the ‘Team Luna’ front. But aside from a well-deserved attack via condiments, I’ve enjoyed getting to know Garret. He may be a little senile, but he gives great advice, has no filter, and I’m still convinced he and your Gran would be quite the item.
P.S. Fun Fact - I’ve never known what it’s like to have grandparents, as I have no clue what their names are or if they’re still alive, but I deeply treasure meeting your Gran, wishing I also had the pleasure to meet your grandfather too.
If I ever had the opportunity to have mine, I’d wish for ones just like yours.
Love Oliver
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Subject: Week 22
To: LooneyLuna@
From: TheOliverwalters@
My Dearest Luna,
Do you remember when I told you that the first and last time I cried was when I was eight years old? Well, I’m finally ready to tell you a little about it and hope that you’ll give me the chance, face-to-face, to tell you in more detail.
As you know, I was raised by the top traveller in the world, which meant I didn’t get a choice when she continuously uprooted my life every few months once her current relationship met its ugly end.
My mother isn’t perfect, and I do respect that she tried her hardest to keep me out of the limelight, but that’s as far as her version of a motherly instinct extends.
I cried twice in the year I turned eight, and these were the reasons why.
The first was because I had made my first-ever friend.
Someone who didn’t judge me for being a different skin colour or pick on me because my mother was a known man-eater.
That friend was Min-Joon, too, who was equally picked on for having an insulin pump.
The two of us bonded after I punched a rich kid for calling him the Korean equivalent of a retard.
But four months later, the longest my mother and I had ever settled in a country so far, we moved.
No warning, no explanation, but just the simple phrase of “Pack up, Ollie, we’re moving off.
” My mother announced. Everything in our apartment, except for my room, was all packed up.
I no longer feel ashamed to say I cried like a baby when Min-Joon and I followed us to the airport.
I cried so hard, bawling like a baby, latched onto Umma for as long as I could, hoping we would miss our flight, but of course… it didn’t work.
The second time I cried was worse. I found it very hard to sit and type out, but let me give you some context first. My mother and I travelled to a few countries after leaving South Korea, and we eventually settled in Italy.
In a small town called Porto Rosso, a quiet, suburban-like town away from the usual tourist attractions, whilst living there, my mother met a man named Mario.
Before you ask, yes, that’s his real name, and no, Theo doesn’t know.
I haven’t planned on telling him just yet.
Mario was a strong, passionate man who worked as a carpenter, the best in town and had been since the age of fourteen.
He was everything good with the world, and the man didn’t have a single fault, at least not any that I ever saw, compared to all the other partners my mother surrounded us with.
My mother and Mario met while he built her a custom-built wardrobe, and always came with his canine companion Luigi - I know Theo is going to love this.
One night a week, or so, after moving there, when my Mother left me home alone like she did most of the time, to go out and shoot footage for her TV show, I walked to Mario’s house for company and to play with his dog.
He said something to me that, apart from Min-Joon’s family, I’d never heard someone say to me before.
He told me I’d always be welcome in his home, no matter what…
and just like that, I was given a taste of what having a real family felt like, what it felt like to live somewhere long-term, and a glimpse of what having a father was like.
Someone to help me with my homework, teach me the right way to respect women, and how to be a kid.
We Eventually moved in with Mario and Luigi, and soon enough six months had passed by, I had no friends, but I had Mario who would take me to work with him after school and on weekends, and in our spare time he taught me how to drink alcohol (by that I mean sips of his beer and the occasional small glass of wine) and how to use a real stone bake oven.
There aren’t many things I tend to hold on to, but every memory I have of Mario I’ve clung to every day since. I may not talk about them, but they run through my mind daily. I think it’s because I spent more time with him than anyone else; it was my last sense of happiness - until you.