In an Alternate Universe

\"It might come in handy someday\"

It was a Wednesday afternoon, a week after Karissa recovered from the dreadful flu, that she had one of the rare times to be alone for a good while. Between school, friends, family and anime and novels to watch and read, the raven-haired girl barely had time to enjoy a bit of solitude. Now, having the whole afternoon off for herself, she decided to go sit by the pine tree at the west end of the park, overlooking the lake and far from the noises and scorching heat of the afternoon sun. Stretching her arms over her head she took in the sight in front of her. The water glimmers like diamonds from the rays of the sun as a few boats slice through the cool waters, the people in the boats laughing and taking photos of each other. There were cyclists and joggers and people who are just strolling in the park with a cone of ice cream or popsicles. Some children were playing tag, giggling loudly. The cool, gentle breeze passed by, pushing her loose black, thick mane back. Running a hand to on her hair, she swept her black, wavy locks to the front. She stared at her hair for a quick second before playing the ends of it with her index finger. ‘It has gotten longer.’ She thought to herself while trying to remember the last time she had actually gone to a parlor shop to cut it rather than her mother doing it. Resting her back at the trunk of the tree, she put her headphones on and played her favorite playlist. In the midst of a calming piano piece, Karissa opened the gallery of her phone started looking through the photos. They were mostly selfies of her friends and family. Though there were also downloaded photos of artists and anime characters. Scrolling through it, she stopped at the complete photo of her family, well almost. Her grandfather"s been dead for more than a decade already, so the photo she"s looking at is as complete as she"s going to ever get. It was a photo of them last Christmas. Her aunts and uncles and their families from Australia surprised her grandmother by visiting during Christmas break. Everyone of them knew of the plan except her grandmother and the expression on her face when they knocked on the door on the 24th was everything they were expecting. That Christmas was the most festive Christmas they all had in nearly five years. They played games and shared gifts and stories. They ate and drank and they even went caroling just for fun. When all was said and done, they were huddled together in the living room with cups of steaming black coffee for the adults and hot chocolate for the young ones, before Karissa placed the camera and told everyone to scooch in. Setting the timer, she went towards the group as they smiled happily waiting for the flash of the camera. To Karissa, it was the most beautiful shot amongst all the pictures they had together. Her, her brothers, her cousin Anne, her husband Rupert, their baby girl Avery, and the rest of their cousins were sitting on the floor, while her mother, her aunts, Mary, Ambie, Betsy, Jane and Eliza were on the couch sitting with her grandmother while her father, and her uncles, Roger, Charles, Francis Jr., and Jean were at the back standing. They were all wearing big smiles in the photo. Staring at it, a soft smile forced its way on Karissa"s mouth before looking at another photo. This time, it was the photo of her grandfather carrying her when she was one-year old. He was smiling widely as he looked at Karissa who was apparently laughing that time. She was scanning through old photos when she found that photo. Her mother said it was during her 1st birthday. A year before his untimely death. Karissa can"t remember anything about him, to be honest. If there were no photos, she"d positively won"t even know what he looks like. When she asks about her grandfather, whether it be from her grandmother, mother or her aunts and uncles, they"d always say how amazing and awesome he was. “Your Lolo was a very lenient man.” Her grandmother would always tell them. She envied her elder cousins for having many years with him, and have memories with him that they can actually remember to this day. All she can remember was a white casket placed on the living room, many visitors inside the house and her grandmother and everyone in the family crying. It wasn"t the nicest memory she can remember clearly of his grandfather but then again, how much can one even remember in one"s toddler years. Karissa looked up from her phone and sighed, closing her eyes as she fell asleep.

‘“Karissa, what does your family consist of?” The blue eyed young man asked the young lady who"s absorbed in classical love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, poking her cheek slightly to earn her attention. “I have three younger brothers, a mum and a dad.” The raven haired girl replied, as she continued to read. “Well aside from that, do you have aunts, uncles, grandparents…” The blond man mutters softly. The young woman closed her book and looked up, confusion written on her face but answered nonetheless. “I have a lot of aunts and uncles, numerous cousins and nieces and nephews and a bunch of grandparents, but I assume you’re only asking about the close ones. Well, both my mum and my dad came from big families. My mum has 5 siblings, her being the second eldest, my dad has 11 siblings. My not too close with my relatives on my father"s side so I"m not really sure how many cousins I have. But I believe its more than a dozen. I do know that my dad has eight brothers and two older sisters. I have a grandmother but my dad"s father is already dead. When it comes to my mother"s side, that"s a different story. My mum has two younger brothers and three sisters. I have five cousins, and niece coming from my mum"s siblings. And I have a grandmother. I had a great-aunt but she passed away as well as my grandfather.” “You have quite a big family.” The man said quietly. “You can say that. Why ask though?” The girl asked looking at him. The man shook his head and smiled. “I just want to know. Might get handy someday.” The girl looked at the man funnily but smiled softly, “How about you then? What does your family consist of?”. The young man raised a blond eyebrow as he asked the girl beside him, “What for?” The young woman looked at him and grinned. “I don"t know. It might come in handy someday.” She replied making the man chuckle softly before smiling and answering her question. “Let’s see, I have a mum and a dad, two younger sisters, a younger brother and an older brother. Both my parents" parents are alive so, I have two grandfathers and two grandmothers. My mum has two older siblings and my dad has four younger siblings. I have a total of twelve cousins coming from all my aunts and uncles. Grandmere and Grandpere,my mum"s parents, live in France as well as her siblings and their families. Grandfather and Grandmother live here in London with us. And I think that"s sums it up.” The young woman smiled and nodded, “I guess we both came from big families.” The young man smiled brightly at her as he gave her a gentle kiss in the forehead before they both looked towards the lake, “That we do. And I think we"re meant to be.”’

When Karissa woke up it was nearly four in the afternoon. The clouds were gray and thick, a sign of an upcoming downpour. Tying her hair in a messy bun, she stood up and stretched while yawning, before picking up her things. With a final stretch and a look at the lake she made her way to the bakery to pick up some bread and went to their jeepney station. Luck apparently on her side, a jeepney half full was on the station and she was inside it when the strong rain poured down. She got home by five and went into her room, leaving the bread on the counter. Flopping on her bed she thought about her dream and said to herself, “It might come in handy someday. What a load of crap.”