REBIRTH : Chasing The Limelight-Chapter 48: A journey of thousand miles...

The afternoon sun shone on a quiet street in Crelou. A small girl with bright red hair suddenly ran out of a house. Her footsteps were quick as she rushed down the path.

Right after she ran out, a woman stepped outside from that same house and stretched her neck to look beyond the fence.

"Zia! I said come back here!" she called loudly, but the little girl only waved her hand without stopping.

"Coming, Mom!" she shouted, already running down the street. The woman sighed and shook her head. Then she turned and walked back inside the house.

Zia ran across the street happily. Not long after, she reached another house and rushed inside the compound. When she got to the front door, she started knocking quickly.

"Grandpa! Grandpa!"

But no one answered.

Zia frowned. Then she ran around the side of the house instead. She ran past the wall and into the garden behind it. There, an old man could be seen leaning forward beside a small tree, breathing heavily. A shovel resting on the ground beside him.

When Zia saw him, she stopped for a moment. Then she ran straight toward him.

"Grandpa!" she said excitedly, tugging at his clothes. "I saw Elara on the TV! I think she won something!"

The old man frowned slightly. "You naughty little girl, let go of my clothes." he said tiredly.

Zia stepped back and crossed her arms. "I’m not a little girl," she said with a pout.

The old man sighed and finally turned to face her. "What did you say happened?" he asked. His face worn out from stress.

Zia’s face brightened again.

"I saw Elara on the TV! She was standing on a stage and they were giving her an award!" she said happily.

The old man went quiet. His head dropped lightly, and he seemed lost in thought. Zia stared at him for a moment, then she grabbed his arm and pulled him gently.

"Come and watch it before it goes away!" she said, but the old man suddenly came back to himself and pulled his hand away.

"Hey, naughty," he said.

Zia puffed her cheeks. "I’m not joking Grandpa, I really saw Elara on the TV. And it looked like they even gave her money." she said with a serious expression.

The old man smiled a little. Then he reached out and gently ruffled her hair. "I know you’re not joking," he said softly.

Zia’s expression relaxed. She looked up at him again. "When she call, what will you say to her?" she asked.

The old man gave a small dry laugh and picked up his shovel. "I’ll ask if she’s eating," he said.

"Why?" she asked blinking her big eyes.

"Because people forget to eat at times like this," he replied.

Zia quickly shook her head.

"Never, if I become a famous singer too and win many awards, I will never forget to eat." she said confidently.

The old man let out a small laugh. "Yes, of course, that’s because you’re a glutton." he said

They started walking out of the garden together. But the old man’s eyes lowered slightly as they walked. He had become much more quiet.

Zia noticed the change and looked up at him.

"Grandpa, why have you become more quiet these days?" she asked softly, her grip on his hands tightening.

The old man did not answer. He simply reached out and ruffled her hair again...

–

After the cab stopped at the front of Voice, Elara stepped out, Ziva also got down as well. Earlier, Ziva had told Lioren to drop them back at the showcase venue after the lunch. Lioren had simply nodded and agreed.

Elara looked at Ziva as the cab driver drove off. "You don’t have to come up, you can go home." she said, but Ziva had already started walking toward the entrance.

"I’ll just help you drop the things in your room," she said not waiting for Elara’s answer.

Elara sighed quietly and followed after her.

It was already close to sleeping hours so the building was much quieter. As they walked along the floors, they only met a few singers.

Some of them kept staring at Elara. She guessed they had already heard or watched her performance.

A few waved at her politely while others only glanced at her and then looked away nonchalantly.

When they reached Elara’s room, Ziva went straight inside. She opened her bag, took out the slim folder and the envelope, and placed them neatly on the table. Then she turned around.

"I should go, you need to rest." she said.

"I’m not chasing you away," Elara replied immediately while Ziva sighed.

"First you said I shouldn’t worry about coming upstairs with you. Now you don’t want me to leave." she said.

Elara looked at her quietly for a moment, then a small smirk appeared on her face.

"Of course, you can do anything you want." she said.

Ziva turned to leave. But Elara suddenly spoke again.

"Wait."

Ziva stopped and looked at her.

At that moment, everything that had happened at the showcase earlier flashed through Elara’s mind again.

The microphone. And Ziva standing in the crowd trying to signal something to her. Elara suddenly imagined what today might have been like if Ziva had not been there.

Ziva noticed that Elara had been staring at her so she raised her brows.

"You done staring?" she asked while Elara’s smile froze. Ziva looked at her for a moment. When Elara did not speak, she shook her head slightly. "What did you want to say?" she asked.

"Thank you," Elara said.

Ziva frowned. "For what?"

"For everything," Elara replied softly. "Today... if you weren’t there, I don’t know what I would have done."

Ziva sighed. "Well, thank God you didn’t listen to me," she said while Elara blinked in confusion. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"But I did what you said," she replied.

Ziva looked at her. "In what way? You didn’t leave the stage." she said.

Elara became even more confused. " Aren’t you trying to remind me that my voice was enough?" she asked.

Ziva stared at her. "Of course not," she said quickly. "I was telling you to come down from the stage."

Elara’s smile and body froze. Ziva crossed her arms under her chest. "Though you looked very much calm, I could tell that you were under too much pressure," she continued. "I was telling you to just step down. There are thousands of chances to rise again later."

Elara’s smile slowly disappeared. Ziva quickly patted her arm. "Anyway, I’m leaving now. Rest early. And don’t think too much about everything." she said. She pointed at the table. "And keep those papers somewhere safe." Then she walked out of the room.

Elara stood there for a moment, still stunned. After a while, she walked into the bathroom and took a cold shower. When she came out, she sat down on the bed. The first thing she did was take out her phone. She quickly tapped a number and placed the phone against her ear.

It rang.

On the third ring, the call connected. "Hi, Grandpa," Elara said quickly. At first, there was only silence. Then a quiet voice came from the other side. It sounded weak, as if the person had just woken up.

"Elara."

Elara’s heart warmed. She stared at the empty room, but in her mind it felt like he was standing right in front of her.

"Grandpa, I won a showcase today." she said, her eyes glittering in excitement. It was only with her Grandpa that she would have this kind of feeling.

There was silence. Then the old man spoke. "That’s good, Elara." He paused and then spoke up again. "Zia came to tell me earlier. She said she saw you on the TV."

Elara giggled softly. After a moment she spoke again. "Some things might start changing now," she said. "Things might become better for me."

She paused for a moment. "I’ll come to Crelou this month." She waited for him to reply, but none came.

"Grandpa?" she called again. Still nothing. The line was quiet, as if she hadn’t been speaking to anyone before. Elara looked at her phone screen. The call was still connected. She guessed that he had fell asleep. His voice had sounded sleepy earlier. So she whispered softly.

"Goodnight."

Then she ended the call.

She leaned back against the bed and looked up at the ceiling. A line slowly formed in her mind.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step...