Through the Sands of Time

ASHER

I am Asher Klein Miller.

According to my parents, they named me after grandpa Nando’s (daddy’s father) father, Ashton Kenneth Miller, because when I was born and my grandpa saw me, he immediately saw a striking resemblance between me and his own father. He even showed a very old picture to Daddy, a picture that was almost half faded, so even though Mommy and Daddy couldn’t see the resemblance between me and Daddy’s father, Daddy just nodded and followed his father’s wishes.

Wanting my name to be somewhat unique, they decided to change it to ‘Asher’ instead of ‘Ashton,’ and they didn’t copy the name Kenneth, but to keep the initials the same as Daddy’s father, they chose ‘K’ as my second name, and they thought of ‘Klein.’

I was born in Denzia, but I spent almost four years of my childhood in another country… in Zedfina, specifically. I remember bits from when we first moved to Zedfina because we moved there when I was just four years old. Daddy said we had to migrate there because Grandpa needed someone after Grandma passed away, and he also needed company and support during his chemotherapy.

When we arrived at Grandpa and Grandma’s house in Zedfina, I didn’t have a hard time getting along with Grandpa because he loved children so much. He always talked to me and took me to random places he visited. He used to tell me that I really looked like his father, and he also shared that when he was young, they were very close.

And like what we do now, that’s what they used to do—he said he was always with his grandpa in everything. His grandpa was the reason he became an accountant because he wanted to fulfill his grandpa’s dream that didn’t come true because he didn’t finish college due to personal reasons.

Grandpa became my best friend. When I came home from school, I told him about my day. It even came to a point where Mommy envied our closeness… I overheard them arguing with Daddy, but Daddy, being calm, didn’t match Mommy’s anger and envy, they understood each other, and Daddy advised Mommy to try to get closer to me so she wouldn’t be jealous.

And of course, he also defended Grandpa, and Mommy immediately understood that. After that day, I noticed Mommy’s effort to be closer to me, and of course, I appreciated it so much and became happier because I had two best friends… actually, three because Daddy was included.

Two years passed by quickly… and I thought that even though I saw Grandpa gradually losing weight, he was getting better because he was receiving treatment. But I misunderstood… because cancer is a really treacherous disease. It makes you and the people around you believe that you’re doing fine… that it’s slowly disappearing, but then it suddenly surprises you by worsening and spreading even more… and worse, it also grew in other parts of your body, and that’s what happened to Grandpa.

I was already six years old on that day—the saddest day of my life.

“Grandpa Nando?” I called out his name as I entered his room. When he heard me call, he slowly opened his eyes and followed me with his gaze as I approached the stool beside his bed.

Even though he was struggling, and I could see it in his eyes, he still helped me sit properly on the stool because I couldn’t reach it properly with my feet.

“Daddy told me you wanted to talk to me…” I said once I sat on the stool. “I’m sorry I just finished my homework…”

“Did you have a hard time with your homework? You should’ve brought it here so I could check it…”

I shook my head and laughed, “I managed just fine, grandpa. It’s just Mathematics, and you taught me some techniques, so it was very easy for me.”

“You really take after me…” Grandpa flashed a big smile and even patted my head. After that, he heavily sighed… and I knew back then that that sigh was because of the physical pain he was feeling because of his cancer.

“I called you here because I have something to tell you…” He cleared his throat for a second, and then he pointed, and I immediately followed his gaze. He was pointing to his little vault… the type of vault that needed to be turned and the correct code entered to open.

“That vault… contains something that belongs to you. And… there’s also a letter inside…”

“What… what’s inside? And… and what letter, grandpa?” I furrowed my brows out of curiosity. “What… what’s the code for the vault?”

“You will remember the code of that vault exactly at midnight on the day you turn seven. So… you will find out what’s inside that vault five months from now…”

I didn’t understand it, and I wanted to ask more questions, but Grandpa changed the topic. He asked me about my day and what we did in school, and of course, I quickly recounted everything to him. As I was telling stories, I noticed him furrowing his brow and softly groaning due to the pain he was feeling, but being a naive child whose only concern was to tell stories and unaware of Grandpa’s true condition, I didn’t notice it.

The next morning, Daddy’s loud crying woke me up, and that’s when I found out that Grandpa died in his sleep last night. He probably died because of the pain he was feeling, but because he didn’t want us to worry anymore, he didn’t tell us.

At that time, I just knew that Grandpa died… but I didn’t know how much he suffered. But I wasn’t like other kids who didn’t cry and didn’t quite grasp the concept of death… because I really sobbed uncontrollably, especially when I saw Grandpa being buried… when I saw his white casket being covered with soil.

After that, Mommy and Daddy always invited me to go to the mall after my class and after their work. Perhaps, they felt the sadness I was feeling back then, and they thought that by doing so, I would somehow forget it. And thankfully, it worked because I got distracted, and my sadness and missing Grandpa were buried under the fun times with Mommy and Daddy.

The same thing happened in the following months.

There were nights when I would cry myself to sleep because I missed Grandpa so much, but it only happened occasionally because most of the time, I would fall asleep quickly due to exhaustion from playing at the mall, watching movies there, and bonding with Mommy and Daddy. It almost came to the point where I already forgot about the vault in Grandpa’s room… and I only remembered it the night before my birthday… on the 23rd of August.

Because Grandpa’s belongings were already packed up in his room, when I entered, I couldn’t find that vault, so I had to ask Mommy about its whereabouts.

“Oh dear, I didn’t clean up there because we hired someone to clean your grandpa’s room…”

I sighed at Mommy’s response, but that sigh was immediately replaced by relief at her next words, “But… try checking our attic. I asked them to put some of your Grandpa’s important belongings there…”

And I quickly went up to our attic with a flashlight, and I immediately saw that vault and brought it to my room.

I stared at it for almost five minutes, trying to remember what the code was to open it, but no matter how hard I tried to recall, nothing came to my mind… so because of that thinking, I fell asleep… and exactly at midnight, I suddenly woke up… and so many memories rushed into my mind… including the passcode of the vault.