In the dream.
Young Hugo is smiling brightly, wrapped in a blanket. His mother's voice gently comes through the thick blanket.
"Hugo, if you hide like that, you won't be able to hear mommy's voice."
"No, I can hear everything! Please read more quickly!"
"Hey, stop being naughty and come out!"
At Yvonne's prim voice, Hugo pretended to give in and poked his face out from under the blanket.
A dazzlingly beautiful woman is smiling at him. It's the face of his mother, missed even in his dreams.
It's mom. Mom was still by my side.
Young Hugo nestled close to his mother, feeling reassured. She smelled infinitely warm and cozy.
His mother opened a familiar fairy tale book with the siblings lying on either side of her. "The Snow Queen" by Andersen, the story they loved most in those days.
"Long, long ago, in a far northern country, there lived a boy and a girl who loved each other..."
