Chapter Two

"She started to cry. Unable to hold back this continuing sadness that had, without her knowledge, become a part of who she was."

As months went by, she had grown accustomed to how, at the home, days would past by without anyone even realizing it.

Until one unusual morning, when the caretaker gently called her over.
As she slowly stepped towards her, then she took out something that was hiding in her lap underneath the apron.
 “You’re a big girl now. You need to start going to school and learn about things. This is the school uniform, I’m sure that you will look so pretty in it.”
Puzzled, she stared at the tiny stack of faded clothes in her hand, and then at her.

Attending school, she had always wondered how it would be like.
She had stood at the fence and watched him and the other children leave for school almost every day. Her heart had yearned to follow, but her pride would never allow her the permission to say it.
Now that the opportunity has presented itself to her, she was a mixture of anticipation and resentment.
No longer would she have to stand alone at the gate and watch him leave with the others. Yet, no longer would she get to anticipate his return everyday and feel that tingling joy of seeing him walking towards her and holding her tiny hands firmly in his as they walk into the home together.

She is definitely reluctant to give up that odd sensation of his rough palm rubbing between her delicate fingers.

She took two tiny steps forward.
Her hand reaching out, casting a slim long shadow over the apron, as she gently traces the lines on the washed fabric of the school uniform that now belongs to her.
The caretaker looked hard and deep at the face of this beautiful little thing.
Trying to explain the calmness beyond her years that had suddenly overtook the hesitation that was so prominent just seconds ago.

This is not the face of a typical six-year-old.
This calmness does not belong to this delicate untainted porcelain face.
Such expressions should only be seen on grown-ups who had bare witness to almost everything in life.
Yet, there it is now, reflected as somber as a crescent moon on the calm surface of a black lake.

She then lifted the stack of school uniform, turn around and walked back to her bed.
 Leaving the caretaker speechless and lost in a maze of her own thoughts.



“Those moments. Those moments with your hand in mine, will walk with me for the rest of my life.” 


The next morning, he slung his school bag across his shoulder, grabbed his partially filled water bottle and walked towards the gate, expecting to see her there, waiting to send him off as usual.
But there she was, delicately neat in a plain navy dress, the same type of blue that he had on.
She lifted her eyes from the ground and saw him staring at her.
Whether it was the coldness of the morning or the reflection of the gentle morning sun, he could have sworn he saw two rosy blush on her otherwise pale cheeks that very morning.
He smiled, walked over, held her cold little hand, and this time, the two of them walked out of the gate together, hand in hand.

As soon as they reached the school gate, she panicked.
There were too many people around, kids, parents, teachers……
She tightened her grip on his hand, her steps froze as she tried to hide her tiny self behind his towering frame.
Instantly, he sensed her anxiety, he could feel her timid hand shaking and sweating in his. Reassuringly, he held her hand just a little bit tighter, turned his head around, and flashed her another one of those smiles that is just comforting enough to ease any fear or doubt in her.
He could feel her grip loosen.
“I’ll walk you to your classroom,” he asserted with a smile on his face.
She nodded, vaguely.
As she took quick tiny steps behind him. The morning sun shone brightly along the long school corridor, casting warm lively shadows as they walk hand in hand along the winding path to their classrooms.