FIVE
Aliya
THREE YEARS AGO
I sit alone on the bench with an open book in my hand, watching a bird feed her young in the tree.
The mother bird is taking care of them, investing a lot of time and energy in raising her brood, but at the end of the day, she will leave them. She won’t wait until they are completely independent. She will fly away without looking back, without knowing whether her chicks will even survive this cruel world. Yet, there will also be birds that stay with their young.
That’s just the way life is.
Some are loved, others are left behind.
“Here, little one.” Lio sits down on the bench next to me and hands me a cool Coke.
“Thanks.” I close my book and accept the drink.
He takes out his laptop and continues studying for college.
As the sun is finally making an appearance, he’s decided to study outside and because I didn’t want to stay at home, we’ve met here.
I glance at his laptop while he focuses on typing. His green eyes scan the lines, and his eyebrows raise with each sentence before he quickly types on.
“What are you writing about?”
He exchanges a look between me and his laptop before smirking. “ISO-OSI model.”
I furrow my brows, clearly clueless about what he’s talking about.
He laughs before closing his laptop and setting it aside. “It’s rude of me to work next to you. I’ll continue later.”
I shake my head. “It doesn’t bother me.”
“But it bothers me, little one.” He looks at me with a halfhearted smile before stretching, yawning. “Besides, I could use a break.”
That’s what I like about Lio.
He’s not only kind-hearted, but also compassionate.
“Did you go to school today?”
I nod slowly. He doesn’t need to know that I skipped the last four classes to come here with him.
It’s been three months since I met Lio.
After he brought me back home that night, he gave me his number and promised me that I could contact him at any time.
Fear gripped me and even the slightest noise at home triggered panic attacks that paralyzed me. My psyche was haunted by piercing voices and a suffocating darkness.
But before despair consumed me, I called Lio.
We met up. He didn’t even ask about my problems but involved me in a casual conversation about his passion for motorcycles. And although he didn’t do anything major, he distracted me. He quelled my dark thoughts and brought me back to life.
Since then, I’ve been seeing him at least every two weeks. I’m probably already getting on his nerves because he has to deal with me on top of his studies, but I’m too scared to be alone.
“Ah, before I forget, I have something for you.”
I look at him in surprise as he sits up and rummages in the pocket of his black jacket. He pulls out something shiny and dangles it in front of me.
My eyes widen as I spot a bracelet with a small pink pendant on it.
“For me?” I look at him in disbelief.
He doesn’t even answer but reaches for my right wrist to put it on.
Perplexed, I lift my arm and look at the bracelet to make sure I’m not hallucinating.
It consists of a row of beads strung together in an enchanting pattern. The thing that makes me gasp is the small pendant, which depicts a lotus flower. The tiny bud blossoms in a delicate shade of pink, its petals unfurling gracefully.
I’ve never received something so beautiful.
“Do you know the story of the lotus flower, kiddo?”
I shake my head without taking my eyes off the pendant.
“According to a Chinese folklore, a little girl called Ling found a lotus flower that was more beautiful than any flower she had ever seen before. She was fascinated by the beauty of it, so she decided to protect this flower.”
His arms are folded together while his warm gaze rests on me. “Ling visited the lotus flower every day and told it all her worries. She felt like the flower understood her in some way. But as fall approached, it began to wither. Just before it could reach its final bloom, it opened and gave Ling a shiny seed. Ling planted it and a new flower grew soon after, even more beautiful than the previous one.”
I have a rough idea why he is telling me this story, but I keep quiet and listen to him.
“Lotus flowers symbolize purity and rebirth, little one.” He looks ahead and leans back again while I process his words in my head and stare closely at the pink pendant on my arm.
Give life another chance, it will get better , are the actual words he wants to tell me.