1 The Light Orphanage

"I don't blame fate

maybe they were just not ready

to give birth to me into this world."

.

ONTARIO

In a room, Viona sat tidying up some of the personal data files of her foster siblings for the prospective adoptive parents.

ZING

The door opened.

"Are the files all finished?" Asked Maria, the orphanage matron to Viona.

"Yes, Mother," Viona answered Maria's question, whom she already considered as her own mother gently.

"Hopefully, your foster siblings will have a better life with their new parents."

"I hope so, Mother. They will go to school, and they can improve their lives," Viona said happily.

Maria looked at Viona, who was standing excitedly. Eighteen years ago she found a baby wrapped in a blanket in a cardboard box crying in front of her house. Her home had now been turned into a orphanage because of her.

That baby had now grown into a beautiful girl named Viona Angel, a happy girl who chose to stay at the orphanage instead of getting adopted by new parents.

Viona gave Maria a dilemma when many so adopters chose her to be their adopted child, but their requests were always rejected by Viona. It made the prospective adopters angry because they felt insulted. They thought any orphans should have been grateful to be given the chance to be adopted, but she chose to refuse their offer.

"What are you thinking about? Why are you looking at me like that," asked Viona, startling Maria.

"Oh, I am just thinking about how fast time passed, my Angie has now become a big girl."

"I promise, I will never leave you, Mother!!!!"

"There will come a time when you will have to live independently, my sweet daughter," whispered Maria softly as she hugged Viona lovingly.

Angie was Maria's favorite nickname for Viona. She was a childless widow. Her late husband was a doctor who died while on duty to care for patients with communicable diseases.

Finally, Maria chose to leave her job as a nurse and devote her life to less fortunate children whose parents abandoned them.

Viona was the first child she rescued, so the bond between the two was very deep compared to the other children. Viona was still firm in her stance not to leave the orphanage even though some of her foster siblings chose to live with their adoptive parents.

"Come on, your siblings are waiting in the living room," said Maria gently.

"Let me carry those files for you, Mother," Viona said softly as she grabbed the stack Maria wanted to carry.

Maria smiled at Viona's persistence to help her. She followed the girl to the living room where the prospective adoptive parents were waiting.

"Apologies for making you wait too long," Maria opened the conversation.

"This is their personal data, Madam," Viona added while placing the file on the table.

The prospective adoptive parents read the files on the table, they looked at the photos seriously. Maria and Viona smiled seeing their guests this time. They hoped some children would be adopted.

"Can I see this kid?" asked a woman with blonde hair.

"I also want to see this child," added a woman who wore dark glasses.

"Okay, come with me, Ladies and gentlemen." Viona led her guests to the playroom on the second floor, where her foster siblings were at.

When they saw the children playing, some of the women looked excited. Two couples wanted to adopt immediately. Finally, four children were adopted on that day.

Maria quickly prepared the children's documents before handing them over to their prospective parents.

"Lisa, be a good child in your new home, okay," Viona said softly when she was tidying her sister's clothes.

"Big sister, why do we have to go? Do you hate us because we are naughty? Is that why you are sending us away?"

"Big sister Viona please talk to mom, we promise we won't be naughty anymore but don't ask us to go."

"Sobs... Big sister, I don't want to go!"

"Me tooo.... sobs."

Suddenly the sound of children crying came from the children's room on the third floor, Viona tried to calm her siblings gently.

"I would NEVER hate you, sweetheart. I want you to be able to go to school to achieve your dreams," Viona said softly, hugging them lovingly.

"Anne, you want to be a police officer when you grow up, right? And Jackson, you want to be a pilot, don't you?" Viona gently asked her siblings.

"But we can go to school here too..." The four-year-old girl, Anne, cried again.

Viona hugged her sisters alternately for thirty minutes. Maria only peeked at them from behind the door with a knowing smile. Finally, Viona managed to bring her younger siblings down and handed them over to their adoptive parents with a smile.

Some children cried when they found out that their foster siblings had gone with their new parents. The time spent together at the orphanage had made them very close.

Maria wiped the tears that fell on her cheeks when she saw four of her foster children leave with their new parents. Viona hugged her foster mother tightly from the side to comfort her. Soon they returned to the orphanage because it was getting late.

"Come with me for a while, Angie," said Maria, inviting Viona to climb to the balcony on the third floor.

Viona followed her mother from behind without the slightest suspicion.

"Angie, do you know that the orphanage is in trouble? That's why I am very keen to find foster parents for the ten remaining children at our home," Maria stared at Viona with a sad expression.

"I understand what you mean, Mother. However, I feel like you are keeping something from me," Viona replied quickly.

"Please read this, Angie," Maria handed over a lab document to Viona.

BADUMP.

Viona's body staggered and she almost fell to the floor when she finished reading the document.

"This can't be right...!" Viona wailed desperately.

"I also hope this test result is wrong, my sweet daughter, but I have already done tests in three different hospitals," said Maria softly. Tears started streaming down her face and wet the scarf she was wearing.

"Tomorrow, we will have more prospective adopters come here. I hope they will bring your three remaining siblings with them," Maria added slowly.

"I don't want to lose you, Mother," Viona sobbed in tears.

Maria hugged Viona tightly. Even though they were not bound by blood, but to each other, they were mother and child. They were crying hopelessly, lamenting the fate that would soon separate them forever.

Maria was diagnosed with late-stage leukemia. The doctor estimated that she only had less than two months to live. Viona was suspicious when she saw that her mother was getting thinner. Maria cleverly avoided her questions whenever Viona confronted her about it.

"The lawyer that you contacted has managed to sell this house. We have to vacate this house next month," said Maria softly. Her voice was trembling.

Viona did not respond to her mother's words. She could barely make a sound. Her throat felt choked and she couldn't find words to say. She just wanted to hug her mother so tightly that she didn't want to let her go.

"Come on, Angie, the air outside is getting cold," whispered Maria softly trying to coax Viona who was still crying.

Viona got up from her seat then walked inside while still hugging her mother tightly. Maria fell asleep after drinking the medicine Viona gave her. She held Maria's hand tightly, kissing the hand repeatedly.

This old woman was her savior. Eighteen years ago, Maria saved her and had been taking care of her selflessly. Maria cared for and raised children who were not born from her womb, while there were many women out there who killed or abandoned their own children without second thoughts.

"I will find the best doctor for you, Mom," Viona sobbed softly in tears. Her tears streaming down her face. Her eyes were from all the crying.

Viona kissed her mother's face. She had slept gently. Her cheeks were hollow, and her body looked thinner than before, but they couldn't reduce her natural beauty.

"George."

Viona stopped what she was doing when she heard her mother's voice called out her husband's name. The man had passed away decades ago.

"You miss Dad, don't you, Mom?" Viona couldn't help let out another cry.

Viona finally fell asleep beside Maria, still holding her mother's hand tightly and hoping to wake up from the nightmare. She hoped everything was just a bad dream and it was not real.

***

The next morning, the remaining three foster children were successfully adopted by their new parents.

"Goodbye, Children," said Maria when she led her last three children to the gate. She waved her hand gently.

Viona stood beside her mother, trying to hold her mother's body, which was getting weaker. Not long after, a lawyer came into the house with an assistant.

"This is the proceeds from the sale of this house, Mam," said the lawyer softly as he handed over the check and cash to Maria and Viona. He added, "They asked this house to be vacated no later than one week from now."

"Yes, Sir, I understand. Thank you for your help, Sir," said Maria gently as she greeted and escorted her guests away.

Viona tidied up the file given by the lawyer then led her mother into the room to rest.

"Angie, all this is for you, I hope you can continue your life with this money," said Maria weakly.

"This is money for your treatment, Mom. We will get the best doctors to treat you. You will be healthy again," Viona shook her head. She was in tears again.

"But..."

"Mother...!!" shouted Viona in panic when she saw Maria vomited a lot of blood. She quickly hailed a taxi and immediately went to take Maria to the hospital.

"Motherr...!!! Motheeerr...!!" Viona screamed in tears when she saw her mother could not be saved by the doctor.

***

Viona walked closer to her mother's grave. She dropped to her feet on the hard ground and embraced the fresh grave. It was Maria's last place of resting. Viona's voice had run out after crying for two days, mourning for her mother's passing. Many people came to console her.

"Where should I go now, Mom? You were the only one I have in this world," Viona cried incessantly. In her arms, was a picture of her late mother smiling beautifully.

Slowly Viona placed her mother's photo on the tombstone. She stared at the grave next to her mother's grave. On the grave next to Maria's, she saw a picture of a young man wearing a black tuxedo and a white coat typical of a doctor.

On the tomb was written the name: GEORGE ROBERT HARRISON, on her mother's tomb, written the name MARIA JESICCA HARRISON.

"Father, please take care of Mother in heaven. Even though I don't know you personally, but Mother has told me a lot about you," said Viona softly in front of the graves of her foster parents.

When Viona finally left the graves of her foster parents, she felt as if half of her soul was gone.

The next day, Viona tidied up some of her mother's belongings in the room. She wanted to put them in the box. She looked around the room where she and her mother used to share their lives together for eighteen years.

Viona's steps stopped in front of the house with a signboard "The Light Orphanage" by the gate. Her tears streamed down when she saw at the sign was being lowered by several workers to put in a car she rented so she could move to a small apartment in the city center.

Her mother's house that was converted into an orphanage would soon be torn down and turned into a pub by its new owner. Viona held her mother's important documents tightly and then walked to the car because she had to leave the house immediately.

"I will turn on the light elsewhere, Mother. That's my promise," Viona said softly as she looked at the house for the last time.

<to be continued>