1 He's Back - 1

The legumes on the chopping board sliced into little pieces as the knife being held firmly by the brown haired lady passed through it with ease.

Lea tucked her hair behind her right ear and blinked with a smile on her lips as she sliced the green legumes.

She is making her Dad's favourite dish tonight and she have already prepared all the ingredients and how to garnish it with all the spices he loves to see in it.

She hums the song:- "Birds come flying" with happiness as she carries the chopping board and scraped the sliced legumes into the open pot of boiling water.

She then grabs a turning stick that is in a basket of plates beside her and mix the legumes with the water.

The carrot that is lying openly near the door of the kitchen looks dry, but Lea still makes her way to the door and packs the dry carrots lying at the door post.

She picks five of it and goes back to the chopping board post and chops the carrots into pieces.

The brown hair of hers sparkles under the influence of the sun and making it seems like it's golden colour.

Around her eyes are pink and her face is white as snow. Her clean but old apron is fluttering against her as the wind tries to make it untie round her waist and flow in any direction of the wind.

Lea. A girl born with pain and struggles when she don't have a mother in her life to satisfy all of them.

Lea's mother died when she gave birth to Lea. Lea's Dad, Landi, at the sight of not having a wife and a mother for his daughter, decided to bring Lea in the way of hardwork and strength.

Ever since Lea started walking, Her Dad would make her to follow him to where they would pick up abandoned and riped fruits and vegetables.

As Lea grew into the stage of maturity, Landi never worried of his daughter whereabouts because he believed that his daughter was upto the stage where she could do anything by herself and for herself.

Lea grew up in the agony of lacking a mother in her life. Yes, she knows she was just a baby when it happened, but her feeling kept her in the cage of guilt.

She lived with the belief that she is the cause of her mother's death and absence in her life, even with the encouragement of her Dad, she still felt pain and guilt overwhelm her everytime her dad opened his mouth to talk about his late wife.

So Landi avoided any conversation of his late wife, so as not to arouse emotional instability for his little girl.

Immediately after Lea scraped the carrots off the board into the pot, the neighs of horses could be heard from a distance and she jumped in Joy and happiness because she knew her father had arrived.

"Papa!" she yelled when she flung the door open and ran with her dress held with her fingertips, because the dress is lengthy, so as to avoid falling.

"My Dear daughter..." the old man said as he came down from the horses and spread his arms out wide, enabling his daughter to fall into his warm embrace.

"Papa! How was it? Did they offer you anything?" Lea asked when she withdrew from her dad's embrace a little.

The old man sighed and shook his head in disappointment and sadness.

"No, Lea. It's still the same results" he said.

Lea's expression changed. Her face fell from the wide smile she just had... To a depressed and sad look.

Her father has been out for three days, because of a meeting he had with some of the elders of Maneth.

They discussed on how to cultivate crops in the land and sell to other kingdoms but somehow, they got into a disagreement and the meeting got dismissed.

"They said no, Lea. Looks like Maneth will still be the same" he said and Lea's eyes fell to her father's chest.

She leaned her head forward and laid it on her dad's chest. Landi gave her head two taps before Lea withdrew.

A smile broke on the lips of Lea as she faced her father.

"Papa, your favorite food is nearly at the table. Get inside and take your clothes off, I'll hook the horses" the Asian looking Lea said with a British accent.

Her father smiled at her and did as he was told while Lea went to the stable with the horses and hooked them up.

"How was the journey, Lorn?" she asked one of the horses she claimed to be her friend ever since she was six.

Lorn, one of the horses, neighed loudly and stumped his hoofs while Lea laughed and rubbed his body with happiness.

When she was done hooking them, she hurried into the little cottage they called a house to serve her dad.

Landi already had some new clothes on and sat down on one of the chairs at the dining area, waiting for his daughter.

Lea hurried into the kitchen, the aroma of the food turning her stomach.

She put off the fire and opened the pot. Staring into the pot, what she saw was upto her taste.

She then fetched the food for she and her father and left to the dining area, remembering to close the pot behind her.

The water in Maneth is not clean, but what other choice do they have.

She fetched the water in wooden cups and sat opposite her father on a chair at the end of the table.

"So? How is it?" she asked with a smile and Landi smiles at his daughter as he raised a spoon upto his mouth.

Lea watched with curiosity all over her.

"This is delicious, Lea! How did you make it?!" her father praised with food still in his mouth.

Lea smiled like a little girl, pleased that what she did for her father as food, satisfied him.

"You taught me, Papa! I learnt it all from you" she said and her father smiled wearily.

"Thank you child" he whispered and focused on the food.

Lea felt happy when she saw this.

The only regret was that...

Her mother was not there to witness such happiness...