7 Her past

Sara has always been an orphan since birth. Her parents had a horrible accident on the way to the hospital. Her mother was in labour, and her panicked father was driving recklessly, thinking it was time for his wife to give birth. In actual fact, he did not get the memo that the labour period for almost every firstborn is longer than you would think.

He sped through the roads, swerving left and right to avoid cars that were being a hindrance to him. The more his wife winced in pain, the more he pressed the accelerator pedal. Seeing his wife in too much pain was unbearable for him. He assumed the sooner he gets to the hospital, the sooner the doctors and nurses could help lessen her pain.

Unfortunately, his reckless driving granted his earnest wish – to end his wife's pain as soon as possible – resulting in instant horrific death. Sara was the only survivor. She has learnt her story from various newspaper clips that were given to her as she grew up.

The only living relative she had at that time was her young paternal aunt, Lily, who was career-driven. The sudden responsibility pushed on her to look after a new-born baby at the tender age of 25 was overwhelming. She had neither time, money nor experience to look after a new-born baby. Lily was thoroughly unprepared. With a heavy heart, she had to carry the guilt within her to decide on giving Sara away for adoption.

Out of all people, Lily understood what it feels like to not be surrounded by parents, but at least she had loved ones around her. But Sara has no one.

Despite that, Lily would like to believe with all her heart that there were people who could raise Sara much better than her. Before she gave Sara away, she wrote ten letters one for each year of Sara's birthday, assuring Sara that she is not alone and that her aunt loved her very much.

She had also left Sara her phone number should she choose to contact her once she is older. She prayed that by the time Sara turns ten, Lily's career would stabilise and she would be capable to look after her then.

However, Sara was never adopted. She had been staying in the orphanage since birth, seeing one by one of her friends get adopted. Fortunately, by the time Sara is eight years old, her aunt has gained stability with her career faster than expected and was able to take Sara home. It was the happiest moment for Sara.

Sadly, her happiness was short-lived. By the time she was thirteen, Lily was diagnosed with heart disease. Coincidentally Lily's colleague recommended Kyo Health Care Institution for her treatments. For every visit to KHCI, Sara had always been accompanying her aunt until that fateful day.

On that unfortunate day, Sara felt very light as if a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulder, but her heart felt heavy. Brimming with so many emotions, she cried. She cried because now her aunt could finally have her long rest. Aunt Lily would not have to suffer anymore. She was happy that Aunt Lily is now free.

But she also cried for another reason; she cried because that means she is now alone. Truly alone in this whole world.

She walked out of the hospital, upset that the world is not sad with her. Regrettably, today was the day she finally gets to see the world properly. If only she appreciated every little thing with her aunt. If only she did not take the everydays for granted.

It was such a beautiful morning for a sad and lonely day. The morning mist kissed her skin, the sun rays were poking out of the clouds, the gentle morning breeze hugged and calmed her. It was such a perfect day. Unfortunately, it was the day her one and only relative passed away. It was unfair. Unfair that the world still goes on without her aunt. Unfair that the world did not mourn with her. Unfair that people could still smile happily when someone has just passed away.

Sara could not enjoy the beautiful scenery laid out in front of her. She felt ungrateful. She felt like she had spoilt the day by crying. Seeing such beautiful sceneries made her miserable so she buried her head between her knees.

"Such a fine morning today, don't you think? As if the day symbolises a new beginning," said a voice that seemed to belong to a male teenager.

Sara ignored him and continued to be swimming in her emotions.

"I'm here if you want to talk it out." He continued talking when he realised she was not responding. "It's good to talk it out, you know?"

Annoyance began to bubble through her and without lifting her head, she softly but angrily said, "I don't want to talk."

"Oh okay. It's fine with me. I'll just keep you company then." He then proceeded to talk and talk and talk to no ends. He went on and on about his everyday life, sharing every little insignificant information like the little ginger kitten he saw that was chasing after the butterfly and how beautiful the blue butterfly was.

'Do I really want to hear all this?' Sara thought to herself. She never thought someone could talk so much with no one actually paying attention to. However, going in through the thirty minutes sitting next to him talking, his stories started to pull her in. Without her knowing, she started to listen attentively to what he was saying, with her head still buried between her knees.

The young man was talking about the time when he was of her age, he confessed to the girl he liked for a year. He went all out as much as fourteen years old could – buy her favourite drinks for every break time, walk her home safely, waited for her when she has extracurricular.

On the very day of his confession, the girl laughed to the point he could see her uvula. "I have never seen anyone from that point of view, to be honest, but that's not even the worse part. She started to fart as if she timed her fart with her loud laughter. I mean, I'm not that shallow. Her farting was fine. Then out of sudden, there was this faint invading smell. Like a wet fart if you know what I mean. At that point, I was like okaaaay, I think it's time for her to go to the toilet.

But you know what happens next? She started to hit me so hard; I'm not sure whether my confession was that funny or she was just embarrassed. As if the pain was not enough, she started pushing me, and I fell sideways and fractured this little finger. I know, what is the possibility of it happening right?" He went on as if Sara was asking him questions.

"Then while I was screaming in pain, I don't know what happened, but she accidentally fell on top of me. To be precise, she landed on my face! I was scarred! I haven't talked to girls since then."

"I don't understand," Sara muffled with her head still buried between her knees.

"Hmmm…I can't actually say it out. It's too embarrassing for me. So I'm going to say it once. You listen carefully and piece them together. First, she timed her fart with loud laughter. Two, a faint invading smell comes right after. Three, she fell on top of my face. There was nothing good comes out from that confession. I broke my finger, I was scarred and haven't talked to girls ever since, and my friendship with her was immediately cut off."

"Ewwww…." Sara finally understood what he was trying to convey as she cringed at his confession experience and chuckled.

"Hahaha yeah. It was a traumatic experience for me. No more confession ever again!"

When he heard Sara chuckled again, he encouraged her to smile more, laugh more and enjoy the beautiful nature around her. "Look where you are sitting right now, the hanging Spanish Moss makes the place even more beautiful and magical. I know it must have been very hard for you but there's always room to be happy."

Sara finally looked up; her vision was slowly adjusting from darkness to the sudden bright light. She looked up in awe. He was telling the truth, it was truly magical.

She turned to thank the person who had been sitting next to her, but to her surprise, there was no one. Nobody was there except for her. Not even anyone nearby within her eyesight. She just wanted to thank him for cheering her up.

'He can't possibly be running that fast, right?' Sara thought. 

Sara found it to be odd that he had all the time to share his life experience, but all of a sudden, he was nowhere to be found.