"I'm sorry for leaving you", I whispered.
"n-never leave ", she cried.
"Shhh it's okay, I'm not leaving".
***************************************************************
Alessia has done everything in her power to protect Beatrice, she has raised...
"Alright kids, you all did amazing on the interviews so we can begin our tour. You can call me Mrs. Rivera, I am the director of the youth center so if anything happens or you have any questions don't hesitate in coming to me", she waited for us to catch up then stood in front of a wall mural that is in one of the hallways of the center.
"I always like to begin the tours with this mural first, every child that has set foot in this building is given the opportunity to paint something on this wall. It gives them a way to express themselves, we allow them to paint something about them, their life at home, how they see themselves and etc. If they want to talk about it with us they can, but if they decide it is too personal to talk then we allow them to paint more on this wall or join any activity that helps them cope'', I looked through the different paintings. Some of them were bright and vibrant, others were dark and held negative emotions, then there were the more neutral ones. Each stroke hid a story and looking close enough, you could almost feel the emotions each child had when they were standing here painting.
I looked over to find Alessia mesmerized by a small painting in the corner, it was quite beautiful, two hands barely holding on as they slowly disappeared into butterflies. The painting was dark and the only light that shown was from the butterflies flying away.
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"It's a beautiful piece isn't it?" we all turned to Mrs. Rivera as she smiled at us," it seems to catch everyone's attention, one of our younger kids painted it. You'll see him around, his name is Alene". I turned back to look at it once more and caught Alessia gently caressing it, for some reason there was a hint of anger and pity in her eyes.
"hey, are you okay?" she looked up at me and smiled.
She's been doing that a lot lately.
"Yeah, I don't know what it is but I feel this weird pull towards this child".
I raised an eyebrow and unconsciously tilted my head," a weird pull?"
"Yeah, i-it's hard to explain. I don't know, let's go", she got up and started walking away from me. I stood once more staring at the painting,"it is beautiful", I quietly whispered to myself. I turned around to walk when a small object bumped into my leg, my eyesight lowered and found a small child with big purple glasses.
"Hey there, sorry bud! Are you okay?" He stared at me for a couple seconds," bud?"
He flinched then began looking through his pockets, then he took out a small pad and began writing in it, 'sorry! I didn't see you.'
