My Little Love Leti

Chapter - 1

The first few months were tough for little Brian. He was mostly quiet and was often found under the beds or tables sniffling quietly. The other kids tried to get him to join their games but he was shy and withdrawn and understandably upset most of the time. The older kids tried to baby him and give him care and concern but even that did not work for long on the precocious child. The only one who could get him to smile and play was little Leti. When he would be crying under a table she would quietly slip underneath and lay his head on her lap and pet his head as she comforted him. She would tell him about her day and complain about how jacky had pulled her hair during the classroom and how sister Catherine had praised her for getting her alphabet right. Then she would slowly tell him to accompany her on her next wild adventure. Somedays she took him tree climbing, and sometimes to collect tadpoles from the nearby pond. 

While mostly everyone was kind to each other at St. Mary's home for children there were some mean kids too. Some big bad bullies who thought that showing their strength over weaker, younger children would compensate them for everything they lacked in intelligence and strength of character. For these bullies, a quiet, soft-spoken child like Brian was a prime target. They called him the little wimp and often tried to corner him. They would hang him upside down from his pants and take his sweets while he quietly bore it all with a stubborn pout and defiant expression. One such day Leti saw these bullies cornering Brian.

She flew at the big mean boy who was trying to shove Brian around and bit his arm hard. 

"You little bitch," exclaimed the big boy Tommy as he angrily pulled at Leti's hair. 

"Let go," he screamed as Leti continued biting down on his arm despite the pain in her scalp. 

Seeing Leti get hurt Brian started thrashing in his captor's hold too, biting them and kicking their shins. Although there were two of them the same numbers as the mean boys, the mean boys were bigger than them and had them soon overpowered. That's when Jacky intervened with a loud roar like a lion and launched himself at Tommy who was pulling Leti up by her hair. His angry screams as he punched Tommy's stomach despite being half his size attracted the attention of Leti's other friends. Soon Tina, Ronan and Sammy had joined the fray. With 6 little kids biting, screaming, punching and kicking with all their might the big bad bullies couldn't do anything anymore and ran away with angry bite marks on their arms and bruises on their shins.

"That would show them to mess with one of ours," exclaimed jacky with a victorious grin despite his split lip.

Leti helped Brian up as Tina tried to clean up the boys' wounds with her handkerchief.

"Why did you help me?" asked a quiet Brian.

"Why would I not? Aren't we friends?" asked Jacky.

"Really?" asked Brian shyly.

"Of course, didn't you share your sweets with me and Leti? That makes us friends," Jacky responded almost indignantly.

Before the boys could say anything else Tina jumped into the conversation, "Hi, my name is Tina and what is your name, pretty boy?"

"Pretty boy?" laughed Sammy.

"Of course. he looks just like the Ken doll that Mrs Smith gave elder sister Gabrielle when she came to meet her," replied Tina

The boys facepalmed. "Hi my name is Sammy, you already know Jacky and this is Ronan. We are all Leti's friends. What's your name? and would you like to be our friend?"

"Brian," he mumbled shyly.

"Of course he would be friends with us. He is my little baby. I have adoted him." interjected Leti before Brian could say anything else. Brian's cheeks turned red at Leti's declaration.

"It's not adoted, it's adopted dumb Leti." Jacky corrected her superiorly.

"I am not dumb"

"you are"

"am not"

"You are"

"Let's leave. They will keep fighting," whispered Sammy.

"But shouldn't we stop them?" asked a worried Brian.

" Leti and Jacky always fight. Even sister Ann can't stop them," answered Sammy as he steered an anxious Brian out while drowning out the loud screams from the two fighting kids which soon escalated into a biting and kicking match.

And that is how shy little Brian found his best friends. 

With time Brian started laughing more. Leti had a lot of friends and Brian was slowly pulled into that circle of brightness that surrounded Leti. Before he knew it he was playing tug of war with Jacky on some days while somedays Tina was getting him to braid flowers into her hair. Sammy and Ronan often dragged him to play catch with them saying braiding hair was for girls. But throughout all his fun and games one thing was constant, he never left Leti's side. No matter who wanted to play with him or needed his help in their daily chores if Leti needed something he would leave everything to be with her. Despite all the boys teasing him if Leti wanted someone to braid her hair, Brian would do it. If Leti got hurt on one of her Wild adventures Brian would spend the entire day fussing over her in his quiet manner. In the day they played together and during the night he would clutch Leti's nightgown and his ratty brown teddy as he fell asleep. 

As Brian came out of his shell his intelligence became self-evident. He could remember things after reading them only once and his comprehension was off the charts. At four he was already reading science books while others were stuck on Goldilocks and Hansel and Gretel. And yet for all his intelligence he eagerly looked forward to the bedtime story Leti would tell. She often changed the original story to suit her mood but Brian was happy regardless to fall asleep to her sweet voice each night.

Brian's parents had been professors and had often let him sit on their laps as they read their adult books. They had always patiently answered all questions Brian had and had often incorporated science into their everyday activities. Brian missed them a lot but he had his friends. Whenever he missed his parents they distracted him. And if he still felt gloomy Leti's smile would take away his sadness. 

Leti had never known her parents. She had been left in front of the children's home one dark night in a basket with a note that only had her name. She never felt their absence. For her, the sisters were her parents and her friends her siblings. And she brought joy to all of them with her antics. Of all of them, she was the wildest. She often had twigs in her hair and her clothes got torn regularly. She chased after butterflies and sang at the top of her voice despite being tone-deaf. And her and Jacky's fight were notorious throughout the orphanage. Everyone steered clear of them when they fought. The only who could stop Leti from scratching Jacky's face was Brian. When she was not fighting with Jacky she and Ronan were probably getting up to some mischief. Anyone who had messed with their friends would soon find a spider in their shoe or a frog underneath their pillow. 

She was wild and he was her voice of reason.

He was shy and closed up, she was his window to liveliness.

And so their days passed.

Author's Note - 

Not sure how many of these notes I am going to do. The song above somehow fits my image of Leti's personality somewhat. Besides I love the movie. Kudos to those who recognize which movie it is from. 

I haven't set up an update schedule yet but I will try updating every week. probably around Saturdays. I am glad to see that I have around 25 readers. I wasn't expecting anyone to read. I hope you have a good time reading