The fairytales taught us wrong and so did all our books. Humans were never the most advanced beings on the planet that we call earth. How could they be? When all they did was tear each other down viciously, and in their dirty, murky swamp of politic...
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After completing my shift of eight hours in the orphanage, and reluctantly bidding goodbye to the kids, I head to the building's cafeteria. Not only because I feel famished but because an 'idiota' is waiting for me there.
I reach the open cafeteria and scan the place to find her sitting by the corner most table, isolated from all human interactions, chewing and blowing a giant pastel pink bubblegum bubble. Typical Tiana! She is dressed in her usual black leather pants, black shirt and black combat boots, looking as irritated as she always does.
While I am greeted by my co-workers and seniors who request me to join their table, Tiana simply puts her legs up on the table with an unmistakable attitude and rolls her eyes. With little choice, I thank them and politely refuse their invitations and make my way to her table.
Tiana lowers her feet from the table and with a bored expression on her face says, "I will never understand how you deal with these idiots with a smile. All I want to do is smash their heads. Especially those nagging kids. Like how the hell do you do that?"
"I can do that, maybe, because I don't see the entirety of living beings as a curse on this earth. Not everyone in this world is evil you know" I say and shake my head.
"I am not sure if they are all evil, but I am completely sure that they are all idiots. No one can convince me otherwise, not even you princess." She adds in a nonchalant tone.
"This is why I love you; you know that right?" I say with a laugh, only to be replied with, "You are too kind you know that?"
Tiana is one of those few individuals who have the guts to be unapologetically themselves around me in spite of knowing my true identity. And I adore her for that. She happens to be one of the undercover Oceanian Intelligence Agency (OIA) Agents assigned the task of guarding me. She happens to be one of the most talented cadets of the OIA apart from being one the sweetest mermaid to exist on earth.
He job practically entails to being my shadow. Hence she currently plays the role of a student at the Oceanian Royal University as well in order to be close with me at all times and appear as my best friend to the general public who remain completely unaware of the situation. Since I decided to work in the orphanage, she has been forced to take up the job of a therapist for the children here and needless to say, she hates every moment of it!
But I know that though she will never say it out loud, she not only respects me as the princess but also loves me as her friend. We decide on going to our favourite café near Central Park and start walking from the orphanage.
Though I am not a particular fan of crowds and I prefer staying alone, there is something magical about the NYC crowd. The diversified faces, dreams, races, wishes all have a subtle touch of life in it. While someone's in a hurry to chase what they perceive as their dream, Others go about with hollow eyes with shattered dreams, yet all of them are tied together with a single string: the struggle for life. Sometimes, this will to struggle dies a fearful death, naturally.
How can I hold myself back from trying to help those who face this dire situation in life? And so I don't.
Tiana and I were standing at a chaotic busy crossing when I noticed a girl standing beside me. She was hardly sixteen or seventeen. Somehow, she looked out of place in that situation with a wild unsettling expression in her green eyes. I couldn't exactly figure out where I had seen those eyes.
I was contemplating the thought of asking her if she was in any sort of trouble when suddenly she suddenly lunged herself forward towards a truck. Without actually realizing what I was doing I jumped forward almost simultaneously and caught her by her arms and pulled her aside. I couldn't maintain my balance and fell with her falling on top of me. For a few seconds I could hear nothing—everything went absolute silent except for a nagging beep that sounded in my ears.
It was only after I finally heard Tiana shout 'princess', and felt her hugging me and checking me for injuries, I realized what I had done. I looked at my side to find the girl sitting on the concrete pavement like a sculpture carved by a Renaissance sculptor from white marble. Absolutely still.
"Are you alright? What the freaking hell were you thinking? We could have lost you, I—" I cut Tiana off mid-sentence, "I am fine, we need to help her now." Tiana gave me an incredulous look that screamed 'Are you nuts?' But I ignored her and stood up and stooped a little to hold the girl by her shoulders. Tiana understood that there's no point in arguing with me anymore and helped me to shoulder the girl's weight as we carried her to a park across the road and made her sit on a bench.
She sat there with an accusing dead look in her lightless eyes. I could feel her dilemma at that moment. It's the dilemma of giving another chance to the life that you are tired of and the wish to start anew in a new life, with a new identity. Trying to end whatever we call life takes bravery, but trying to live even after everything that you call life has ended takes even greater courage.
And I wish for this stranger to have that courage, so I do the only thing that I could have done at the moment. I hug he tightly and whisper in her ear, "You are not alone, you never were, someone will always be there for you."
And almost instantaneously her emotionless state breaks apart, her all consuming cries ring in the air. They break my heart, but I know that she needs to let it all out. And so, I let her cry without any hindrances. She hugs me close and cries her heart out, it was as if we knew each other for years.
It takes her half an hour to calm down and return to a composed disposition. All this while I and Tiana wait patiently and give her all the time she naturally needs. She finally raises he eyes to mine and I realise that she wants to say something. Tiana realizes that as well and moves to the bench across ours to give her the implied space.
She looks at me with those teary broken eyes and says – "I- I don't know what I was thinking when I took that decision, I-I—" she fumbles with her words, so I interrupt her, "You don't have to give any explanations, You are brave and I know that, it take courage to think about taking such a drastic step, but I also know that your courage is not limited at that, you are brave enough to face all the hurdles that life offers. Remember that you remain the same beautiful you, even after you decide to live on your own terms after derailing from the path of the unthinkable."
For a few minutes, silence reigns then, she hugs me tight and says, "You can't be just a human! You are my guardian angel, aren't you?"
