Adelaide Dove Hindley is a young woman with too many problems to bear. After an abusive episode with her boyfriend, she runs to the pier. She just wanted to escape her life and have some peace but when she finds herself about to jump she doesn't kno...
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I just got done with my shift at work and decided before I went home I wanted to run my Alberts since I hadn't seen him in a hot minute.
I walk through the door of his and hear the similar bell jingle welcoming me. I see Albert with his hands behind his back walking around. I decided to surprise him. I sneak up to him tip-toeing closer.
Once I get to the back of him I open my mouth to greet him but he beats me to it. "Good afternoon Adelaide. Have not seen you in a while," He says while his back is still to me.
"What? How did you know I was here?" I ask confused. He turns to me, "Every time you walk in you stop for a second at the door and take a deep breath." He pushes his glasses up.
"Awwwww did you miss me?" I ask following him around as he tries to do his work. He completely ignores me as I try to talk to him.
He always acts like he doesn't like me but I can always see a small glimmer in his eyes when he hears me talk.
I've known Albert most of my life since I switched foster homes and moved here when I was 10. We met when I got caught in a thunderstorm and he happened to see me while closing. I got lost and couldn't find my way back. He gave me homemade chicken noodle soup that his wife made for him. It was supposed to be his lunch but he never ate it because it was a busy day at the store. Albert and his wife have always looked after me. If I ever need food in my belly and a place to sleep, I know they're there for me.
Albert acts like he doesn't care but throughout the years I can see when he really feels. And he feels a lot. I remember one time I was 13 and a bee flew into the store and instead of killing it, he saved it. He picked up the bee then took it outside and it flew away.
I was stunned when he did that, before he did I was about to kill the bee with a broom because I was scared. I knew what a bee could do because I'd gotten stung before, and it always scared me to get stung again.
Once he realized how freaked out I was he took me to the park and showed me flowers with hundreds of bees flying around. He went to a flower and held my hand as he picked up a bee. I was scared but astonished at how he wasn't scared of getting stung.
He moved the bee to my hand and said "Don't let curiosity be consumed by fear."
Now whenever I see a bee it always reminds me of him. And if I see a bee in need, I try to save it. Something about knowing that something could hurt you but nine times out of ten won't is somewhat comforting. The bee knows that it has a stinger and could easily hurt you but doesn't. And if it does, it's a suicide.
Bees die without a stinger. Once they sting it's all over for them. They would rather die fighting than put up no fight at all. Vengeful is a way to put it but I like to think of it as poetic.
Albert has taught me lots of things like how fruits and veggies come about, and also how to grow a plant from a seed. I never liked gardening but I have always loved watching Albert do it. In the books store, he grows flowers on the windowsill in little pots.
One time I asked why he helped me that one night I couldn't find my home and he told me that when he first moved to America he was in my position and knew how it felt to be in the foster system.
His mother died right after moving here with him and his two siblings. Luckily they never got separated and grew up together in the same foster home. He also told me his name isn't actually Albert, but instead came up with it so kids wouldn't make fun of him and so that it was easier to pronounce for Americans. His given name is Jingyi Zhang.
His first name, Jingyi means quiet/gentle in Chinese so I think it fits him.
