BLACK ROSE

8 -

After our shopping trip, Fatih, being the gentleman he is, had kindly accompanied me home. When we reached the front of my apartment building, I said goodbye to him outside. Then, I walked through the garden alone and headed towards the entrance door of the apartment. Just as I was about to open the door, I heard a voice from behind, coming from the street. A little girl was pleading, "Can someone help me? Please!"

Curious, I turned around. Standing on the sidewalk where I had just said goodbye to Fatih was a delicate girl around 8-9 years old with long brown hair. But the strange part was, she was wearing Fatih's clothes: his black jeans and black t-shirt.

Actually, saying she was wearing those clothes is a bit misleading. It would be more accurate to say that the little girl was practically swimming in Fatih's clothes, given his 6-foot stature and large build. The jeans, far too big for her, had slid down and bunched around her ankles, while the t-shirt looked like a black dress on her.

When we made eye contact, she called out to me, "Hello, where am I? I don't remember anything." Her voice was trembling with fear.

I hurried over to her. "Don't be scared, sweetie. I'll help you." I crouched down in front of her, holding her tiny hands, and asked, "Do you remember your name?"

"Ce-Ceren."

"I'm Ece. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, sister. Um, I'm a bit cold."

"We're right in front of my house," I murmured as I took off my coat and draped it over Ceren's shoulders. "If you'd like, we can go inside. I can find you some suitable clothes, and I'll make a few phone calls to try to reach your family. What do you think?"

After a moment's hesitation, she nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

"Come on, Ceren," I said, standing up. I picked up Fatih's fallen phone, jeans, and boxers, then took Ceren's hand and led her into the apartment building. We took the elevator to the fourth floor. Knowing my uncle and aunt were out of town on business and would be back the next morning, I opened the door with my key.

Once inside, I took Ceren to my room.

"Your room is beautiful," she said, looking at the dozens of plush toys arranged on the wall-mounted shelves.

"Thank you. By the way, you can take any of them you like, Ceren."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Seeing her reach for my Minnie Mouse toy with pink bows and a red polka-dotted dress, which was on a shelf too high for her to reach, I took it down and handed it to her. A joyful smile spread across her face, and I was glad to see some of her fear dissipate.

"You're lucky because I kept some of my childhood clothes as mementos and didn't throw them away," I said. "I have something in my closet that should fit you." I pulled out a cute pink and white tracksuit with a kitten design from my wardrobe and handed it to Ceren. "How about this? I hope you like it."

"I like it," she said with a sweet, dimpled smile as she looked over the clothes.

"Then go ahead and change, Ceren. I'll try to reach your family."

After leaving the room and closing the door behind me, I went to the living room and called my friend Sinem.

"How are you, Sinem?"

"I'm good, Ece. What's up with you?"

"You won't believe it! I was with Fatih today and—"

"Ooh, what did you two do?" Sinem teased.