Daughter of the King - Summer Wishes

Chapter Two

A shrill noise jolted me awake. I sat upright in a daze, heart hammering against my ribs. What was that racket? Was there a fire? Had the world ended? Horns blared, shouts and bangs filled the air, sirens wailed, and ambulances shrieked by.

Disoriented, I glanced around the unfamiliar room. Slowly, the events of yesterday flooded back – the move, the exhaustion that had sent me crashing into a deeper sleep than usual.

I looked over to where Tito had slept beside me the night before, but the bed was empty. Rapture? I thought with a jolt as I scrambled out of bed.

Where was everyone? Dad? Tito? Mom? I had to find them. I raced through the corridor and into the living room from earlier.

I skidded to a halt, legs and arms spread wide like a startled bear, at the sight of everyone gathered in a corner around what appeared to be a makeshift dining table.

Tito sat quietly on the left side of the table, munching away like it was her job. Dad, perched precariously on the edge, had butter on his mustache. Mom, in a funny pair of pajamas, stood between them, pouring tea.

They all stopped and stared at me, I at them. Tito, however, continued her relentless munching.

Concern etched on her face, Mom started to walk towards me, abandoning the teapot on the table.

Suddenly, the strange noises didn't seem so strange anymore. The honking made sense, the shouts sounded like people calling out for buses, but why was it so close to our new place?

"Are you okay?" Mom asked, her voice shaking me out of my thoughts.

Of course I wasn't!

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled anyway.

"Are you sure? You came dashing in like you were having a panic attack. Oh, you must be starving, right? Why don't you freshen up and join us? You looked so peaceful sleeping, and I didn't want to wake you earlier."

I nodded and scurried back to my room, still a little shaken. I guess this new house wasn't only small but also located in a rather noisy neighborhood. I didn't take long freshening up. Though Mom wasn't fully aware of the internal disaster that had just unfolded in my mind, she wasn't wrong about my hunger. I could devour a whole buffet right now.

Walking towards the window after leaving the bathroom, I felt a pang of nostalgia. I used to watch the sunset from my old room almost every evening. It was a beautiful sight, watching the sun rest after a glorious day of showering us with its rays.

It wasn't sunset yet, however. Back in my old room, I could still watch the clouds drift across the endless sky. Now, the only thing drifting across my window was a gecko clinging to the opposite wall.

Tears welled up in my eyes.

An urge to sing welled up alongside the tears. Maybe it was because I craved comfort, and music always had a way of making me happy. Music had this power to change the atmosphere, to immerse me in its own world, transporting me entirely. I desperately needed that escape.

Music was also a conduit to God, and we all know that in God's presence, there is fullness of joy. And right now, joy was exactly what I craved. Closing my eyes, I leaned against the window and sang a line from a song by my favorite band, Hillsong:

🎶 Let every breath I breathe

Pour out in praise toward the King

Jesus forever true

My every breath will worship You🎶 

Singing made me feel like I was in another world, a perfect world. Even the heavens seemed to appreciate my performance, because as I sang the next line, an angel joined in, harmonizing beautifully:

🎶"How great is the One whose hope lines the horizon

Just when it feels like the end there's new life

How great is the One who..."🎶

I stopped, unable to recall the next line properly. But to my amazement, the angel didn't stop singing. Or was it...?

Slowly, I opened my eyes and then shot up straight in shock. The window across from mine was now open, and behind it stood a girl with light skin and prominent cheekbones. She finished the song flawlessly, then stopped singing shortly after I did.

She stared at me, then smiled. Panic seized me. I didn't know what to do. It wasn't exactly an everyday occurrence to open your window and find a stranger peering out from their own window directly opposite.

"Tomi," I heard suddenly. It was Mom. Oops, I almost forgot about breakfast.

I practically skipped away without a word, hoping I wasn't too rude.