Whispers of us

Prologue

"Jas, could you please put your things away in your room?"

"She doesn't have to. She'll be staying in the dorms anyway."

I am Jasmine. I'm a med student. Moving from one city to another can be super stressful, but in cases such as ours, it can be an escape from the real stress.

Looking between my mom and dad I just put my things down on the porch and smile.

Does it look fake?

"Dad.. I think I'll take this suitcase with me to the dorms. The other one is just some books and decorations and stuff. I'll take out what I need to take with me and I don't really have to unpack anything in the room. let's not make more mess for nothing."

"Honey, it's still your room. It has to feel like it when you come over in holidays and whatever."

Mom scoffs, and I just force a wider smile, hoping it looks more convincing.

"It's okay, dad. Really.."

It is.

"I'm a med student, remember? We don't have the privilege of having holidays. And there's a bed already setup up there so that's all what I shall need when I come over."

"But.."

"She said it's ok. Shall we start moving on. We have a whole lot of things to put away and we have to clean around." Mom said as she started carrying one of the boxes into the kitchen.

"Is there something I can help with?"

"No, hun. I'll help your mom. You can go out and walk around the neighborhood.. get to know it better."

I nod a little and put my suitcases aside in the doorway.

As soon as I get out of the house I take a deep breath and start walking. I don't actually know what to expect from this neighborhood. It looks quite nice. A fancy one even. I wander around until I find a small park.

I stroll down the park till I find a seat. I sit down watching people walking around. There were a lot of kids playing, giggling and screaming. An old couple pass by smiling at me. I smile back and wave a little.

A gentle tug on my shirt pulls me out of my thoughts. I look down to find a little girl grinning wildly at me.

"Hi..you look so beautiful. Mommy told me to be brave and come forward to tell you this. You remind me of my sister. She is an angel now. We can't see her, but she sees us. She takes care of me when I'm at school. I miss her, but it's okay. Because mommy says she's always here. Here, it's a gift. It's my favorite candy." She says placing two pieces of candy in my hand before running back to her mother.

A tear that I didn't realize had fallen, landed on my hands. My heart clenches and suddenly I can't breathe.

It's ok.

I just need a minute.

I..

My hand clutches hard to my chest as I lean down trying to catch my breath.

Breath in.

Breath out.

Breath in.

Breath out.

Breath..

Suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look up through blurred eyes to see a man about my age, looking at me, his eyebrow arched up in confusion.

I look down focusing back on my breathing. I need to get a grip.

He kneels down and looks at me. I start to feel tabbing on my shoulder. He tabs his finger against my shoulder once then twice then thrice. And then I start to realize. He's helping me. I start counting down along with his tabbing.

As soon as my breathing stars to even out he places a bottle of water in my hands and stands up walking away.

I look at his retreating figure and try to call out for him to thank him but I don't find my voice. I try to remember what his face looked like but my eyes were too blurry to make out his features.

So I just sit back down in my seat and silently thank him, praying that he would have a good day filled with a lot of reasons to smile.