Prologue

"Mama!" the little girl kept calling through the devastating storm.

The ocean's waves were out for blood. The winds howled as if they were saying "No mercy!". The rain drops were practically pelting the entire scene with its titanic size.

The girl's scream became louder as she evidently competed with the deafening thunder.

"Mama!" she uselessly shrieked as she tried to stay afloat in the raging waters.

When all was lost, she woke up with a start. Evidently, she just had a horrible nightmare.

"Mama!" she cried wanting comfort.

Five...ten...fifteen seconds passed.

Now, she was worried. Where was her mother?

"Mama?" she said it more like a question.

The door slowly opened.

"Ma-" she stopped. It wasn't her mother. It couldn't be.

"Ari, she's...she's-" the older girl holding the doorknob sobbed.

"Ate (the Filipino term for "Big Sister")? Where's Mama?" the younger girl asked not wanting to accept the blatant truth.

"Ari, you-you know where Mama is."

"Ate, I-I don't know what you're saying."

The door then opened widely revealing a man who had just turned on the lights.

"Girls, what's wrong?" the man asked even though he should have asked that to himself. His brown, almost black eyes, revealed that he had been crying. His weary exterior just confirmed the assumption even more.

"Nothing, Papa." said the girl on the bed after gaining some courage when she saw her father. After a few moments, she added "Ate Ani won't tell me where Mama is."

The father's eyes betrayed his current emotion. He was obviously puzzled, so the older girl whispered something to him to shed some light on the subject. The younger girl had somehow forgotten the fear she had felt earlier since it had been replaced by something else -- curiosity.

The man then looked at both her daughters seriously. He sat down on the bed and bade the other girl to sit beside him as the younger girl made some room to her unexpected invaders.

"I'm sorry if I didn't explain this clearly to both of you." he started in a tone that made both girls uncomfortable.

"What is it, Papa?" the younger one asked.

"Your mother left us, Ari." he answered.

"Wh-what do you mean, Papa?" the younger girl further questioned.

"She got up and left," he clarified.

"What?" This time it was the older one who was in shock.

"I mean, she doesn't want us anymore." he meaningfully said with a look that silenced any persistence to the matter.

A few moments later, the two outsiders left the younger girl to let her sleep. But honestly, who could sleep after finding that out.

"Mama," she weeped loudly.

How pitiful, right? She's so unfortunate. Truth be told, she's really whiny. Most of the time, she just said "Mama." She should really die. Oh! Don't worry. She did. I was left in her ashes.

My name is Ari, Ari Lacre. This is the tale of how I became the "Daughter of the Wind."

Please do note that if you do not want to read a bittersweet story with an after taste you'd want to forget, then stop now. Put this book down. Don't continue on. It'll only hurt you more in the process.

But if you want to find out how I grew up to be me, then knock yourselves out. Enjoy the bumpy ride. And don't say I didn't warn you.