Must have been the wind ✔

Tiny Yellow Flower

Arden was rushing out the lift, knowing he was late again and Yuri would be waiting. When he reached the end of the staircase, he anticipated seeing Yuri standing there like he always did. But, to Arden's displeasure, Yuri wasn't there.

The thought of going up to check on Yuri crossed Arden's mind. He looked down at his watch and with a pang of guilt and disappointment, Arden realised that he was running late.

Walking out of the apartment, Arden couldn't help but look back at Yuri's balcony. He recalled the new ball of crumpled paper, which he found this morning but didn't have enough time to read its content.

Ever since Yuri had begun joining him to pick up Liam from school, Arden never found any more pieces of paper — a whole week had passed.

Yuri never said much during their walks, making Arden think that he was scared of him, or simply didn't want to make a talk with him. The sparking up thoughts in Arden's mind turned into a fire when he tried starting bits of conversations with Yuri. They were short-lived and died at awkward 'no's' and 'hums'.

Despite all those failed attempts and Arden's embarrassment, he found it pleasant to have Yuri walking beside him every morning. So, Yuri's absence today bothered Arden more than he'd like to admit.

The crumpled paper had no such meaning when he had found it, but now, with Yuri's absence, Arden's curiosity was piqued.

"Where's uncle Yuri?" Liam asked, craning his neck to look behind Arden.

"He didn't come," Arden said flatly and started walking. Liam's tiny fingers tightly wrapped around his forefinger.

"Why?" Liam asked curiously, twirling the stem of a tiny flower between his fingers.

Liam wasn't the only one who wanted to know the 'why's' answer. "I don't know," Arden replied with a shrug. "Maybe he is sleeping," he said to the four-year-old who didn't look convinced.

"No," Liam said, shaking his head, "uncle Yuri is not lazy like you."

Arden already knew that, yet he placed his palms over his heart and feigned a hurt expression combined with an over-dramatic scoff. "Well, thank you so very much, Liam, for taking my side."

Arden lifted Liam in the air, and onto his shoulders, making him giggle. Liam's arms wrapped securely around his uncle's neck, and the flimsy flower petals tickled Arden's neck.

"What's the flower for?" Arden asked.

"I brought it for uncle Yuri," Liam mumbled, raising his hand in the air. The yellow petals of the flower radiated the sunny rays against the blue backdrop of the sky.

"Yeah, it would look good on his long hair," Arden said with a smile forming on his face.

"But you can have it." Arden heard Liam say as he tucked the flower securely behind Arden's left ear.

"It looks good on you, too, Ardie."

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