Her Hope

Chapter 10

The screams of joy and happiness of the children could be heard all around the park where I came to along with Iris to celebrate my moving into the apartment. I was really longing to just go to sleep as soon as we signed the contract, but Iris insisted that we must celebrate.

However, as soon as we entered the park, she saw a group of friends and said that she'd go over to say hello and be back in one second. But, one eternity later, just like in sponge bob, Iris was still saying 'hello' to her friends. So, I decided to sit down on the same bench that I sat on during that rainy night a few days ago. Even though the cold wind was whirling by making me shiver, the little kids were all running around and playing as if they didn't feel the currents of wind as they passed past us.

Looking around at the children, I could see the laughter lines that looked like they were imprinted on their faces from the constant joy. This reminded me of my own childhood which I thankfully did spend in the park playing around with other kids and making imaginary friends with them, but that was before everything suddenly changed and I somehow became the most unsociable person in the orphanage. I still don't even know what happened for that drastic change to occur.

I was just sitting there on the bench looking around aimlessly while drowning in endless thoughts about my childhood when a I felt someone sit down beside me, but I didn't bother looking up until I heard a tiny voice talking.

"Why are you sitting alone? Don't you have any friends?"

I looked up only to see a small girl, who didn't look a day older than six years old, staring at me innocently.

"Well, my friend is over there talking to her other friends, so I'm just waiting for her to come back." I answered back quietly as to not scare the little girl.

"Do you want me to tell you a story while you're waiting?" She asked while looking at me with wide doe eyes that instantly reminded me of my old doll's eye.

"Of course, I would love that."

"Okay, so once upon a time, in a really far away land, there lived a girl who had no parents, yet she never spent a moment crying over that fact, and instead she spent all her time working in a small store in order to get enough money to buy a really big house with a cool pool in it. So, she kept on working hard until she finally had enough money to buy the house she dreamed of buying. She bought the house beside the ocean because she liked the water a lot, and one day while she was sitting on the sand, a girl sat beside her and they became friends. This was the first friend the girl has had in years which made her discover-"

Sadly, the small girl was interrupted before she could finish the story.

"Emily, Emily, where are you? Oh, here you are, I was searching for you everywhere. Don't you ever leave my side like that again, okay?" The woman, who was obviously the girl's mother, said frantically while hugging the girl tightly.

"I'm sorry mommy, I just wanted to make this girl happy just like you told me to do when someone was lonely or sad." The girl said quietly while looking down at the ground.

"Yes, I told you to do that, but you have to inform me first before wondering off."

The woman then smiled at me before tugging on the little girl's hand and turning around; however, the girl turned around in the last moment and ran to give me a hug which truly warmed my heart, for it's been so long since someone hugged me.

"The girl lived happily forever." She whispered into my ear before running off towards her mother.

I felt a gigantic smile draw itself onto my face involuntarily. That little girl was describing my life without even knowing it though my dream is to go to college, and I still didn't find that friend she was talking about. I definitely won't mind buying a house beside the beach just like the girl in the story did, but it wasn't my main dream. However, I definitely hope my journey will end happily like the girl's story did. I really do.

In my line of sight, I saw Iris making her way towards me which brought me out of my continuous thoughts about the girl's story. She quickly apologized for taking so long saying that once her friends start talking, no one can stop them. I told her that I didn't mind the wait, for I met an extremely interesting girl, but Iris didn't have to know about that little girl.

We walked around the park until we saw an ice cream truck where Iris bought us two ice cream cones after she insisted that it was her treat or more appropriately her 'welcome to our apartment gift'. After eating the ice cream, we decided that we should head home as she had to go to college while I have to go to my work in the morning. Arriving at the apartment, we bid each other goodnight before going into our respective rooms.

That night, I laid on the soft mattress of my bed and looked up at the dark ceiling instead of the stars I was used to. However, before my thoughts could consume me, I drifted off into the best sleep I've gotten in two weeks. Unfortunately, since the bed is so comfortable, my biological alarm clock decided to stop working and that's why I woke up only ten minutes before my shift starts.

I quickly changed my shirt, and then I was out of the apartment's door stopping only to say good morning to Iris and to grab the keys she gave me last night, then I started running down the street towards the restaurant that seemed like miles away when in fact it was a little more than a ten-minute walk. I saw the door in sight, so I opened it and walked inside hurriedly; however, I bumped into someone making them accidentally spill their burning hot coffee on me.

"I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going, and then you came in through the door, and oh my god, it's you. You're the girl from the beach."

After hearing those last few words, I didn't dare look up from the puddle of spilled coffee.