Resilient Lily

|peaceful|

~This chapter is dedicated to Norma and Frances, my sweet and loving angels. May you both find your peace in heaven.~

"Born again,
Chrysalis-crowned,
Dripping morning dew from your lips,
Complicit with divinity, bound,

Again and again and again,
Lift yourself from the dirt and sky,
Both have been your mother,
Neither will let you die,

Dance twined to earth and ether,
Heartbeat-homesick fever,
Disregard rot as reductive,
Fall, folded to eternity, reconstructed."

➻

My eyes snapped open and for a moment the normal dark colored walls were white and the comforters on the beds were as well. However, after rubbing my eyes, they adjusted to the light and saw that the walls were still purple and the beds were still their light brown.

"I'm not there anymore," I reassured myself.

After my heart stilled, I slapped my still asleep cheeks then made my bed as to not get yelled at by Okemia later. Once the blanket was tucked in and all of the wrinkles were gone, I quietly got ready for the day and headed downstairs.

Okemia was in the kitchen preparing breakfast like she did every morning and the smell of the cooking eggs and sizzling beacon made my stomach grumble quietly.

"Good morning, Mamma. Would you like me to help you cook breakfast?" I asked Okemia while tying a white apron over my black shirt and ignoring the sound my stomach had made.

"Good morning, Kagome. And of course, that would be lovely." Okemia replied without looking up from the eggs she was frying.

Every morning she would wake up early to cook me and the rest of the orphan's breakfast. And every morning I would also wake up early to help her. Because feeding 30 children was not easy.

By the time we were done, all of the children had come downstairs. They were changed and ready for the day.

All of them except Kazuo.

"Kagome, I'm going to go wake up Kazuo. Feed Hina for me please." Okemia said then went upstairs. I nodded happily and turned towards Hina then began to feed her the eggs that I helped cook.

Hina was the youngest out of all of us and very adorable. I was the oldest. Despite being so young, Okemia acknowledged how mature I was for my age and let me take on the responsibilities of helping her take care of all of the other children and the orphanage in general.

I helped her with the cooking and the cleaning and everything in between. By helping her, I felt as though I was paying back for all of the time that I spent in a hospital bed helping no one.

Before I came along, Okemia did everything by herself, which I knew couldn't have been easy for any normal person to do. Okemia was not normal though. She was always calm and graceful, no matter the situation. She ran her orphanage with love and kindness.

I aspired to be like her someday. To walk with such gracefulness and always have a calm mind.

"I don't want to wake up! Leave me alone you old hag!" Kazuo yelled very loudly from upstairs. Okemia's voice was muffled so I didn't hear what she said. However, I could guess.

"So did everyone sleep well last night?" I asked, bringing everyone's attention away from the yelling child upstairs.

➻