Wherever Life Takes Us

***

Evening 6:30pm ...

Mia , an unhappy six year old stood in the middle of a ring formed by other children and unlike the usual they weren't having a fun game , because the six year old in the middle was in heavy tears , the other children were jeering at her , she wasn't strong enough to defend herself against them , she could only stand there and shed sad tears.

These are the moments Mia craved her parents the most , she knew for sure if her parents were alive she wouldn't be in this hell hole and her parents won't let anyone bully her , talk more of hurting her.

The taunting and laughter began to increase ,she didn't have the balls to just exit their midst so she slowly bent to sit on the floor and hugged her knees tightly to her chest and her head bent over as her body shook in tears.

Seeing her in this condition did not make the other children stop, it amused them further , Mia just sat there hoping that this would end soon.

"Will you guys stop this nonsense!!" She heard someone snap and all the children kept quiet immediately , she looked up to see her only friend in the orphanage, Logan.

Logan was exactly twice her age now , he was older and more matured so the other kids respected him.

She took this distraction as a cue to stand up and run away from their midst.

She ran inside and up to the rooftop of the system's three storey building, her favorite spot , where she could sit closer to the stars.

Immediately she got to the rooftop , she sat on the floor and crossed her legs in front of her.

This time she didn't come here because she wanted to see the stars beautifully line the sky , she came out here because she was just tired of everything.

The feelings were too intense for her five year old mind to process , she just sat there in tears calling on her parents to come get her.

Her mind wandered back to how her parents died three months ago.

The scene was completely stuck in her memory and even as early as now she knew it was one hell of a memory she would carry about for the rest of her life.

*Flashback to three months ago*

Mia was seated at the back seat of her father's car , they were on their way back from a family get together and thankfully, unlike the other times they weren't taunted for being poor.

Her father had just gotten a new job and had begun to make a headway.

She sat quietly with a pack of biscuits in her hands as her parents discussed, she wasn't paying any attention to them , as far as she was concerned it wasn't any of her business .

"So what do you plan on doing with your boss?!" Her mom asked her dad and he exhaled deeply.

"I seriously had no idea the real description of the job was that dangerous " he replied 

"So what did you say to him?!" She asked.

"I outrightly told him I wasn't going to do it !" He answered.

"And what did he say?!" She asked again.

"He said it was too late to back out , I already know too much , I insisted on not being involved in such dirty work and walked out on him!" He replied rolling his eyes, he didn't want to have this talk in front of his daughter.

He saw how he was treated with respect earlier and he can't imagine what it would be like once they all realize he was jobless again.

His daughter deserved to be comfortable and he didn't want her to even suspect that providing for her was going to be a little difficult from now on.

"Don't you think what you did is a little dangerous?!" She asked again and he turned to look at her with pursed lips.

"Can we talk about this later ?!"

"Please ?!" He added and she sighed and gave a short nod.

"What's that sound ?!" Mia suddenly asked and her parents paused for a while as they began to hear the persisting beeping sound.

Her mom quickly opened the dashboard Infront of her , as she could hear the sound coming out from there , immediately she opened it her eyes grew wide at what she saw and she turned to face her husband.

It was a Time bomb and it was on five , he tried to stop the car but the brakes weren't working.

"What's going on Mommy " Mia whimpered , she didn't quite know what was in the dashboard but from her parents reaction she could tell it was something bad.

Before her mom could say anything , the time hit one and it went off , the whole car exploded in fire .

*Back to present*

Mia slowly wiped the line of tears that streaked down her face as the horrid memory of that night came rushing back.

She had been found the next day with her parents , and luckily she was still alive but her face and skin had been badly burnt.

She felt someone sit beside her , only one person knew she could be here - Logan .

"Thank you " she whispered as she slowly turned to him .

"Shush" he whispered quietly as he placed his index finger on his lips and slowly pointed to the sky , she followed his finger and her eye slowly landed on a brightly shining star.

It was the only one star that came out today and her lips slowly stretched out in a smile. It was beautiful.

"Whenever you're feeling sad , remember this star because you're that star and you're gonna shine brightly " he whispered and she turned to him.

"How ?!" She whispered naively as she turned to look at him.

"You don't have to worry about that , when the time comes , you'll remember what I told you" he answered.

"And as early as now you need to start working on your self confidence, you'll need a lot of it in the future, " he added.

"I can't do what you want me to, " she replied.

"I cannot fight back , it'll make them bully me more " she added and he exhaled.

"Once you make up your mind that these children will no longer get to you, that's the day you'll be truly free from them" he said to her.

"You should never allow anyone make you feel less of yourself, only you can determine what will make you weak!" He added.

"We're equal here and you have as many rights as they do!"

"It is very hard Logan " 

"I know " he whispered and they both turned to face the sky again.

"That reminds me I got us something " he suddenly said , she turned to him and he placed his hands inside his pocket to bring out a bracelet he made from twines and sea shells.

"Why are you giving me this?!" She asked innocently.

"To remember me by " he replied shortly as she stretched her hands forward and he wore the bracelet for her.

"Remember you by?! Are you going somewhere?!" She asked again as she raised her head to look at him.

She saw a look of sadness in his eye and she knew immediately that something was wrong.