┌𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴┘

Listening to a song, I remembered what someone advised me once. "Love is a complicated thing, but when you meet the one that makes it easy, then despite all the hardships, you will be happy with each other; To believe in love is the first thing you need to do if you want to be able of finding the truth of it.'' He seemed mature and trustful; Who would have thought that losing my way home would have altered my perspective of love and living?

•❦•

I was taking the bus from school to home, and because of my tiring day, I slept while on the way; After a while, the driver woke me up and told me we had reached the last stop; Few people were on the bus at the time that it had reached its destination and left it as soon as they read -Amaron City- on the outside label but I was somehow worried, and since panicking was not in my everyday scedule I just left the bus and started walking; It was around 5:30, according to my phone, and I thought that I could catch another bus and depart, though I didn't know this area at all so I walked for about twenty-five minutes; After noticing that there were not any buses coming back, I tried to call my mum so she could pick me up; Again, I met a dead end once more; no signal; Due to the situation I started walking towards the woods and took another twenty-five-minute walk; I then continued walking and found a house at the edge of a river, it was beautiful, full of flowers and trees around it; In the early night, it seemed like it was created in a dream."Is anyone out there?" I asked out loud ''Who is it?'' A voice came from the house; I was curious about who it was. The person approaching me was tall, with long white hair and a warm smile man. He seemed worried but relieved to see me there.

"What is a young lady doing in such a remote location alone?" He asked me with concern in his eyes. "I uh.. got kinda lost, but I am happy I ended up in such a captivating place." The girl replied cheerfully as if it was normal for her to get lost in an unfamiliar place; The man frowned before he replied to her.

"That is a relief; You should not wander around in the woods at such hours."

"I guess you are right; Do you know if other bus stations are around?" The girl asked, and the man said that there was only one, the one that dropped her at the place she was. "You could stay with us for the night; It will be safer than running around to catch a ride." The man smiled reassuringly.

"Really; That would be awesome; Thank you very much!" The young woman cheerfully followed while the man smiled at how effortlessly he could convince the girl.''I wish this girl could be smart enough not to let such a situation happen again; Not all people are nice in this world." he thought.''So, um... What is your name?"
"It is Han, but you can call me Lao Han, like everybody else." The tall man smiled at her sweetly once more, and the girl couldn't help the wave of warmth this man gave her; He felt like family to her.

"What's your name?"
"It is Beth; Nice to meet you, Lao Han!"
"Nice to meet you too, Beth." They walked down the gravel path and reached the lovely house while talking to each other; Then his wife, as the girl could tell she was; by the way they looked at each other, came out with a significant smile.

"Wife, I brought the girl who was standing out there; this kid has no sense of security; I think it is time for one of your lectures!" The man said while chuckling, and Beth joined him."Hello, sweetheart. I am Olya you can call me Old Olya."
"Hello, I am Beth!"
"You two, come right in; By the way, you need not pay attention to this old man; His bones are just too old to think anymore!"
"Oh, I could have never guessed!"They made fun of the man who sat on the couch and crossed his hands like a five-year-old child; It made the two females laugh as they all sat in the living room and got to know each other better.

"Here, drink some warm water; It is chilly outside, and you don't want to get sick."
"Thank you."
"My pleasure, sweetheart; Be more careful, okay?" Lao Olya voiced while she smiled at the young woman."I will, I promise!" Beth replied, smiling back."That is great then; See you old bones, the girl is smart and understanding, no need for the half-hour lecturing; The poor girl must be starving by now, and you kept talking like a parrot!"

"Oh, old woman, I think you have something against me these days; Is it that I am too handsome, and you are jealous of me going outside!"

"Please, It is not like I haven't seen handsome men before; You call yourself handsome; What a joke!"

"Then you- you-"
"Come on; Let's go, cook, my sweet girl; Leave the old man alone with his TV!"Beth raised her eyebrows worriedly, but soon she realized they were having fun and joked amongst themselves; Beth couldn't understand such beautiful chemistry since she had never met her dad and only had her sweet mom with her."What would you like to eat, sweetheart?"
"Anything will do, and I can also help you; Uh... I wouldn't want to disturb you too much."
"Believe me when I say it, she likes having kids around a lot, so you are not disturbing anyone, darling."The man said playfully."Oh, shut your mouth, you old thing!"

Beth thanked them and sat down to talk with the man while his wife was cooking. Time passed peacefully while the woman was cooking for the two of them.

"She is gorgeous." Beth stared at the woman with admiration.She wasn't tall and had long hair; She was such a gorgeous woman; The man noticed Beth watching his wife with an admirable look.

"We have been together for almost 30 years now."
"How many?" Beth asked, a little shocked by such information.The man laughed at her reaction; As they continued talking, she asked him how can someone live with a person for so many years and still be in love.

"I didn't believe in love until I met her; No one is forcing you to believe in something, but if you can, do believe, only a few people are lucky or strong enough to face their demons."Beth thought about his words while watching the woman cook; The woman's eyes glistened in the radiant light of the room; Her husband was right; Only by making them go away can you get rid of the pain and the sadness you once felt.

But then, she thought, I have always let my feelings mislead me; Even if I can hide my feelings, my demons will hunt me down until I am too weak and give in to the darkness; So I have been used to being cold and heartless to people that don't deserve respect.Beth was held captive by her thoughts for a while when Lao Olya asked them to come to the table and eat together; After the delicious meal Old Olya made and the funny discussion they all had about their lives, the woman led Beth to the guest room.

While lying on the bed, these dark thoughts came to my mind again; I lazily gazed out the window and continued sinking in my thoughts; It happened to me more than once I wasn't smart or strong enough to face them; The old man told me "Life is too small to worry about every little detail that it has in it; What are we in this universe anyway, just a drop of water, a grain of sand, don't waste your time; Find something to believe in."

But why does it matter if you believe in something, love, desire, God, or anything; Everyone lives to discover how to love and trust; What matters more than having faith, loyalty, and respect; His words came to my mind again, "If you love somebody, you have to let them decide if they want to stay; If not, then let them go, don't fight it."

At that time, I couldn't agree with him; I thought; If you love someone and they love you back, let them know and fight for them, even if you don't feel worthy of them, you can try to be. That kind of reply was unexpected coming from such a young person. I am one of the people who hide their demons and always be afraid of catching up with me. So the man laughed at my reply. He knew I didn't know what love was, so I didn't reply. The man seemed to understand me more than myself.

The last words of the man came to mind. "Confidence and egoism are two different things. Don't understand anyone's intentions. People these days are eviler than your innocent mind can think."

Then I remembered that he laughed at the things I said about love. However, I understood why he reacted like that. There are so many ways to live your life. You'll never know if your decisions are right or wrong. You can't judge anyone. The only thing you can do is advise them. I wasn't able to find myself in his words. How ironic, I am not capable of love. I always thought I had been through a lot, so I don't let anyone ask me why I'm cold or mean. If they want to leave, then let them. It is still weird for a 19-year-old. What could I possibly have been throughNot everyone has a happy childhood. I could if I wanted. I could get rid of the pain from the nothing that hurt me, but I wasn't smart. I was very ignorant. Until one day, I just changed because I copied what others did and made. Come to think of it now, I was naive, doing stupid things like trusting everyone and never blaming them for anything. With that, my eyes felt tired and closed by themselves, not letting me drown anymore, so I fell asleep.

❦

The next day, two children woke me up. I yawned and rubbed my eyes as I felt movement all around me. My defenses were high on alert, but I had no weapon with me, and because of that; I jumped off the bed. Little did I know the intruders were only two sweet little kids going through my bag.

"Wha-" I tried to speak, but my voice was barely audible from sleeping."There's a phone!" The little boy said as he jumped up and down. His movements almost made me dizzy.

Then the little girl found my bag and squealed with happiness. "LOOK! A school bag!" The boy scoffed, clearly annoyed by the little girl."What's fun about schoolbags? Urgh."
"Well, books, duh?!"

She had a point there. I giggled; it seemed they were in their worlds, and they hadn't noticed me yet. They scoffed at each other once again before making cute, annoying little faces. They seemed to be around 5 to 9 years old. I cleared my voice, and the two turned their little heads, mortified that someone else was in the room with them. "Well, good morning to you too, little mice."

"OH, NO!" The boy's eyes widened while the girl made a cute pouting face."Umm... Hello..." She added. My heart was pounding in my chest. I am not used to having children around me, and they've always scared me to death. I know they couldn't possibly harm me, but my mind could not let me approach them as a normal person would. Either way, I tried my best not to scare these away.

"What are you doing here acting like little thieves?" I started, and the girl's eyes blinked a few times."We were... Uh..."
"Just wanted to say good morning!"
"Yes, yes. We weren't trying to snoop around or anything."
"Urgh! I can't believe your stupidity!"
"It's okay, little mice; I won't say anything to the white knights."
"The white knights?!" The girl jumped up and down before realization dawned on her."Correct, they usually wander around to catch little thieves and bring them to justice." I tried to reason with them, which was not hard since these two cuties believed what I was saying, making me want to laugh.

"No way!" The boy scoffed."Yes, way!" I mocked back, smiling."Imma try it again! See if you're lying or not." He replied and took my phone as he tried to unlock it, while the girl hesitantly went through my school bag, probably looking for more books. As we continued playing, a voice sounded somewhere near the room we were in."Little Han! Little Olya! Where are you two little demons?!" Someone started calling for them."Well, quickly..." I urged them since they seemed terrified by the voice, which I guess was their mother's.

"Let's hide for the white knight!" the little girl screeched."She's right, A' Han. We need to hide!"Yes, but where? Look at this mess!"
"Don't worry; we will hurry! Get things back to their places!" I reassured them with a smile; they both obliged at the request."Oh, shoot! There are white knights!" The boy said with fear in his eyes."WAIT, WHAT!-" Little Olya came running to me, hiding behind my leg, and for a moment, I felt the fear crawling into my bones.

Old memories threatened to consume my mind. But then, the little girl nudged my leg, and my brain started functioning again.

"Come on! Let's get this mess fixed!" I smiled at both of the panicked children."Yes! Let us do that!" Little Olya agreed immediately and began picking up the things on the floor, trying to remember their spot but failing, and placed them randomly all around the room."The clothes, little guy!" I pointed at the far right corner of the room."I'm not a little guy!" The boy pouted, looking adoringly cute."Well, how do you want me to call you when I don't even know your name, little mouse?" I asked with a smile.

"Oh, well. I guess I was being rude. I am sorry."
"It is okay. Don't get comfortable though 'cause the knight is almost on our doorstep!"
"You're right; by the way, my name is Han, Little Han, to be accurate."
"Nice to meet you, Little Han. How about you, missy?"
"I am Olya, Little Olya! Since our grandparents are Old Olya and Old Han, we are the little ones!"
"My name is Beth! Sweet pleasure knowing you two little mice!" They came and hugged me before rushing to get their things once more."I got your things in place! How about we hide now? I am scared!'' The little girl looked up at me, and I smiled at her.

"Before the big white dragon- Uh, knight gets here!" The boy added, knowing that he called his mother a white dragon."He is right! Now come on. In the closet, you go!" After cleaning up all the mess, a woman burst into the room. It must be their mother. I guess because she had a knowing look on her face.

"Come out, you two little demons!" She surprised them when she opened the door, and a wild shout from the girl sounded before we burst into laughter.

"Good morning, sweetheart. I am so sorry for the disturbance. These little monsters are tiresome." The woman said to me while hugging me."It is fine. I enjoyed the company."
"I am glad to know that. I am Martha, their mother. Lao Han told us about you; everyone wants to meet you!"

"Everyone?" I asked, confused, but she giggled playfully."You'll see. Come on, kids, let her change her clothes, and then she'll come out to play, okay?"
"Come on, little mice, out you go! I have to get changed before coming to play with you!" They hugged me and left the room.

Their mum gave me a toothbrush and towels; she said she would clean my clothes while I would be taking a bath. I thanked her, and she seemed happy that I appreciated her that much. And, of course, I did. I could easily distinguish right from immoral people. When I found good in them, I would always respect them.