"The garden with long strings of little bulbs hanging on its bushes, fell into silence after the party was over. The dew had already started to collect on the leaves and the guest house was put under darkness until the next time invitations were sent. Moon was at its zenith, and Collin stood beside a tree looking up in the sky. His mind wandered as he stood in the garden quietly.
"Is it over?" came from behind, Mr. Bruce, with his footsteps getting muffled by the grassy ground. Collin turned behind to face him and smiled. "I'm sorry that you had to see off the guests in my place, do you look tired because of that?" he asked, assuming the reason behind Collin's daze.
Mr. Bruce slowly walked toward him and put one of his arms over his shoulder. "What's the problem, my boy?"
"I won't have any problem, if you stopped making one, someday," said Collin.
"Come on! not like I want any of this," Mr. Bruce explained. "I wish I could just end it with her. She is the biggest mistake of my life."
Mr. Bruce was a man in his late thirties, the infamous gang's leader and a figure who was although feared by his enemies but otherwise respected by the allies. Even when the world was at his feet, there were very few people whom he could trust and sleep peacefully at nights: one of them was Collin. He was only fifteen when he had first met him but ended up becoming an inseparable part of his life.
"Even when you say that women are the biggest problem of your life, you can't seem to resist them as well," he said, remarking upon his meeting with Oriel.
A smile formed on Mr. Bruce's thin lips and suddenly turned into loud chuckles. "You are talking about that girl with me, aren't you?"
Collin responded with a slightly appalled reaction. "So you do know that your words and actions do not match," he said.
"You do not understand me even a little bit, brother," he giggled and retreated the hand that rested on Collin's shoulder. "What attracts your brother the most aren't those slits in the skirt or curves of the body, but it is the mystery in a pair of eyes that catches my attention. And that girl is a puzzle of a thousand broken pieces."
Collin lifted his head, gazing back at the full moon. "You too, my boy!" Mr. Bruce proceeded. "I have seen that mystery in you, as well. It is weird that even when I can sense an inexplicable gap between us, I entrust you with anything, without even giving myself a chance to think twice."
The moonlight fell on the two men standing in the garden, silently admiring the beauty of the night.
"Is it possible to confuse this moon to be bigger than sun?" Collin broke the silence.
"Moon is bigger than the Sun?" Mr. Bruce reiterated with emphasis. "What's there to get confused about? Sun is a star and a moon is a moon. A star is a millions times greater than it."
"You're right, it falls short of so much to the sun."
"Who are you talking about?" asked Mr. Bruce.
Collin blinked his eyes, forcing the moisture in his eyes to dry up. "It's nothing! come I will take you home."
Mr. Bruce was suddenly irked at his gestures. "Are you still not going open the chest of your secrets?" demanded him, sliding his hands inside his pants pockets. "There's nothing about me that you don't know, or you haven't been a part of, and there are not many that I have obliged with it. Whether it is about taking care of my failing marriage, or life threats that don't even scare me, you are the one who has every string in your hand. But you are yet to put your share of trust in our friendship. It makes me sad, brother."
Collin looked up in the sky again. "The difference that matters is that you can lift your head upwards and look at this moon for as long as you want, while sunlight will surely blind you," he said, leaving Mr. Bruce to ponder.
Over the garden at the guest house and the little valley that Oriel lived in, the moon shone equally bright. Oriel laid the rented dress over her bed like a person lying. She made her bedding on the floor beside a feet-long window in her room and fell asleep under the moonlight that trespassed in.
She was still tormented by the memories of the time she spent in that orphanage. Those were the two months that still persisted in her nightmares. They would cause her to wake up startled from her sleep and didn't allow her to forget about it.
That night as well, those vivid images of the horrible place still bothered her in her sleep. She whimpered in her bed and sweat damped her face with a wet hairline. In just an hour of sleep, her subconscious had restored every moment as if it was freshly experienced.
The utterly treasured and pampered girl lived in that poorly managed orphan shelter, and survived in that place for whole two months, after which an organization decided to support that orphanage. Children were told that the days of suffering were short and that very soon, they won't be getting infilling portions of meals. They were promised to get better shelter and education after the charity fund was received.
A small event was held at the house of the trustee of that organization. Children were invited and were given beautiful clothes for the day. First time in those four months, Oriel had taken a foot outside of that facility, riding a bus teeming with a hundred children, going to receive a grant from the generous trustee.
"Mother Elis told me that now we won't have to share the narrow bed, and they will buy us new beds, one purple colored and also a yellow colored. I told her that I will take the purple bed," a girl sitting next to Oriel, said innocently.
"Who is going to buy us all that?" little Oriel asked.
"We are going there right now," replied the girl with enthusiasm.
Oriel was content after hearing that she will get enough space to sleep and enough bread to eat. But little did she know that they were headed to the residence of the most prominent individual in the city, Roger. The moment their bus arrived in front of his colossal mansion, Oriel was quick to recognize it as Collin's house.
"I know this big home. I have also been in there," she said, in a loud voice, attracting the attention of the children, accompanied with mockery. "You can't even dream about living in a place like this," ill-mannered boys made fun of her.
Soon, Mother Elis came and brought the kids to enter the place. "So, how did I tell you to behave in front of your benefactors?" she stopped the children from walking and instructed them on the appropriate behavior and manners that were to be kept. "Let me see... who among you is the cutest?" she thought, inspecting their appearances. "Oriel, come here!" she called Oriel to come forward and gave her a flower bouquet.
Oriel felt happy to see the beautiful bouquet of assorted flowers and stroked their petals while sniffing them. "Don't ruin them! you will give it to Mr. Roger with a pretty smile on your face. They may even adopt one of you, if look adorable," told Mother Elis.
Other children envied her for being the one holding the bouquet. "She is the dumbest among us, why would Mother Elis give it to her?"
"Okay! head inside now, walk in a line, and don't push others," she ordered.
Other children followed Oriel's lead who was walking ahead inside the corridor that was familiar to her. All of a sudden, a kid from behind came and tripped her on the floor, and she helplessly fell down. "You don't deserve to get adopted by them, you loser!" he said and snatched the bouquet from her hands. Her shoe came off and she failed every attempt to stand up. Others continued to walk ahead and ignored her, struggling to rise again. "Hey! get your ass up, I almost tripped because of you." They walked on her. They began to run inside the corridor, skipping a step to avoid trampling on her, but not caring to offer any help.
Oriel crawled out of their way and cried sitting alone on the floor. She snorted and sobbed till she fell short of breaths. "Dad!" she cried.
And then came the moment when Collin heard her and came running towards her, "Oriel!" calling her name while coming through the corridor. He had also just reached home after a long day of shopping with his mother. His forehead showed a crease between his eyebrows, "What happened with you?"
Oriel calmed down hearing his voice and seeing him in a black suit with a bow tie. Collin looked like a handsome little prince of a royal family. He was dressed specially for his birthday, and Roger had decided to celebrate it with children deprived of such happiness. His stepdad was going to make the charitable donations in his name.
"Oriel," Roger also saw her miserably crying on the floor and came to lift her in his arms, shushing her cries. "What happened with you?" He wiped the tears off her cloudy cheeks.
"I don't want to go back there!" she pleaded and wrapped her little arms around Roger's neck.
"Calm down, darling! no one's taking you anywhere."
Meanwhile, Collin picked up the shoe that was lying on the floor and gently put it back on her foot, hanging in the air. He tied the laces making a firm knot.
And then entered the premises, the cause of all this, Bella. She carried the shopping bags in her hand and was perplexed seeing Oriel with her husband and son.
"Mom! why did you do this to her?"