The two children sat by the pier with the smaller one crying his eyes out.
Sindbad patted his back comfortingly. " I told you, it was nothing." Another sneeze.
" But-" the child wiped his flooding tears. " Because of me…"
" It was not because of you." He gave him a gentle elbow to his chest. " It was all that merchant's fault. You need not to be sorry about it."
The boy held up the bag of sweets in between them. " Come on, have one. It's really tasty."
Hindbad nodded as he dipped his hand into the bag and pulled out the gelly cube coated in white powder. He munched on it while sniffing. " Yeah… it's really tasty…"
Sindbad laughed at that. " Who eats sweets and cries at the same time."
He looked away from the child and at the sun slowly lowering towards the sea. " Wonder what Mum and Dad are doing right now?"
" They had been away for a year." The other boy wiped the last of his tears on his arm and looked at the horizon too.
" I bet they had all kinds of adventures and are coming back with all the treasures they got from traveling the world!" Sindbad declared enthusiastically. " It's not fair that I'm to stay behind! Next time, I will definitely go with them! Sneak onto the ship if I have to!" He stood up and pointed at the sea as if it was its mistake he was stuck on land.
" You'll get into trouble!" Hindbad argued.
" There is nothing to worry about! You know I can deal with anything! Sneaking onto a ship is nothing!" He puffed his chest proudly.
Hindbad doubted it.
" But then…" He picked up a pebble and threw it at the waves. " I'll be left alone."
" No you won't!" Objected Sindbad. " I'm taking you with me!"
" Huh?!" The other child looked at him as if it was the first time he had ever seen him.
" It will be fun! And we can even get Aunt Sahar with us!" Sindbad rumbled on without looking at the other child who was struck with surprise at his proclamations.
Hindbad drew in a deep breath and laughed out loud, breaking Sindbad's string of rumbles.
Sindbad looked down at his friend and arched an eyebrow at him.
" You're really something else…" Hindbad looked up at the other boy and held out his hand. " Would you promise then, to never leave me alone?"
Sindbad wore a large smile at that and held his friend's hand tightly as if to emphasize how serious he was. " Of course! It's a promise!"
Sindbad had no way of knowing, that he would be breaking that promise too soon…
✶⊶⊷⊶⊷❍ ☽ ❍⊶⊷⊶⊷✶
The world had been covered in a faint sheet of gold by the time the two children went back home, still gnawing on the sweets and laughing on their way back. Sindbad fantasized about their future adventures out on the sea, while Hindbad provided comments.
It was when the small house was in sight that they noticed something off.
There were three people before it.
One of them was Sahar, Hindbad's mother. She was a sickly woman, yet had so much empathy and kindness that her small body couldn't begin to contain.
She was talking to two other men, one wearing a long red cloak, while the other donned black clothes.
They could not hear what they were conversing about, but what happened next was obvious to anyone.
Sahar placed her hands to her face and her shoulders shook.
She was crying.
Seeing that, Sindbad's feet carried him forward at full speed. " Aunt Sahar!" He stood before the woman, facing the two men with a deep frown, almost growling at them, accusing them of hurting her.
The two men didn't react at all, they kept looking down at the child.
A hand was placed gently on Sindbad's shoulder, which prompted him to turn back.
He was met by the soft and gently grey eyes of Sahar as they peered down at him. Her face, youthful, yet creased with the hardship she had to endure so far, wore a sad air as tears rolled down her front.
It was a moment before Sindbad found himself wrapped in her arms and pulled closer to her chest as she gasped into his hair. " Sindbad… I'm sorry… I'm really sorry… your parents…"
Her broken voice, her tight grip, her tears flooding openly before him, he was alerted before it could even deliver the news.
That was the worst moment ever.
Knowing something very bad had happened.
His mind imagined all the worst scenarios as he waited for her to say it, to confirm which one was it.
That wait was the worst thing Sindbad had ever experienced.
" Your parents… They became one with the sea."
The child's eyes went wide as those words fell upon him like lightning.
One with the sea.
An expression used to indicate that one had suffered their demise while sailing.
It means that they were never recovered, never found.
That they sunk to the depth of the frothing sea and will be forever there.
That Sindbad would never get to play with his father, nor would he have his mother combing his hair and putting him to bed every night.
Sindbad would never get to hear their voices again.
He would never get to see them again.
And he couldn't even say goodbye.
His eyes welled up with tears as all of that crystallized in the child's mind.
He had lost his parents.
He cried in Sahar's arm, pulling tightly onto her robe with his hands as she held him closer still.
He was all alone.
Hindbad approached them hesitantly as he watched his friend break into tears.
There wasn't a time he recalled seeing Sindbad crying.
It was he who cried all the time.
He was the crybaby.
Sindbad was always there to help.
Yet, now he was standing there, unable to comfort his friend in any way.
The two men lowered their heads at that. They were calm and silent, but the one clad in the red cloak had a hint of sadness on his face.
It took a few minutes before Sindbad's cries faded out as his throat grew dry and they were reduced to faint whimpers and sniffles as Sahar held him at arm's length from her, gently placing her hands on his shoulder as if he might fall if she didn't support him.
" Listen, Sindbad…" She blinked her eyes and swallowed to prevent her own tears and gasps from escaping. It wouldn't do if she couldn't communicate the next news. " What had happened is unfortunate, but that's the fate they bore. That's God's will. And there is no changing it."
" Why?!"
" Because, Sindbad…" The woman struggled to put it into simple words that a child could understand.
" Because it's a trial, for all of us," the man in the red cloak spoke, directing every attention to him.
He took a knee before the toddler and their golden eyes locked together.
He remained calm as he gently patted his head and said. " They say that the more the God loves you, the more trials he will throw at you. And every time that you overcome them, he would love you more, and reward you amply for your patience."
The boy sniffed and glared down at the ground, fighting to keep his tears from overflowing again, yet he failed to do so. " I never asked to be loved."
The man simply wore a soft smile at that and continued to ruffle the child's hair. " You didn't. But God loves you nonetheless, because you're a kind and honest boy. I saw what you've done in the market today. You bravely stood up for your friend in the face of that mean merchant. Tell me, were the sweets delicious?"
Sindbad scowled at the man and wished to disappear under the ground. Was he in trouble? Was that man a friend of the merchant?
He quickly hid the bag of sweets behind his back, not wanting to give himself or Hindbad away.
The man continued to smile nonetheless and looked back at Hindbad. " Did it hurt, when you fell?"
Hindbad blinked and rubbed his elbow where a scratch was visible from when he fell trying to avoid the wagon.
" Yes…"
" Were you sad, when you lost your money?"
Hindbad looked away and gave a nod.
" Yet because of that you got to enjoy those delicious sweets, right?" He looked from Hindbad to Sindbad. " And because that small accident happened, we were able to find you."
Sindbad looked up at him, trying to stare beyond his golden eyes. Who was that man?...