Two years.
That's how long I've been in this world. Small, fragile, and utterly dependent. It hasn't been easy, but life has a way of moving forward whether you're ready or not. For the past two years, I've watched, listened, and learned, piecing together what I could about my new family, my surroundings, and this strange world.
I've grown in this time. My body, though still tiny and clumsy, feels less foreign now. My thoughts remain sharp, but my tongue often struggles to keep up. Speaking is harder than it should be. The unfamiliar words tumble clumsily off my lips, soft and half-formed. Still, I make do. At this age, no one expects much from me anyway, and that's allowed me the gift of quiet observation.
My mother, Elise, is at the heart of everything in this house. She keeps the rhythm of every day steady, caring for me and my older brother, Aron, with grace and patience.
This morning begins the way many others have.
"Ali, time to wake up, my little one," Elise's soft voice calls, tugging me gently from the warmth of sleep. Her hands, slender but strong, scoop me up from the crib with practiced ease. I blink groggily at her, the streams of morning sunlight making her auburn hair glint like copper.
"There you are," she coos, pressing a gentle kiss to my forehead. Her emerald eyes, filled with warmth, meet mine as she cradles me against her chest. "Your big brother is already up, and as noisy as ever."
From the other side of the house, I hear the faint but distinct sound of Aron's voice carrying down the hallway. At six, my older brother is brimming with energy and confidence, constantly narrating his adventures to anyone who'll listen.
Elise carries me into the dining room, where Aron is already seated at the table. He's halfway through a piece of bread, crumbs littering the table in front of him as he eagerly swings his legs back and forth. Seeing us enter, he grins broadly.
"Good morning, Ali!" he calls out enthusiastically, his voice bright. "You finally woke up! Were you having baby dreams?"
I blink at him sleepily, which only makes him laugh. His laugh is light and jubilant, a sound that fills the room and adds to its warmth.
"Aron," Elise says with a small sigh, setting me in my high chair, "chew your food, please. No one wants to see what you're eating."
Aron quickly covers his mouth with his hand, still grinning. "Sorry, Mama!"
Breakfast is its usual mix of calm and chaos. Aron chatters endlessly about the dream he had last night, it involved a grand quest across a dangerous wilderness, fighting magical beast with a magical sword. "And then," he says with dramatic flair, holding his fork like a blade, "I killed the giant serpent with one strike, and the king gave me a medal!"
"A medal, did he?" Elise teases, brushing a streak of jam from his cheek with a napkin.
"Uh-huh! Right here," Aron says, tapping his chest. "He said, 'Brave Sir Aron, you're the best knight in the entire land!'"
I nibble on a piece of fruit while quietly watching the exchange. Elise handles Aron's endless energy with unshakable patience, gently guiding his wild narrative while ensuring he doesn't spill his drink all over the table. My father, Eman, sits at the head of the table, a silent but solid presence, reading through the stack of papers in front of him. Occasionally, he glances over at me with a look that feels analytical, as though he's trying to figure out what to make of me.
When breakfast is finished, Aron hops off his chair, practically bouncing in excitement. "Mama, can we go to the library now? You promised!"
Elise smiles, gathering the dishes. "Yes, we'll go. Let me clean up first, and then we'll head there."
---
The library is a place unlike any other in the house. Towering shelves stretch almost to the ceiling, filled with books of all shapes and sizes. It's a place of endless knowledge and imagination. A haven for someone like Aron, whose adventures often begin on these very shelves.
As soon as we arrive, Aron dashes ahead, his eyes instantly scanning for a specific book. "I want the one with the dragon on the cover!" he declares, darting toward a shelf he knows well.
Elise sets me down gently on the carpeted floor and joins Aron by the shelves, helping him search for his elusive dragon book. "Here it is," she says after a moment, pulling a large, illustrated volume from the shelf.
"Yes! That's the one!" Aron exclaims, taking it eagerly from her hands. He plops down on the floor, flipping through the pages with the enthusiasm only a child could muster. "Ali, look at this one!" he says, holding up the book to show me an enormous dragon breathing fire across a village. "Isn't it cool?"
I blink at the image, offering a small, babyish nod. To Aron, I'm just his baby brother who doesn't understand much yet. But I can't help but wonder if dragons like these actually exist in this world.
Meanwhile, Elise places a smaller book in front of me. "Here you go, my quiet one," she says softly, her voice brimming with affection. "Something simple for now."
I look down at the thin volume, my fingers brushing over the faded cover. Over the past year, I've been teaching myself bits and pieces of the language here. Learning to recognize simple words, matching sounds to symbols. It hasn't been easy, but I've made progress.
Elise sits beside me, her eyes following as I open the book and begin tracing the letters on the page with my fingers. "You love books, don't you?" she murmurs, half to herself.
Aron is too absorbed in his dragon tale to notice, sprawled across the carpet as he begins narrating the story to himself in a voice that fluctuates between dramatic and triumphant. Elise humors him from time to time, asking questions about the plot or pointing out details in the illustrations, but I catch her glancing toward me often, a small smile tugging at her lips as though she knows something I don't.
The library is peaceful, filled with the soft rustle of pages and Aron's animated storytelling. For me, though, it's more than that. It's a sanctuary, a place where I can begin to piece together the puzzle of this world and the people in it.
So, this is my life now. A loving and attentive mother, a busy father and a brother bursting with imagination, and the faint hum of unanswered questions lurking in the quiet corners of my mind.