‘Stop that!’ She giggled as the lady next to her teased her. The girl in her wheelchair, wearing the hospital’s clothes is the girl I’ve been appointed to write an article about. Lilia, she has chestnut brown hair that reached her shoulder and her eyes were a shade of emerald green. She has a voice that is as clear as day and her smile were like none other. She was a really cheerful girl that spread the air of happiness to those around her but no one would have thought that she has already lost both her parents at a young age to war. She on the other hand survived but has been infected with Pneumonia, severe to a stage whereby she has to live in the hospital for most of her life. I walked towards her as she smiled. ‘Hi there, are you the one who will be interviewing me?’ Her clear voice rang in my ear. ‘Yes my name’s George. I’ll be here with you for the next 7 days. Nice to meet you and this is your?’ I questioned as I tilt my head up to find a woman with long strawberry blond hair with eyes that were crystal blue, She wore a red tank top and acid washed jeans and smiled warmly at me. ‘Mary. I’m her guardian.’ ‘It’s nice to meet you’ I said while she nodded.
Day 1, I was dragged awake, away from my dream land by none other than the shrill of my alarm clock. I dragged my legs along the cold hard floor and make my way to the bathroom to get myself prepared for the day. I arrived at the hospital early in the morning and headed straight towards Lilia’s room. I opened the door softly making sure not to make any noise expecting her to still be asleep instead I came to face a girl who was already sitting up wide awake while staring out her window with a serene look. She has a smile that did not reach her emerald green eyes. She didn’t seem to take notice of me while I was approaching her. When I got closer I got a better look at her and saw her tear stained face. I gasp as my eyes widen. That was when she jerked and turns to look at me with a shocked look but quickly regaining her posture she clear the tears on her pale face and smiled at me. ‘Hey it’s rude to just barge in without knocking you know?’ she joked. I plastered a smile on my face still not able to cast away the image of her tear stained face just moments ago.‘I’m sorry I thought you were still asleep so I made sure not to make much noise.’ ‘It’s alright’ she laughed. It wasn’t really a fake laugh but it wasn’t exactly genuine either. I just smiled at her. ’Where’s your guardian?’ ‘She’ll be here later around the afternoon so why not have a sit?’ nodded and took a sit. ‘So do you mind if I start asking you a few questions now?’ ‘Sure.’ ‘How long have you been in the hospital? Do you feel lonely? Since there isn’t any kids your age here?’ ‘I’ve been in the hospital since my parents died. And of course I feel lonely sometimes but with Mary here I’m just as happy. Not to mention the doctors and nurses are really nice to me here.’ She smiled at that thought. I was happy to see her smile genuinely. ‘Were the tests here and there really hard to bear? Considering your young age.’ ‘Well it gets painful with some tests but overall I’m able to bear with it.’ Although she said that I noticed her cringed for a moment or two. ‘Must be some painful memories’ I thought to myself. I asked a few more questions and all of a sudden the door swung open revealing Mary walking in with a fruit basket in her hands. ‘Oh look at the time I didn’t even notice it’s already afternoon. Well I guess I’ll take my leave. I had a great time. Thank you for answering me and I’ll see you tomorrow.’ I waved as I smiled at the girl. I gave a nod at Mary when I passed her and she smiled at me. ‘Today was fine I guess but I should probably get straight to the point soon.’ I shook my head as I went to have lunch.
‘So how did your parents die and how are you able to survive?’ For the past two days I was babbling nonsense and asking side questions. On the fourth day I was finally able to spat out the question. I noticed her eyes widen for a fragment of a second before she smile, a smile that did not reach her eyes, and answered. ‘During the war the army took my parents and made them work. I was thrown into the dungeon with lots of other kids. They tortured us and threaten our parents if they didn’t do their job the army will kill us that’s why none of our parents dared to defy the army. Even so, we were still torture day and night, they force us to carry things that were as heavy as 20 kg. Whenever we dropped it due to the weight we will get whipped. Our parents tried really hard just to keep us alive but it all ended when the enemy came and an intense fight started. When it ended many lives were lost on the battlefield including my parents. I survived because during the battle my mom hid me in a corner and luckily I was not found by the enemy. But by the time I was found by the rescue team I was dying as I dared not stepped out of that corner and I was on the verge of salvation and dehydration. When I came to, I was in already in the hospital infected with pneumonia.’ ‘I see. Thank you for sharing this with me. I should go, it’s late and Mary should be coming back from her dinner soon.’ I smiled, bowed and left.
The fifth day came. What I heard yesterday was ugly. She was only an 11 years old girl, to lose her parents when she was 3 must have been a horrible experience. I was walking towards Lilia’s room when I saw Mary coming my way. ‘Hi I was just going to meet Lilia. You won’t be in the room again?’ ‘I don’t like seeing her talk about all that. That girl is always smiling and even though she lost her parents at such a young age she is still so strong. I want to keep her image like that in my mind. She is a brave girl and I really adore her so I don’t want to see her with eyes that clearly wanted to shed tears yet she forbids them from falling.’ She glanced at me with a sad smile with affection. ‘I understand.’ I bid her goodbye and went into Lilia’s ward. ‘Hey there you’re here! I’ve been waiting.’ She greeted me. ‘Hello. How are you feeling?’ I asked as I smiled at her in return. ‘I’m fine! You adults worry too much!’ she hesitated before saying ‘so what sort of questions is coming my way today?’ she attempted to keep the atmosphere light. ‘Well let’s get to it!’ I laughed. After a few minor questions I dive into the topic I wanted to talk about today. ‘Lilia. How can be like this? How did you overcome it? Weren’t you sad?’ I questioned with a sullen look. ‘Huh? What are you talking about?’ She returned but we both knew she understood exactly what I meant. Never less I replied, ‘how can you be so cheerful, so bright and smile like that? When you lost your mom how can you go on like that? Weren’t you sad?’ She forced a faked laugh and looked at me, before she looks at me with a sullen expression. ‘I’m cheerful, bright and I smile because I know that’s what my parents would want me to do. I moved on because I know my parents wouldn’t want me to continue to linger in my past. As for the last question… of course I’m sad.’ Her voice cracked at the end as tears threatened to fall. She willed herself and forced back her tears as she spoke, ‘but you know? I may have gone through some really tough times and I may have lost people who are really dear to me but that doesn’t mean my whole life was spend in hell. If life is all smiles then it’s not life and if life is all gloom then it isn’t life either. Life is about ups and downs don’t you agree? If I have my share of bad experience then I’ll have my share of good ones as well.’ She smiled. ‘so I’m not going to live my life in my past. I’m going to look into the future and live in my present to the fullest because I know for sure that’s what my parents want and I’m going to make them proud.’ She grinned. That day I left after Mary came back. I was stunned. ‘How old was she? She was 11 how can she think like that?!’ I was deep in my thoughts as I travel my way back home.
Day 6 early afternoon I arrived at Lilia’s ward. To say I was dumbstruck was an understatement. I didn’t even bother greeting Mary as I blurted out what was on my mind, my eyes dangling out of its socket. ‘Lilia why on earth are you bald?! What..What happened?!’ I stuttered. Both of them laughed at my expression. When their laughter subsided, Mary answered me. ‘This little girl wanted to lend a hand to the cancer patients when she heard about the children’s condition and the illness’s seriousness. So she decided to donate her hair to the cancer patients.’ Lilia grinned at me as she said, ‘I don’t need my hair that much anyways and I get to help people so of course I did what I could.’ She chirped. I was still in a state of shock when Mary spoke, ‘I’ll leave both of you now. I’ll be back in a while.’ And she left closing the door behind her. I was still staring at Lilia like she grew a second head. ‘How? She isn’t in a much better condition than others. How can she do that without a thought? How can she do all that? How?’ The question kept repeating in my head. The silence was broken by Lilia’s laughter. ‘Hey stop staring at me like that already! Take a sit.’ I broke out of my state of shock and walk towards the chair before taking a sit. ‘You know you never fail to amaze me every single time.’ My mouth still gapping. Her light laughter rang in my ear as I stared at her.
On the final day I spend it just hanging out with Lilia and Mary. Taking Lilia out for a walk and going around the hospital for a bit. We had some conversations but none that were serious like the past two days. However before I left there was something that she said that lingered in my head. She said, ‘Despite all that happened, I love this life that my parents bestowed upon me.’ A endearing smile graced her features. I took a picture of her and Mary pushing her as she smiled widely at me with both her hands up. The final image of her emerald eyes glistered in reflection of the sunshine as she waved me goodbye, was still printed in my mind. ‘These seven days here was an amazing experience.’ I thought as I smiled to myself.
There~ Done :)
Hope you like it ^^
Annelise~
