Once Upon A Time

"A Home for Amelita"

The stork is a pertinacious creature. It will travel far and wide, making sure every child gets to its ascribed house. But on rare occasions, the house would be empty.

The world didn't think that was right. So a place where homeless children can learn from right and wrong, normal and not, was built.

It is a place where a couple can find what is missing from their lives and children can fantasize of a normal life. All the children, except Amelita.

Amelita never thought of herself as an orphan but only lost. It didn't matter what her parents looked like or how they were. All that mattered was they were her parents, she was their daughter, and they will one day find her. The other children found this thought to be very peculiar.

Afraid that her strangeness would rub-off on them, they stayed away from Amelita. The older children would make up stories about her to scare the younger children. But you do not need to know these stories because the truth is ready to be told.

When the orphanage took Amelita in, the matron found it very hard to lull her crying because she never does stop. One curious day, a balloon came floating by and stopped where Amelita was. She grabbed it and never let go. That was the day her cries turned into laughter. Curiouser even, the balloon never shrunk or popped as she grew up.

Her balloon might have ended her crying but her peculiarity opened her to teasing. The matron would often find herself apologizing to her for the other children's behavior and would ask the other children to be friendlier. But Amelita would just brush them off, uttering that she already has a friend. She'd tell them that it told her stories of her parents and to not worry for they are coming for her soon.

But this only made the matron worry. Whenever she could, she would secretly hide the balloon from Amelita. But it seemed that Amelita can always tell where to find it. Either that or the balloon magically floated to her, just like the first time she caught it.

One hot summer day. Amelita and her balloon was out in the front yard whispering about what great adventure is in store for the day. When out of nowhere, and without any help from the matron, a gust of wind blew away the balloon out of Amelita's grasp. She chased after it. She ran from block after block, street after street, without knowing where it would lead her. But the distance didn't matter, as long as she gets her hope, her courage, her happiness, back.

Finally, it was close enough to reach. She stretched out her arms as far as she could. Closer and closer she got. Finally, she had got hold of it.

She gave herself a moment to catch her breath before looking around to see where she was. To her surprise, she was back where she had started, the orphanage. And there by the door were two people.

One might expect a hysterical cry or laugh, or an introduction of who they were. But no words were uttered, because no word can replace a tight embrace that tells the world that they are never letting her go. For this mother and father had found their daughter at last.

Up to this day, stories of Amelita have been told but were never gotten right. In those stories, Amelita's friend was always the balloon. But it was never the balloon, it has always been the Wind. It was the Wind that led the stork astray. The wind that gave the little girl a balloon. The Wind that helped her parents find her. And the Wind that gave her a grand adventure.