Do you ever think or even realize? How many times in one day, you take a few times to take a look at the magnificent sky in the hectic world?

The beauty of the skies that splendidly there above you. With many different colors that look like it's telling a story. Sometimes it will be a clear blue sky without anything on it. Sometimes it will be a warm orange and purplish color, then other times, it will be the most reddish. Yet, in her hecticness in her previous life... how many times in a day, did she take her time to only look at the beauty of the sky? As she remembered, in a second after she woke up in her tired body, the thing that she will care about was her smartphone that told her anything she had to do or anything she needed to continue from yesterday. Every day was always a very busy day in her life. No time for breakfast nor a time for looking and appreciating at the sky for even a second.

I didn't think I have time. she thought.

but,

No.

It was more likely she choose not to have any time. She was so immersed in the tight schedule of hers and never had a chance to even realize any single beauty that the world was given to her. Her ambition, her pride was so damned high for her to give herself even a little bit of rest. Life used to be so miserable even only for a second for her...yet, she wonders...how could she survive in this world that she knew nothing about?

[ Eat well, okay?] and while sitting on the wooded simple dinner table with her sister sitting in front of her, she said in sign language.

" Okay!" and the lovely little sister, with her chubby reddish cheeks, enjoys her bread and onion soup that she made.

[ Do you want more?]

and she smiles, " Yes!" she said, without any sign language, but somehow Irisha just could understand. The enjoyment, that makes her also feel happier just by looking at her sister. Just by looking at her... she feels everything is in the right place.

She knows nothing about this world. That was something and is something that she is still concerned about after she decided to live. She was only ten years old with her baby sister who had just been born. What do you expect for a child and a baby, to live alone in the forest like this? ....to make the condition even worst, she is deaf and muted.

Yet, even each day was a harsh and hard day, she did not understand why she still moving on. In this poor child's body, why she could still move and did housework just to make sure that their life was still going. She started by exploring her house that she was knew nothing about. Tended some garden that she never did, cooked some meals with ingredients she did not familiar with, or tried to understand something with just several poor books and Irisha's memories. Every day was hard, especially when she had to take care of her baby sister while she herself, in such a condition. She had to make sure that she sees her baby sister so she could know something wrong by looking at her face. If she did something outside the house, she had to lie her baby sister down near her so that she could monitor her.

it was hard. It was really hard. every day she tried her best to find something to eat while holding her. she tried her best to make a fire so that they were not freezing to death. she was always fell asleep in a very worse condition and had to wake up for a little movement of the baby because she was concerned and anxious if something happened to her while she could not hear or say anything.

but, even though like that, she will end up waking up the next morning and doing the same thing. Then, every time she sees her baby sister laughing... her tiredness seemed to puff away like magic. The warmth feeling of her baby sister in her embrace, the tiny hands that hold her tight. The smile that looks at her sincerely. Just like magic... every hardship she had faced, felt nothing.

It is something that she never felt before. something that keeps her moving on. The simple thought yet feels so magical:

I will protect you and I will always be with you.

***

Her sister's name is Arisha Spes. She is now eight years old, so it means that she has lived for almost eight years in this world that still, she knew nothing about. Well, in her situation, as a deaf and muted person in the world that was not too friendly to a disabled person like her, it was a really hard life. People here do not seem familiar with how to treat people like her so she has to do everything two times harder than it should be.

" I already packed all the loaves of bread, sister," Arisha said with her hand do some sign language. Arisha is so good at it and it is really easy to have conversations with her now. In this world, or maybe to be more specific- in the place where she lives, people do not know sign language. In fact, sign language seems never to exist in the first place. But, as someone who is now a disabled person, she had to do something about it right? So that is why she modified sign language that she had known from her previous life and mix-matched it with the language here. It was hard, and at the start, she was only chosen words that are important for daily life. But somehow, she then just had a full conversation with full sign language. Just like now.

[ Good, shall we go then?] asked her. [ The weather is kinda hot, put your hat on.]

" Okay! I already have the note, where should we go first?"

[ hem, let's choose households who is definitely in their house.]

" Uncle Jacob and Aunt Marsha's household will be out in the morning. Let's go to the priest first."

and she smiles. [ It will do. Let's go.] she said and they then leave their humble house that now already had fences surrounded here. Some villagers did help them to build one. Yes, somehow, she who thought that people were terrifying ended up getting much help from them.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

At first, she was still skeptical about humans in general. It could be because of her previous life's trauma, and it was hard for her to ask for help from the villagers. Especially, when she did end up going down to the village to sell and buy necessities, the stares of the villagers were so terrifying. Her situation that could not hear and speak makes their image in her imagination worsen. She thought that she is being taken advantage of by the person that buy her goods, she thought that they were mocking her. Every time their expressions changed, she thought they are mad at her. It was always a horrifying moment if she had to go to the village and every time someone did come to her house, she thought that they tried to do something bad to her and she then ran and locked herself inside.

but, there was a time that changed all of her perspectives of how she saw humans.

even though, she tried to take care of her baby sister in the correct and safest way- there was a time that the baby had an uncontrollable seizure. Her body heated up, and she turned real pale and blue. She tried everything she could do but the baby still did not show any good signs.

in that situation, she thought:

I need help. I need someone's help!

Just like that, she ran from her safe zone without even thinking twice. wrapped her baby sister with thick clothes, even though outside rain poured hard. It was also a bad pathway of the forest in the middle of that kind of weather but there was nothing she could think of other than seeking help.

She knocked on the door of the first house she could find in the middle of the dark night. With a wet body and while holding her baby sister, she looked at a woman that staring at her.

Please help me! please help my sister!

she said. She screamed so hard hoping that she understand her... but.... the only sound that came out was just nonsense. The woman looked at her in a strange way and talked to her but she could not understand. In the moment the expression of the woman changed, she believed that she will be kicked out and the woman surely did. the woman closed her door and left her outside.

While tears streamed down her face, in the middle of the rain, she thought:

I should find another house. Maybe someone will help me.

Because, if she did nothing, her sister will be-

" Come with me." but, suddenly the door opened again and the woman suddenly grabbed her. There were other people behind her and as soon as the woman held her sister, the man held her.

She could not hear anything so she could not understand anything but, in the middle of the rain while wearing a plastic raincoat- they ran in the middle of the night. Used their lantern to some other house.

Again, she could not hear nor understand anything but, after the door opened and they had a quick conversation- a young lady from that house lead them inside their house and tidied up her dinner table so that they could put the baby there. Other old men, came to the baby and checked the baby. They did something to her and she who was still being held with a strange man looked at her sister anxiously. Her tears could not stop, and it was flowing like a river. But, when her baby sister somehow calmed down and her seizures stopped, the lady from the first house smiled at her.

" Your sister is alright." a really sincere smile just like the stranger lady on the last day of her previous life. A truly, sincere smile made her cry even harder out of gratitude as she knew what she said to her.

" Deng...kyu.." and unconsciously she spoke while using sign language.

And that stopped everyone from what they did as they were seeing a little child said her gratitude to them because they helped her baby sister and they were hurtfully touched by that moment.

After that, Irisha fell sick too, and the house where her baby sister is being treated volunteered themself to take care of both of them. They took care of her for several days, and the day that she became healthier, they refused to let them go back to their house in the forest. The man that worked as a doctor in this village then helped her in designing sign language after realizing that she had a conversation with her hand. just like 'thank you, she also said 'sorry' 'food', and other important words with her hand. Realizing that, he then helped her out.

" Pope!" said Arisha while running out toward an old man that is about to go inside his house.

The old man who sees her then opens his hand and hugs her. " My lovely Arisha, you are early today," he said. He is Pope Joseph was the one who treated her baby sister back then.

" Irisha and Arisha comes?" asked a young lady, she was coming from the opened door with her apron and looked at her with a smile. She is Anna, she was the lady that was also helped her back then. " You are early aren't you?" asked her while using sign language.

[ Yes, we have many loaves of bread to deliver.] she said while taking out two pieces of loaves of bread to them. [ here you go!]

" Ah, your bread is always soft and nice. Thank you," she said. " Why don't you guys join us with breakfast?"

" Ya ya, join us. Just prepare for them too," said Pope Joseph.

" No, thank you! I and my sister have works to do!" Arisha said with confidence while showing off her loaves of the bread bag.

and Pope Joseph who fixed her glasses becomes grumpy. " Humph, you are so busy. Then have dinner before you go back home," he said. " I don't understand why you guys just don't live with us here."

" I like our house!" she said. " But, I will have dinner here. Sister Anna's fish soup is the best," she said.

" Aww you are so cute, should I make fish soup for dinner?" Asked Anna while kneeling and hugging Arisha.

" I will get some fish then." then, Pope Joseph with her grumpy facial face looks at her. " Come here for dinner." while using sign language.

and she just smiles, because there is no one who could refuse Pope Joseph. [ We will, who will refuse the deliciousness of Sister Anna's soup?]

" Right?" said Arisha.

then after that, they then depart and do their chores. They deliver their loaves of bread to the households that buy it from them. her knowledge from her previous life is somehow helped her a lot. It becomes her main job to bake loaves of bread and then sell it to the villagers, sometimes she's got money, other times she trades it with other goods but the villagers here are too nice that they always just give her many goods for free. Just like Aunt Marsha, the one that helped her that day too.

" Just take it, we produced so many vegetables. It is too much for our household," she said.

" Thank you, Aunt!" Arisha said.

" No problem, honey. You have to eat healthy for you to grow up!" she said. " Please tell your sister, if she is free could she help my work?"

and because Aunt Marsha is not able to use sign language, Arisha is the one who will translate it. " Aunt Marsha asked for your help."

[ Is it about a sales recap?]

" Yes! It is!" she said to something that she was familiar with.

{ Okay, I will come to your house after I am done with the delivery.]

and Aunt Marsha smiling so hard. " You are a great help. Thank you." and on this part, she is capable to use sign language.

That is basically how she is living right now. In the small isolated village. With a very refreshing scenery, and with her lovely little sister. she never thought that there will be a life that she expects each day to end to welcome another day tomorrow. To be able to enjoy every single beauty of nature, to appreciate every day's sky, to be able to rely on someone, and to be able to love someone so dearly. Despite her condition, how could she feel this much happiness?

***