The Blue Eyes

Chapter 3 - BLUE

The atmosphere in the orphanage yard was so energetic this afternoon. One of the children was having her seventh birthday, and the orphanage caretakers were throwing a small birthday party for her.

Not a grand party with festive decorations and lively songs, but just a mini party with a simple birthday cake and some balloon decorations hanging from a tree branch. A square table was surrounded by some small children, a birthday cake was placed on top of it. About 16 small children surrounded the table while singing birthday songs and clapping their hands in euphoria.

"Do you remember how we celebrated your seventh birthday here? Ah, that was ten years ago, so I'm not sure you still remember about that," a young man asked the young girl who was standing next to him.

The two humans with a significant height difference standing not far from the crowd of children celebrating the party. They just watched them without intending to join in the fun. Maybe they felt they were too old for that.

"I still remember," the girl answered. "The orphanage caretakers prepared a party like this for my seventh birthday, but I ran away from the orphanage because I didn't like crowds and parties. Finally, people spent all day looking for me."

The young man beside her laughed briefly at the answer. "At that time, you were hiding in a haunted house, and no one thought you were that brave to hide there," the man responded.

"That was not a haunted house," the girl disagreed. "That was just an old house that the owner left behind. I hid there all day and didn't see any ghosts at all."

Again, the young man beside her laughed at the narrative of the young girl he was talking to. The man automatically reminisced about the ridiculous thing that happened that day. The exact birthday of the girl was unknown to anyone, so her birthday was likened to the day she was first admitted to the orphanage.

On the girl's seventh birthday, the man also panicked looking for the little girl who had run away without leaving a trace. He was 17 at the time, ten years older than the girl who ran away from her birthday party. He searched many places, from the playground to the candy shop, but he never saw the shadow of the little girl.

Until finally, he looked for the girl in an old uninhabited house in front of the orphanage, and it turned out that the missing girl was quietly hiding in that place. Nobody thought the child was there because most children were afraid to approach the house. They said it was a haunted house, and other children were scared to go there.

"It's been ten years, and I want you to be honest with me," the man spoke again. "The reason why you ran away at that time was that you didn't like the crowd or because you were angry with me because I was adopted?"

For quite a while there was no sound from the girl's thick lips before finally she sighed and lowered her head. "At that time, I didn't have any other playmate beside you here, but suddenly you said that you were leaving. You promised not to leave me, but you left me in the end. I have the right to get angry," she said in a tone that sounded bitter and heartbroken.

The man smiled a little as his hand ruffled the girl's hair. In the past, he also lived in the orphanage after his parents died in the war seventeen years ago. At that time, he was only ten years old and was devastated by the death of his parents.

His meeting with a tiny blue-eyed baby girl at the orphanage who might only be a few days old seemed to bring him back to life. He had loved the orphaned baby from day one, seeing her as the little sister he had never had. He was taking care of her, playing with her, and always trying to fulfill all her wishes.

Until one day, a married couple came to the orphanage and wanted to adopt him, forcing him to leave the younger sister who had been with him for seven years. He had no choice but to agree to the adoption. The orphanage's rules only allowed their foster children to live there until the age of 17. Luckily, someone agreed to adopt him just a few days before he turned 17.

The young girl with long black hair slowly looked up to look at the man who was taller than her. The girl's face was really beautiful; she had a pair of blue round eyes, a cute button nose, and also a pair of full red lips. Her hair was shiny black, waist-length, and straight. Her skin was fair and flawless. She was the real definition of a snow-white in the real world.

"I know that at that time you were angry with me," said the man. "I thought you too would soon find foster parents and be able to start a new life, so I was willing to leave the orphanage. I never thought you would always refuse every parent who wanted to adopt you," he continued while chuckling softly.

The girl beside him pouted her thick lips cutely. "It wasn't me who refused, but it was them who weren't willing to adopt me," she replied.

The man chuckled softly before he responded to the girl's words, "It's because you were always cold and unwilling to open your heart to the parents who wanted to adopt you. Now you are almost 17 years old, but you're still stuck here when other children your age have been adopted by their foster parents."

The man's words seemed to prick into the girl's feeble heart. The girl's expression turned languid and her gorgeous blue eyes were shadowed by sorrow. The man who saw that expression then felt a bit guilty.

"Hey, did my words offend you?" The man asked softly, bending slightly so that his head was at the level of the girl's head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sure someone will adopt you. You still have 6 months before your 17th birthday. Just wait for a little longer, alright?"

That girl was known for her cold and distant personality. She was not very familiar with other children in the orphanage apart from the man beside her, whom she considered as her older brother. Several times there were couples who wanted to adopt her, but her cold and apathetic attitude made them change their minds and prefer to adopt another child. It kept happening and made her no longer hope for adoption.

"You don't need to comfort me. I already have plans for my future, so you don't have to worry. You just need to focus on your job, don't worry about me," the girl said in the end.

The man raised an eyebrow in surprise, then straightened his body again and hit the girl's head quite hard. "Where are your manners, little girl? Since when did you call me 'you' and not 'Brother Kevin'? You feel like you've grown up, huh?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

The figure that was hit on her head made a small sigh and rubbed her head with a look of pain plastered on her pretty face. "You're a bad older brother who left her sister in this place alone," She protested irritatedly.

The man, Kevin, looked at her in disbelief. "I left you here alone? Oh, come on! You should have lots of friends here if you wanted to just slightly improve your attitude," he said a little harshly. "Once a week I visit you here, after all. Is it still not enough to make me a good brother?"

The girl was irritated by the older man's lecture and finally chose to lower her head. She was silent and unresponsive. Apart from being annoyed, she inevitably also felt awful to hear Kevin's words which re-opened her previous scars.

Again, Kevin came to his senses and looked at the girl with pity. He finally dropped his right hand over the girl's head, rubbing it lightly as if trying to heal the pain that had arisen from his earlier action.

"Hey, raise your head and listen to me," the man ordered the girl softly. The girl obeyed and looked up at the older man. "I never wanted to leave you, but I just want you to open up more to others. I'm sure someone will adopt you and give you a new life. But, if no one wants to adopt you until the end, then I will adopt you and give you a new life. Just wait for a little more, okay, Blue?"

Blue; that was the girl's name. Kevin gave her that name the first time they met at the orphanage seventeen years ago. "Her eyes are blue, so how about we call her 'Blue'?" That was what little Kevin said seventeen years ago. From then on, everyone called her 'Blue.'