Summer, April 1995.

I was sitting on the bench at the park. My mother told me to wait for her there. It was morning when she left. The sun was about to rise but until now when it's almost sunset she's still not here. I started to feel scared..

What if she won't come back to pick me up?
What if she really left me there on purpose?

"Mamma..where are you?"
I taught myself to be calm and hopeful.

"She'll come back, just wait little Aya. Mamma will pick you up..alright?"
I talked to myself with hope.

"Child, where are your parents? Why are you here alone in the park?"

A beautiful old lady appeared in front of me. She was holding a long stick in her hand and a big furry dog at her side.
She's smiling down at me.

"I'm waiting for mother to come pick me up."
I answered. My voice, almost a whisper.
"And she told me, too, not to talk with strangers."

I never meant to offend the old lady but it's what my mother kept on telling me specially when she's not around.

"Would you mind, if I sit here? "
She pointed at the vacant seat beside me.
I never cared. So I moved aside.

"Aish. This weather really got me on my nerves."
She said as she sits beside me.

And there was silence.
"How long has it been since your mother left you here?" She suddenly asked.

"S-since this morning. When the sun was about to rise." I'm not already familiar with the time since I was still a five year old girl, so I just remembered that when it's morning the sun will rise, and when noon, the...