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 sun is at it's peak and when evening is about to come, there's sunset.

"Oh. So, you must be really hungry, Child? "

I never answered to her but my stomach did.
"Don't worry, I'm not a bad person. I just got curious when I happened to see you here sitting alone without an adult around to look after you."

"My mother was here this morning, though she's not here at the moment  but I'm sure she'll be back."

There was a total desperation in my voice.

"Okay. If that's the case, will get you something to eat first. You must be surely starving."

I saw pity in her eyes.
I hesitated for a moment but I finally gave in. True, I'm really, really hungry.

She took me at the food cart nearby. I could still see the bench where I  sat since this morning from where we are now.
She had bought me a footlong, burger and a cold bottled water.
I whispered 'thank you' to her and we went back to the bench and she just replied with a smile on her wrinkled kind face.

"Go on, child. Eat your food now. Don't mind this old lad, I'm not hungry at all."
She winked at me. I think she did it to make me comfortable with her.
Truth is, I felt no harm being with her around. She actually looked like my late grandmother.

"I forgot to ask by the way, what is your name, child?"

"Aya."

"I'm Sassa. You can call me grandma Sassa if you like, too. I don't mind. "

I smiled at her.

"Grandma Sassa."
I repeated.

"For awhile, let me accompany you here until your mother will pick you up. Would it be okay with you?"

I shook my head. Actually, I felt safe and secured when she's around. It's like I was with my grandmother.

I finished all the food she had bought for me. And I'm so thankful for her. For if it happened she didn't came by, I might still terribly starving until now.

"Aya, what if your mother will not come back for you? Where do you think you will go?"

She didn't looked at me as she asked those words. In fact, she's staring at the fountain nearby. Her face became sad and gloomy.

Was it because of me?
Will mother won't come back for me?

At the sudden thought, I nearly cried.

What if she really won't come back?

"She promised me she will, grandma."

"Let's hope she will."

And then there's silence. She never dared to talk to me again. It's as if her thought were pretty occupied with things. Based on the looks of her face, sadness were written all over it.

" Would you like to hear a story?"

"What story, Grandma?"

She let out a deep sigh before she made a start.

"Sixty Years ago, there was also a little girl who sat right at this same bench.. She was also waiting for her mamma, as she had promised to her she would come back to pick her up..so the little girl waited..until the next morning she never came for her and she never did for the following days.. But the little girl still hoped she would pick her up and go home. Lots of concerned people felt pity and tried to bring the little girl to the orphanage so she would be properly feed and sheltered. But she never went with them. "

" W-what happened to her? "
I curiously asked.

" She still waits for her mamma, right at this spot."

"Did she came back for her?"

She shook her head.
"No, child." I saw her eyes gone misty.
I felt a sudden pang of pain in my chest.
I cried. I was hurt. Yes, I felt pain for the little girl, and... for myself too. Fear flooded over me.

Will I become like the little girl in her story?
What if mother will never come for me?

"Time to go, child. You've waited too long. Come with grandma..would you like to come home with grandma?"

She softly held my tiny hands.

"What about my mother? What if she will come and I'm already gone with you,grandma?"

I worriedly said to her.

"If she'll be back, then, she would surely look for you. Don't worry, I'll leave a note  with my name and address to the attending guards of this park so your mother could easily find you. But for now, let us just go home, alright?"

I saw the assurance in her eyes as she told me those words, so I felt calm.

" Grandma?" We were walking on the road when I remembered her story were not finished yet.

" Yes, child?"

" The little girl in your story, where is she now? Did her mamma came for her?"

"She's right here, Child."

She pointed to herself.
"And... mamma never came back for her."
Her eyes were full of sadness as she replied to me.

I felt very sorry for Grandma Sassa. And for myself too. Because from that moment, I became just like her...


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