Unexpected
It's funny how one little incident can leave you feeling ecstatic and humbled at the same time.
Last evening, I went to the beach, to sit on the sand and watch the waves roll in. As I drew patterns in the sand, my mind contemplating insignifancies, two people rushed up to me. A little girl, with wind-blown hair, and an elderly man who was being pulled along by his enthusiastic companion.
Before I had time to react, the girl jumped on me, and smothered me with her biggest hug. She dragged me to my feet, and jumped around in excitement, her words tripping over each other as she spoke to the man. I didn't understand a word she said (I later figured it was some dialect) but I began to look more and more alarmed, as the man's face began to break out in a smile as well, and he began to pump my hand.
When all was calm once more, I figured out that this girl was someone who I had looked after in one of the relief camps. I had done nothing more than clean a couple of her wounds, but she apparently thought differently. Turns out also, that she had been reunited with her grandpa just a couple of days earlier. Both her parents had been killed in the Wave.
We spent the next half hour splashing around in the waves, and eating peanuts together. And we have an English date on Saturday morning, where I will tutor the girl and a few of her companions before their exams.
Well... looks like I have a new friend. And yes, I grinned through the night.
posted by La Eposa @ 11:50 AM
