"And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.... God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness God called the light 'day' and the darkness he called 'night'..." He paused a little, catching his breath and was about to continue but was stopped when I held his hand, making it impossible for brother to flip to the next page.

       "...How does it feel like...?" I whispered shakily.

       Lu Han ge froze, but instead of the usual sigh that followed after, I heard some shuffling, my ears pricked up, a soft thud, brother probably closed the thick hardcover bible.I regretted asking him that question. The same question every time. The rumble of distant thunder made me shudder, but the warmth that enveloped me gently and suddenly took me by surprise.

       He hummed tunelessly, his embrace was gentle but also strong and reassuring. Lu Han ge murmured softly into my ear, "..This...Light...Feels like this...It feels warm..." He swayed me from side to side. He chuckled and nuzzled my hair.

       I grinned and returned his hug. "God is right." I could feel his smile as his face was still buried in my hair. "Right about?" He probed cheekily. Instead of punching brother in his chest like how I usually do when he teases me, I only smiled contently and breathed in his scent. Hot chocolate with a little tinge of lemon. Brother was only 12. Lu Han ge and I are not blood-related but he was always there for me and he has never left me.He started working part-time at the coffee shop near my kindergarten to help mother and stepfather to pay for our living expenses.

       "Light sure does feel good."

       Lu Han ge was the reason why I never questioned why I am the way I am. Yes, I am different. I was born without the ability to see but he was just like the light, always guiding me, always offering to be my eyes. He always told me that God has different plans for everyone and God made him my eyes. It made me living with my roughhouse of a stepfather bearable because he would always protect me. His promises of earning enough money to pay for the operation so that I could see again made me happy and loved.

       I took it all for granted.

      My tiny hands were numb from the cold and my lips were chapped. I tilted my head to face mother who carried me out of my bed hurriedly into the cold winter morning. I wanted to ask her where we were heading to , what were we doing so early in the morning and  most of all, where was Lu Han ge. A small voice in my head told me it wasn't the best time to be asking questions so I kept quiet. Not knowing how much I would regret not pressing her for an answer in the later days, especially for the answer to the latter question.

       I could recognize the sounds, the hustle and bustle of the morning market, the constant honks and most of all,I could feel the crowd of people around us suffocating me. It was all too much to take in, too overwhelming. Mother placed me down onto my feet and pulled me into the mob of people.I held onto her hand like how someone who was drowning would hold onto his or her last thread of hope in fear of getting lost.

      "Mummy wants to get something alright?" I heard mummy choke on her own saliva when we crossed to the other end of the sidewalk. "Wait here, okay? " She sniffed. I held onto her dry hands desperately. "Don't go." I whimpered, finally sensing something was really wrong. 

       "Lu Han ge and I will come back for you." She hugged me shakily and pried my fingers away. Lu Han ge? I smiled and nodded. He would surely come back for me. He would never leave me. After mummy released me, I waved at her and waited at that very spot,not knowing how long the wait would be.

       It was as if time had slowed down and everything was moving in slow motion. The darkness that I was used to was swallowing me ruthlessly. My legs grew sore from the longest wait in my life. I had never thought that I could feel blinder than I would ever be in my entire 7 years of life.

       Mother never came back.

       Lu Han ge never came.

       Reality hit me hard and I could not breathe properly. Someone bumped into me and and I fell down, scraping my knees on the icy pavement. I felt warm liquid oozing out of my wound and almost instantly, a sharp pain followed suit. However, that was incomparable to how much pain that overflowed in my tiny heart.

       Suddenly, a wave of warm air caressed my face and I felt one slender but hard and rough finger slipping into my tiny and slightly frostbitten hand. I shuddered at the sudden contact and not long after, the stranger's left hand landed on my left cheek,then on my right and finally on my forehead. A sigh of relief was heard. 

      "Thank god you are alright," a husky and slightly throaty voice reverberated in my ear. He hugged me and his scent washed over me, hot chocolate, coffee and...Mint.