Hey,

I came back again today to see if you might eat those chocolates that I made for you yesterday. Not that I was having high hopes—okay, a girl can wish, can’t she?—but I wasn’t surprised when you couldn’t. Well, just so you know, you’re missing out by not eating these chocolates because they actually taste really good and I made them. Especially made them, for you. Me in the kitchen, with successful outcomes, that doesn’t happen often, does it? It’s a miracle.

Actually, let’s not call it that! Miracles hardly happen, and I don’t want to wait my chance of the only miracle I might have on chocolates (when I could be using it on you).

That’s actually not the only thing that you’re missing out on. I made a new friend today, a little friend.

I was sitting outside in the left garden like yesterday, eating a few of my chocolates (you really should try some!... But it’s okay, I’ll make more for you later.), and when I looked up from scrutinizing my designs, I saw this little girl standing right in front of me. She was just standing there and staring at me… or rather, at the chocolate in my hand. The first thought that came to my mind was how she was exactly like YoonA. She was a pretty little thing with eyes that reminded me of a curious baby doe, skin as fair as snow, hair billowing in the wind so perfectly like she belonged in a shampoo commercial. But she was skinny, so skinny that her pink gown made her look like she was dressing up as a pink ghost, and her round eyes so bright. She was a wonder and she looked at the chocolates in wonder.

“Hey sweetie,” I decided to offer her some. “Do you like chocolates?”

She nodded her head excitedly. Her eyes were shining like TTS’s Twinkle, and there was a glimmer of something else.

“Would you like some?”

Just like that the glimmer was gone.

“No…”

“I swear I’m a good person! I won’t poison or kidnap you! I’m perfectly harmless!” I quickly defended myself and tried to reassure the girl by putting one whole piece of chocolate into my mouth.

Well, I didn’t think about the fact that my mouth would be full if I did that. I tried to speak but all the sound I could make was some disgusting mumble gargle. It was so embarrassing, especially since the stupidity happened in front of a little kid (you would have smacked my head so hard!). Nevertheless, it sent the young girl into a round of hearty laughter. She laughed out loud, throwing her head back.

“Unnie, you’re funny!” She told me.

Usually, if someone laughed at me like that, it would make me hella pissed. But for some reason, this little girl’s laughter had no such effect. It was pure, it came from the heart, it resounded from her soul, it was true. It made my mind wander back to the times when I felt like I was truly happy. It made me think of you. Hearing her laughter was like receiving a smile from you, and I wanted to make her continue laughing and to make the world hear this beautiful sound. A pensive look might have taken over my expressions or maybe I stared at her too long in that way, but she saw me and the laughter stopped as suddenly as it had started.

“Unnie, is it the way I’m laughing again?” The tremble in her voice made my heart throb and I shook my head and hands, denying it quickly. “Umma always says that I laugh too loud and I open my mouth too wide when I do. I look like an alligator and not at all like a lady. She tells me I should laugh like a lady. Unnie… how should a lady laugh?”

The look in her eyes were unlike that of a child and was that of the lady she was told to be, in a sense more mature than me. She walked closer to me, picked up a chocolate from the box, and fed it to me.

“I can’t eat it, unnie. I’m not supposed to… just like I’m not supposed to laugh like that. But most of the time, people turn a blind eye to the things I do. They say ‘Oh, let her be. She’s still a child.’ Just because they turn a blind eye, they think I am blind too. But I hear their real words: she’s just a child with stomach cancer. A poor child who would not live to become the lady her mother is training her to be. Poor little Annabelle who would not live to double digits. They think of pardoning these ‘little flaws’ because of the big life-threatening problem that I have. They think they are being so accepting by allowing the small things when they evidently can’t get over the one big thing.”

As you can imagine, I was surprised by what this little girl, who clearly wasn’t even 9 yet, was saying. It shocked me even more when Annabelle selected another piece of chocolate—the biggest one— and looked up at me with a mischievous yet bitter smile.

“So you will allow me to eat this because I am dying anyways and I might as well eat the things I enjoy before it happens.” Her eyes never left mine as she began to nibble on the dessert, almost challenging me.

As she expected, I did nothing but watch her enjoy the chocolate, wanting to reach out to stop her but at the same time, what she said triggered the emotion she wanted to provoke. What if this was her last chance to eat chocolate? The guilt of denying her of the opportunity was enormous. It seemed to be out of sympathy, but in the end, I am selfish being after all.

“Just like all other people…” Annabelle mumbled and walked away.

“Like you…” I finally managed to answer the question that she had asked.

A/N: as promised, i'm back very quickly this time. and not much interaction between jeti (not like they were ever interacting in the past chapters either...) but i really like this chapter for some reason. the little kid, she reminds me a lot of myself, i realized after rereading it. not that i hav cancer, but i think this little girl is based off me.

anyways, i was kinda disappointed by the lack of comments on my last update. and it made me very worried. r u guys getting bored of this? r u guys losing interest? plz tell me what's wrong so that i can change to be better! 

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