Reunion

Kaia landed face-first into the sandbox, burying her head in the already made pile. She struggled to pull herself out of the mountain of sand.

"Kaia! We got you!"

She felt hands grab onto her shirt, pulling with all the strength in their bodies, which was quite a feat to watch. She flew out and landed on top of them.

Cries of pain resounded throughout the playground as Kaia continued to lay on top of them. She had no strength to get up and her shame didn't allow her to move. How did she even get stuck in the sandbox anyway?

"Kaia! Are you ok? Here." A little red-haired girl stretched out her arm to Kaia, who could only stare back at her.

"Kaia? You're crushing the others." She urged her with her eyes, concerned about the other kids below her.

Kaia grabbed her hand, letting her pull her from the pile she lay on and touched her face. She is warm. Breathing. And . . . alive. This isn't a dream. Hopefully.

Without meaning to, big droplets ran down her face from her wide blue eyes.

The other children, those she laid on were her other childhood friends. They stood up and looked at Kaia, the sand and dust still stuck to their clothes.

"Oh no, she is crying." Max awkwardly pointed out. "Did we pull to hard?"

"Of course we know that, dummy." Aliya scolded.

"Are you hurt, Kaia?" Shia took out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to her.

Unable to control herself any longer, she hugged all of them and cried her eyes out, letting the incoherent sounds come out of her mouth. Her guilt slowly coming back up every second that passed.

She is here now. They are still fine. She'll do everything in her power to make sure nothing that happened before happens this time around.

This second chance she was given seemed more for her sake than anyone else's, no matter how much she didn't want to believe it, and she hated that.

"Don't cry, Kaia." Caitlyn patted her back along with her hair. "Mama didn't leave you alone."

Mama?

Oh yeah. This was the day she died.

Her father didn't allow her to even enter the room to say her last goodbyes. Upset, she ran to the playground and played with the kids. No one knew about what happened and no one asked.

Kaia didn't remember crying that day, only that Caitlyn stayed by her side till nightfall. She would have stayed longer if she could. Maybe she knew, that's why she was so reluctant to leave her.

Max, Aliya, and Shia looked at each other and patted her head at the same time. It was uncomfortable but not unpleasant and she almost melted in their touch. It's been years since she felt a warm and friendly hand. Now her tears aren't going to stop for a while.

"We're here for you Kaia."

"You can count on us."

"Yeah."

♣

Caitlyn stayed in an orphanage. This wasn't because she didn't have parents, she had them. But they were still trying to resolve their issues, so they kept her in the orphanage.

Why have children if they were not going to take care of her?

Aliya lived with her aunt and uncle, who she loved dearly like her real parents. She lost hers at a very young age and they immediately welcome her into the family. They were some of the only adults she knew that treated her kindly. The only hope she had that not everyone was the same.

Max stayed with Aliya's family. No one knows what happened to his own family but he doesn't mind it one bit.

"Why should I care about a family that I don't know anything about? Aliya's family is my family. They're the only family I know and care about." Was what he always said when asked about his real family. Very headstrong from childhood.

Both of Shia's parents are accomplished pharmaceutical scientists. As an only child, she believes that every kid younger than her is her's to protect and take care of. She can be a little bossy at times but she always has the best intentions.

Max and Shia are the oldest, both fifteen-years-old or on the way to be fifteen. Caitlyn is a year younger than them; Kaia and Aliya were the same age, though Aliya is a few months older than her.

♣

After an uneventful thirty minutes of Kaia crying and the others trying to console her, she finally got too tired and stopped.

They helped her to a swing so that she can rest. Shia and Aliya used the hem of their dress and shirt to fan Kaia while Max ran around looking for water. Caitlyn disappeared somewhere during the chaos.

She looked around her. No matter how advanced the world may be, she appreciated the town council's decision to keep parks relatively free of technologies.

She hated every other plan they came up with, both in the past and the ones they will be making in the future. The worst one is to cancel the scholarship programme for students that only excelled in studies. She couldn't help it if the school refused to let her partake in any extracurricular activities, especially ones that competed against other schools.

"Kaia! Look!" Caitlyn came back running and placed one half of a crystallized rock into her open palms. It sparkled in the sunlight like she was holding millions of stars in the palm of her hands.

"What is this?" She signed, sniffling. That crying did a number on her body.

"It is my lucky stone. I'm giving it to you." She smiled. "My grandma told me a story about this rock when she gave it to me. Wanna hear it?"

"Of course." Max said only to be shushed by Aliya.

"What do you think, Kaia?" Shia asked gently.

Kaia nodded, clutching the rock in her little hands. The world looks so different through the eyes of a twelve-year-old. Everything was so much bigger than her and, then, she actually felt hope. A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of that.

"So, grandma told me that hundreds of years ago, these weren't stones but stars, just like those we see at night. The sky was filled with so many more stars than those we see these days, but people kept making wishes to them and they couldn't grant everyone's wishes. They felt so sad because of that. So they gathered together and came to earth. Becoming hard like a rock just before they hit the ground.

"When they hit the ground, they broke into many smaller pieces and scattered all around the earth. Now, they grant the wishes of all those that get their hands on these stones."

"But . . . why would they come to earth?" Shia looked as confused as Kaia felt.

"Oh, I had the same question. Grandma told me that it's so that they can focus on granting wishes instead of just twinkling in the sky." Caitlyn was satisfied with this reason and so were the others but Kaia felt more confused after hearing it.

You're a twelve-year-old. These things make sense to you. Just smile and nod.

"Yay! I made Kaia smile again!" Caitlyn hugged her tightly. "Every time you feel sad, see this stone ok? Grandma also said that the stone chooses its owner so, you having it means that it chose you."

"That's a good story. Now everyone! We're playing jump rope!" Aliya shouted to them as she ran to get the jump ropes from a small cabin just beside the slide.

"Yes! Come on, Kaia." She pulled her up and ran to where Shia and Max were waiting for Aliya to come back.

"I think I'll just sit this one out," Max said nervously.

"Come on Max, don't be such a stick in the mud." Shia teased, fixing her long braids in a bun.

Aliya came back running, her strawberry blond curls bouncing with every step she took, jump ropes in hand, laughing. "Max is a stick in the mud! A stick in the mud!"

"Call me what you want but I'm not playing it." The dark-haired boy stood firm.

Kaia tugged at Caitlyn's sleeves and signed something at her. They both laughed.

"Hey! What are you saying? No secret conversations!" Aliya huffed at them.

Caitlyn translated for the rest of the kids. "Kaia said that maybe Max doesn't want to play jump rope because he doesn't know how to jump."

"What? I'm the captain of the sports teams, including volleyball and basketball." He looked at Kaia, trying to see if she's impressed.

"Then prove it." Aliya taunted.

Max glanced at Kaia who was daring him with her eyes.

"Ok. Ok. I will. In fact, I will jump two ropes at the same time." He took another jump rope from the box at the corner of the playground.

Aliya and Shia held one rope and Caitlyn held the other. Kaia just stood there, watching them. Sadness kept creeping up to her every time she saw them so happy.

In a few days, misfortune is going to start to fall on all of them, and in a couple of months, an incident will happen, completely destroying this friendship and the kids along with it. She has to prepare for it as soon as she can.

"Kaia!" They called in unison, turning her attention back to them.

"Get over here," Max called, holding the other end of Caitlyn's jump rope to her.

She needed to prepare for the events that are going to transpire but . . . maybe she could just enjoy herself for today. Just today.

♣

The only negative thing that transpired that day was the fact that she had to go to her mother's funeral a second time. It was late evening by time she decided to go home, just in time for the funeral.

After all these years, her face remains vivid in her memories. She died young, probably in her late twenties.

She remembered her mother being the kindest person she knew, ones who the world was cruellest to. She lived an unfair life and Kaia used to wish she could bring her back every day but that was just her talking out of grief.

Now she could look at her, laying in her casket, and smile. She knew how it looked but she was happy for her. Now she is finally at peace, somewhere this cruel world can't touch her anymore.

She gave her final goodbye to her mother, this time with a clearer head and a more open mind. She made her peace with her at last.

Walking out of the house, she saw the number of people crying and couldn't help but snicker at them. They should be happy that she escaped this world before it got to her.

She got disapproving looks from everyone as she walked out. Murmurs on how disrespectful she was, leaving the funeral of her mother without even shedding a tear, reached her ears. Some even felt the need to criticize her looks.

"Who does she think she is? Looking like she does, with that attitude."

Attitude?

She couldn't remember showing any attitude. Subconsciously, her hand went to her face. Being with the kids made her forget about her it and the ridicules she got from literally everyone else.

She climbed to the roof of their small house and stared at the stars. Caitlyn's story came to mind as she reached into her pocket and took out the rock.

The light from the town reflected off the stone. It shone and glittered no matter the time of day.

Does this thing grant wishes?

Apart of her wanted to believe it did but she just couldn't, not in this lifetime. She had to stick to her plan. She was done making wishes and hoping her situation would change. No more waiting around.

From what she gathered in her past life, a series of events will be happening in the days to come. If she remembered correctly, the first thing that would happen is related to Aliya. She can't remember the exact date but it was somewhere around the week after that day. She really needed to find the diary when she got the chance.

In the past, she tried to get help but no one cared about her pleas. They all brushed her aside. If anyone other than Kaia had gone, maybe it would have been avoided.

She touched her face sadly.

If I wish to help them, I need to be the one to do it. If it failed then I'll be the one to face the consequences.

Sorry, mum.

She pulled her knees closer to her, burying her head in them. Just the memory of that day sent shivers down her spine.

She willed herself to stop shaking but it never went away. Her breathing became heavy as the memory of the looks the people gave her flashed in her head.

Her chest felt tight and her hairs stood on ends. She rubbed her arm, trying to calm herself down.

They can't hurt me. They aren't the ones that hurt me. It's not them. Not yet. There will be others. It's not them yet.

Her breathing steadied when she told herself the last line.

Yeah. This isn't the worst yet. It's ok. It's ok. You'll be fine-

She touched her face again.

-without this.

September 7: Mommy Died.