Chapter 9 Lyndall

I jumped out of the window from the second floor and safely landed outside my house compound.

"Wow, I am impressed I didn't go splat onto the ground. I must be a genius." I was so shocked at myself that I couldn't hear the noises in my house.

I looked up to my Ma's room but saw no movements. "They aren't going to chase me? I'm lucky they're lazy people, HAHAHA." I laughed no knowing what comes after.

When I looked back down, I saw huge angry men rushing out of my house. "Oi. Oi. Oi. That doesn't look funny at all. I better start running, or they might turn me into a patty."

I ran as fast as I could without turning back. I didn't know where I was going, as long as they didn't catch me. I tried to escape the area, but the exits had been blocked by those large build men. So I had no choice but to stay inside and avoid their eyes. I squeezed through every tight space I could find, and when I heard their footsteps, I quickly hid. I felt like a fugitive on the run from the police. A few days had passed, but this cat and mouse chase was still ongoing.

After some time, they suddenly stopped chasing after me, but I couldn't let my guard down with these sneaky people on my tail all the time. After a few steps, I found an abandoned house. I entered and checked the entire house for any people. Once I had confirmed there was no one in the house, I sighed in relief. "These people are so persistent. I'm glad I have good hearing, legs, and stamina for this, or else I'm already a goner. Practising with teachers paid off, I should give them something next time I run into them, only I don't run away from them first." I sat on a chair left in the what-it-looks like, the living room inside the abandoned house.

"I bet Iz is worried about me. I'm such a bad friend, all I do is make her worry... Well, she doesn't have any other friend since she is a loner, so I guess it's fine."

I looked around the place. "This place is so dusty. Who can live in here?" Suddenly, I saw the little girl in my dreams hiding behind a wall. "Oh, it's you! Am I in a dream?" The little girl poked out her head and frantically shook her head.

"Okay, okay. Calm down. I won't eat you. I'm not hungry yet." The little girl backed away.

"Oh, I'm just joking." I took a chair and placed it in front of me. "Here, sit. I won't bite you, I promise."

The little girl floated towards me and sat on the chair.

"She's a ghost. She's really a ghost."

The little girl tilted her head in confusion.

"At least she's cute, unlike the one in the movies, so I guessed I'm fine." I nodded my head and sat in front of the little girl.

I took a deep breath and asked the little girl. "You have a name?"

The little girl shook her head.

"Want one? I mean, it's easier to call you instead of a little girl." I asked.

The little girl nodded her head, and I could see sparkly flower floating around her.

My jaw dropped at how adorable she was. "Okay. Just so you know, I'm bad at naming, so if you don't like it, shake your head. If not, nod. Clear?"

The little girl nodded her head in excitement.

"Boy, this is tough. Looking at her gives me lots of pressure. I better give a proper name, or else she might cry." I mumbled to myself.

I took pieces of paper and a pen I found in the abandoned house and listed names I could think of.

"How about Gizelle?"

The little girl shook her head furiously.

"Mia? Anna? Louise? Raven? Charlotte?"

The little girl shook her head again.

"Chloe? Eleanor? Aurora? Jasmine? Rapunzel?"

The little girl shook her head again.

"Not too fond of English name?"

The little girl shook her head and took the pen. She started to write something on the paper. She had beautiful handwriting.

"You know how to write?" I was impressed.

The little girl wrote. "I'm a boy."

I looked up at the little Japanese boy slack-jawed. "This is a joke, right?"

The boy shook his head.

"Well, how am I supposed to know. Your long hair was covering your face."

The boy thought for a while, and his long hair disappeared, left with a cute, short, curly hair.

I couldn't believe my eyes. The boy had a beautiful fair skin, a small nose and mouth, big round eyes, and a v-shaped chin. He was more beautiful than any girl I've met.

"You're a boy? You have a fabulous face. You're unbelievable. Any girl would die for that face."

The boy lowered his head and looked torn from the inside.

"What's wrong? Why the sour face?" I grabbed and placed him on my lap.

"I no like my face." The boy replied with tears dripping down from his chubby cheeks.

I wiped his tears and pinched his chubby cheeks and said, "Why? I like your face a lot. It's so cute and fair. And look at those cheeks! They're so soft and lovable, make me wanna eat them..." I drooled, and the boy's face turned pale.

I wiped my drools off. "Oops. I might be hungry. Teehee! Let me go pluck some fruits from our neighbour's tree. When I get back, I'll think of other names. Ciao." I went off and left the boy in the house alone.

[Outside the abandoned house]

I looked around the area to see any of those brute men.

"The coast is clear. I guess they gave up on putting me on a chopping board."

I looked over my neighbour's wall and saw a banana, papaya, and mango trees. 'My neighbour has such green fingers. I don't see any guard dog, too. It must be my lucky day.' I thought. I climbed over the wall and sneaked into their garden. I plucked a few fruits and rushed back into the abandoned house.

"Hey, I'm back! Miss me? I thought of lots of Japanese boys' names you might like." I placed the fruits next to him and saw him scribbling lots of words on paper with a sad expression. He turned and gave me a stack of papers.

"For me? To read?" I asked the boy, and he nodded.

I started to read the first page. As I read, I couldn't believe what's written on the papers. They were all about a pretty little boy, abused since he was born. He had a father, a mother, and 5 elder sisters. His sisters were all jealous of his beauty and tormented him every day. On the other hand, his parents ignored his pleads when his sisters were bullying him because he was a failure as a boy. It was winter time, and he was five. He was dragged by one of his sisters into a forest, far from home. Inside the forest, there was an abandoned cabin. His sister pushed him into the cabin and sealed the door shut behind him. The poor little boy yelled for his sister to open the door, but she ignored and left him there. The boy was shut inside and couldn't find a way to get out. He hugged himself and prayed for someone to rescue him. After a few days, no one came near the cabin. The boy was cold and starving. He couldn't muster any strength as his life slowly sipped away from him. The next thing he knew, he was stuck in a dark place. Wandering around all by himself for centuries alone until he met me when I was young.

Sniff....I cried and hugged the little boy. The little boy hugged back and said, "I'm okay now because I've met you. Meeting you made me happy. It made me forget bad memories."

I patted his head and comforted him, "You know, even if your family doesn't love you. Just remember, I'll forever love you as a whole package, no matter what happened." I kissed his head and sighed.

"Name! Name!" The boy shouted.

"Okay. Let's give you another name. Something more cheerful and light." I tapped my finger on the table and thought long and hard.

"Same like Llyne?" The boy gave me the puppy eye look.

When I saw that look, I felt like an arrow pierced my heart.

The boy pointed at me. "Llyne, blood." The boy jumped out of the chair and ran towards me.

"Oh, it's okay. I'm fine. Must have been the heat. Whew." I fanned myself and wiped the blood away.

"I just thought of a nice name."

"Weally?" The boy was so excited, I could see him wagging his tail.

"It's Lyndall!"

The boy went silent.

"You don't like the name? I can -" I panicked when the boy went silent.

"I love it!" The boy screamed and started jumping all over the room. "What does it mean?"

"...Hmm? Oh! The meaning. Ya..." I was baffled with the sudden question. "To be honest, I don't think it has a meaning. Instead, I combined my name 'Lyn' with 'Dale', which means valley in Old English."

"Well, look at the time. Tomorrow we are going to be busy. Let's go sleep early, alright?"

Lyndall nodded and rushed upstairs. Instead of sleeping, he kept saying his new name throughout the night.