The incurable disease

The next morning when I woke up with dizziness - I heard rain pouring down, and with the foggy windows it was the perfect day to sleep more.

' a little extra nap would not hurt ' lying on my bed i wrapped the blanket around - all ready to go to the land of dreams, when I heard

" you aren't going back to sleep are you ? " Said mother as she pulled the blanket from over me.

" Please mother ! Promise I will wake up in Five minutes, just Five more minutes "

" It's time for breakfast son, you better show up... besides Emilia is alone, down at the dining room, wake up and keep her company until her family returns " said mother. " What ? Where do they go leaving her behind ? " I asked my mother - rubbing my eyes.

" They had to visit the healer in the village, so they asked your father to accompany them, since it was raining that's why they did not take Emilia with them, it might be uncomfortable for her to go out in the weather like this. So, my dear son, wake up already "

Mother said as she left my room.

' mmmm.....what is my mother thinking ? What can I possibly do to keep her company ? If I were to approach her directly she might think of me as some kind of weirdo. It's not like we're friends or anything. '

After taking a bath, putting the clothes on i reached the dining room. As I opened the door " mother " calling for her I entered. Not being able to wake up properly even after bathing, watching everything with half closed eyes, blurry vision. The moment my vision became clear was the time when I saw her. Sitting on that chair against a half closed foggy window. Watching her playing with the raindrops, looking like diamonds resting on her fair skin. That was the moment I knew, how many things I left unnoticed about her aside from her beauty last night. Her long Silver hair flowing like waves with the wind, her pearly blue eyes reflecting the shades of white sunlight... Charmed by her beauty, i came to my senses just before she shifted her gaze towards me.

As I looked at her again " have you seen my mother ? " I asked her - gathering every bit of confidence present in my soul up to the point - maybe my words came a little arrogant. The time she took to answer my simple question was like torture to me. ' i screwed up, congrats !! now she thinks I am some kind of delinquent ' i thought. ' sorry mother I think talking to people isn't my strong suit ' cursing myself I was about to turn back.... When she said " k..... kitchen "

Listening to her stuttering voice ' oh my god ! , I scared her, she's afraid of me..... Well done me, what would I say to mother ? Not only I failed to befriend her, She's scared of me now ' i thought smiling at her - when I was about to head out after screwing this bad.....she said completing her sentence

" kitchen.....your mother might be in the kitchen " again stuttering - struggling with her words.

" Oh !! I see, thank you by the way " words left my mouth like a reflex action. " Can you ask her when my family will be returning ? " Again with the trembling she said. " Ah.. okay " i replied as she continued to watch the raindrops fall. ' oh poor girl, is she that afraid of me ? Am I that arrogant ? No I have to clear things up. ' as i thought of leaving the room, I once again gathered the confidence to ask her the last question " excuse me ! ( Her gaze once again shifted to me - nervous by her looking at me I was at the loss of words ) are you perhaps uncomfortable here ? " I asked finally ' she might not tell me the truth since I am standing right here, but i can at least make an assumption by her answer '. There was a moment of awkward silence once again. ' ahh !! I take that a yes, i really came as an arrogant to her ' i thought closing my eyes in disappointment.

" No... that's not it, i was trying to close this window here because I was feeling cold with the chilling breeze incoming..... That's why I am shaking " she said finally giving a smile with her previous expressionless face. " Oh ! " As I sighed in relief, reached her and closed the window. ' thank God she was just cold and i thought '

" Thank you, your name is AUGUSTUS right ? I am Emilia....nice to meet you again " Smiled as she asked me that. Watching her greeting me so warmly, the tension between us suddenly vanished, i felt at ease.

After talking to her sometime, I came to know a lot about her, it seemed to me that she was indeed feeling lonely not only in my home but in her life as well. The moment I felt this conversation was going to end she asked me a question - hesitating a bit

" so can you tell me..... why not ? "

" What is it about ? " I asked her back with a light tone.

" Why haven't you asked me about my condition ? ( Suddenly the mood changed serious ) ...umm sorry, that came out wrong, it's just people always ask about my condition when they first meet me and see me as an object of their pity. Kids of my age rarely approach me, that's why I don't have any friends. And you talked to me so normally, so i don't get it, I guess I got curious - Why ? Why haven't you asked what everybody asks ? " She said facing downwards hiding her incoming tears.

' that's right, it's here, the tension I felt last night ' I thought while I got a grasp of the situation.

" Well it depends " i said. " Depends on what ? " She asked aggressively.

" It depends whether you want to talk about it or not.... to be honest I was kinda curious about your health condition when I saw you last night but i didn't care much about it till now... I know it's rude to say but i don't care much about myself either let alone of medical condition of yours. I do what I like to, I have only one friend who likes to be called my big sister and I don't care about anything else. Say that is the whole point, why should we care what people think, why can't we just live life as it is. I mean life is beautiful like you are....Aaaaa.....( Ahh...damn slip of tongue ) - most importantly I talk to people whom I want to. " Somewhat confident and flustered along the lines as well i said this to her.

' this awkward silence again huh ? I guess I went little overboard there...is she mad ? Did I offend her ? Oh no....what do I do ? ' as i was wondering in my thoughts she said.....

" You don't care huh ? "

' crap! that came out wrong, she's definitely mad '

" No i didn't mean by you, I said i don't care about what people say " I was giving clarification but it somehow felt i was making even more mess.

" So you're saying you care about me huh ? " She said with the same tone. " I didn't mean it in a weird way, I mean we are friends now aren't we ? " This came also as a reflex from my mouth and with this I felt like I've crossed a line. I was already having trouble reading her emotions since she was facing down and now i thought I have managed to anger her.

" Pfft.....hahaha... " She laughed in an feminine elegance, while I was left in confusion. " You are so easy to tease ha ?...

( I sighed in relief watching her laugh ).... thank you Augustus, thank you for understanding, thank you for your advise and most importantly, thank you for being my friend " she said while facing me with a smile and tears still in her eyes. " To think I would talk this much to anyone beside my family "

" Ummm no problem.... By the way you can call me August, it isn't that short but i think it goes. " I said lightning up the mood and with this I succeeded to make her smile again. Since it was going great between us, one thing was still bugging me.... I wanted to get this off my chest, I wanted to help her, i wanted her to trust me, I wanted to know so I asked

" Umm...so can I ask you one thing ? Feel free to say no if you don't want to answer. "

" You want to ask me what happened to me ? Why am I in this wheelchair don't you ? " She said..

" No, I want to ask about your brother. Why does he look so..... drowning in despair ? " Felt like I asked the right thing when her eyes shone upon hearing this. It was like she wanted to talk to someone about her brother and I happened to be there.

" Damian ...he ...he feels guilty,... guilty of my condition, I have a disease called mana poisoning by birth. It happens because of negative flow of mana in the body affecting all the parts in body one gradually overtime. Starting from my legs it now has spread to my spine as well, leaving me unable to stand. Father consulted many skilled healers but since it is an incurable disease they all said only one thing that I don't have many years to live. That I will probably live twenty years, and because he is my twin brother Damian thinks it's his fault that I am going to die, he thinks I would've been healthy if he hadn't been born.....no matter how much I try to tell him it's not his fault, no matter how much I try to make him understand, he never listens to me.. he takes care of me, never leaves my side, not living his childhood, nor making his friends..." Listening to this i never realised that I was already hugging her, it was quite forward and unlike me but aside from all it felt right to give her support at that time.

When She said all that with the tears running continuously from her eyes as I felt the weight of the burden she was carrying around. At the same time I also felt happy that she opened up to me.

After wiping her tears, lightning up the mood I left the room to find mother - when I thought where could mother have been all this time after telling me to show up on time..... - saw her standing behind the door, with her holding cold - gone breakfast, it was clear to me she overheard us when I saw tears running down her eyes. Putting the plates down I wiped her tears, holding me her arms - kissing at my forehead she said -

" I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU SON "

**********