The little girl pressed her button nose up on the frosted glass window. The bustling street was packed with people-mothers were walking hand in hand with ther children, some of which who were licking cones indulgently and playfully, some young kids were piggybacked by their fathers and although the girl was meters away from the street, she could almost hear all the laugter, the hint of euphoria. She shut her eyes and pictured herself playing volleyball with her father, window shopping with her mother, it seemed so real, so sharp, so great! Once she opened her beady and innocent eyes, a gust of sunlight flowed into her eyes- she was still trapped in this dingy and musty place with no love, no kinship, friendship, no compassion. All was an illusion... The mere thought of having a family drifted away like a cloud in the vast azure sky, never to be found again. The shadow of a little girl, standing brave, tall and innocent.

She gently lifted her nose from the window, pulled the woollen knitted sweater tightly to her shivering body, a very precious gifte, from her beloved aunt, an aunt who had a special bond with the little girl, the aunt who was so compassionate, so endearing, so motivational, the aunt whom she treated as her very own mother, the aunt who loved Debbie as much as a real mothr would.

to be continued...