Peace. This is what I needed at the moment. Far from the memories of the tragic event that took the lives of the only people who showed me what love is all about.

I stood up and flung my arms wide open, feeling the breeze touched my body. Suddenly, someone hugged me warmly from behind and softly spoke.

″I thought you run away.″

I turned around to see my younger sister in her old pajama, standing barefooted behind me. She looked at me solemnly and from her deep set of brown eyes, I could see a trace of sadness. I hugged her stiffly and felt awkward when I did. I wasn’t comfortable hugging people, not even my parents but the little girl was sad and I wanted to make her feel better.

″What are you doing here?″ I asked, looking around to check if she came with the other kids.

″Mom and Uncle Fernando were looking for you. Don’t leave us, please.″

In spite of myself, I chuckled. My sister, Laura was barely five and has the fattest rosy cheeks. She looks like a cherub and just looking at her made my cold heart melt.

″I won’t run away,″ I told her.

She made a funny grin. ″Promise?″

″I promise.″

″My name is Helen, adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lim. I run away when I found out that I was adopted. They searched for me but they met an accident on their way. I was an awful daughter. I shouldn’t have run away.″

A young boy was sitting beside me,staring below the hill. Although I couldn’t see his face, I could feel that he was captivated by the beautiful view. The city was even more beautiful from here and the place was as peaceful as heaven. I could stay here forever.

″You were lucky to be with them all those years, even if it ended that way. I was lonely my whole life. I wished I was adopted. Then again, I’ve always felt like one.″

I couldn’t help not to feel sorry for him. When I finally caught a glimpse of his face, I saw a deep sorrow hidden behind his innocent face. He has everything in the world, money, a huge house, maids to take care of him, almost everything he desires. I heard he will inherit the whole Villa Mercedes including the Cypress Hill once he’s old enough. But looking at him, he is far from the fortunate boy I described. He is poor and almost desperate for attention.

″I’m Martin,″ He said, softly.

There was something about him that warmed my heart. I was a cold person, hardly know the meaning of sympathy. But he was lonely and clearly needed someone.

″From now on, I’ll be your friend. You’ll never be lonely again.″

I saw a weak smile flashed on his face.

″Promise?″ he asked.

″Promise.″

Promises are made to be broken. They are made during the happiest times without realizing that we could change our minds. How long can someone keep his promises? or how far can someone hold you into them?

″Helen, your uncle needs you in the garden.″

I heard my mother called from the kitchen. I lazily stood up and looked outside the small window of my bedroom. It was a hot, sunny afternoon and I wanted to stay indoors but I didn’t want to upset my mother.

I walked across the garden, going to the empty fields where Uncle Fernando was preparing the soil. There was an old sprinkler, a spade covered with rust and a couple small bags of flower seeds.

″Hello, Helen.″ he smiled upon seeing me.

’Hi,″ I wasn’t very fond of him. He was scary with his long beard but I needed to show some respect. ″My mother told me to come and help you.″

He sighed, ″I told her not to bother you.″

″If you don’t want me here. I’ll go,″ I told him, preparing to depart.

″No. It’s fine. I might need a hand later.″

We were extremely quiet as he removed the weeds from the soil. I had the chance to look at the flower seeds with colored pictures outside the packets.

″Pink roses? Azalea? Pink tulips? Pink Daisy? Pink Hibiscus? Why are all the flowers pink?″ I asked out of curiosity.

Uncle Fernando smiled upon seeing my curious face. ″It was an order from Don Marcelo. He wanted me to create a field of pink flowers, just pink ones.″

″Is he gay? Only girls like the color pink.″

Uncle Fernando chuckled. ″He’s not gay, Helen.″ Then his face turned serious ″But he’s mourning. I heard his wife died last year. He wanted something to remember her.″

″I am mourning too,″ I told myself. Then asked him ″But if you want to remember the dead, shouldn’t you use black flowers instead? Pink is a lively color. In fact, I learned in my art class that it is considered a color of good health and life.″

″You’re one smart girl.″ Uncle Fernando shook his head in disbelief. ″Well, there weren’t any black flower seeds in the store. And you know, pink is sometimes used in funerals as a symbol of love for the dead ones. So it could be use to symbolize mourning and pure love. Either way, I don’t know the reason behind Don Marcelo’s request for a pink flower farm. Whether it was sorrow or love, his order is clear. He wanted to cover this part of the hill with pink flowers.″

I didn’t speak again. I just watched as he started planting the flower seeds, sweating under the heat of the afternoon sun.

Martin was a great companion. I never had any close friend before him. My cousins were not counted because I never considered them as friends and I never hang out with my classmates outside school.

He was an introvert and I found his quietness a bit annoying but he was nice most of the time. He was not rude and naughty like the boys in school. He was smart and I find it entertaining when he tells me stories from his countless story books. He knew every flowers and ornamental plants in their garden and would tell me their names and facts about them.

One time, I cried in the middle of his reading as the novel resembled the story of my life.

″I’m sorry. I just got a bit emotional.″ I said, totally embarassed.

″It’s fine.″

I sighed and started removing the grass covering a small rock beside me. ″If only I could change the past, Martin.″

″But you can’t.″ He reminded me. ″You’re still young. Kids like us make mistakes.″

″Not all. You’re a good guy. I don’t see you doing what I did. I made a mistake because I was foolish. I didn’t listen to anybody.″

″You were confused.″ He said. ″You didn’t mean for it to happen.″

″I wish someone was there to guide me.″

He smiled. ″You didn’t need one. You just told me that you didn’t listen to anyone, right?″

″You’re right. I need one now. But I have no one,″ I choked as I tried to control the tears from falling again.

″You have me,″ he told me with a gentle assurance. ″I’ll be here to guide you like a brother for the rest of my life.″

I smiled back before I fell into a deep thought.

I was happy for a short period of time. I started to appreciate the second chance given to me and soon accepted my new family. But I still missed my parents and sometimes dreamed about them. Everything was falling back into place towards a new beginning. Until the day they entered into our lives and a chance for a new life seemed impossible as impossible as having my parents back.

They were about my age and not the friendliest kids you would encounter but the moment I saw them, I gave them my rarest smile. I tried to be nice because they were Uncle Fernando’s children but there was something about them that made everything peculiarly unsettling.

″Who took the muffins I baked for the tea party of Don Marcelo?″ mother asked one day. Her face was red with frustration,, holding the empty basket where she left the freshly-baked muffins.

I looked at Audrey and Lorenzo, Uncle Fernando’s children from his previous marriage. Lorenzo’s face was expressionless while there was a hint of mischievousness in Audrey’s.

″Children, answer me please.″ she demanded, although her voice was gentle.

″It was Helen, mom.″ Audrey replied. ″I told her that it wasn’t for us to eat.″

My mother looked at me with accusing eyes. I was so scared to defend myself and didn’t want my mom to see my dark side. I could see the disappointment on her face as I didn’t deny Audrey’s claim.

″It’s okay, Helen. But next time, don’t take something without asking me first.″ Mom told me.

I hated Audrey during that time for setting me up and calling my mother ″Mom″.

I started spending all my time with Laura. Taking her for a walk and playing Princess and kingdom in the garden. I wanted to stay away as much as possible from Audrey and Lorenzo. I knew they were planning something to put me in trouble.

Lorenzo was quite okay. He was the same age as me and a year younger than Audrey. He was also an introvert like Martin and likes hanging out alone in the woods. But unlike Martin, he was sort of a rebel and always missing school. But I knew deep inside, he was a good kid. I caught him once,fixing the swing of Laura when he saw her crying because her swing got destroyed by the strong wind.

One day, Laura didn’t come during our play time. I went out to look for her and found her staring through the high wall made of vibe wires. There was another high concrete wall not far from where we were. But before I could climb up the wires to check what was on the other side, I saw a sign that said ″DANGER. KEEP OUT. AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY.″

″What are you doing here?″ I asked, taking her small hand.

″I was keeping an eye on Lorenzo.″

″Lorenzo?″ I suddenly got curious. ″Why are you hanging out with him?″

″He’s a good kid. After all, he’s also my brother.″ she replied as she tiptoed,hoping that she would catch a glimpse of our brother.

I was embarrassed as I nearly forgot that Lorenzo was Laura’s half-brother. I have no right to keep her away from him.

″What is he doing there anyway?″ I started to look for him too beyond the high grass.

″He said he’s making a trap to catch the animals.″

″What animals?″ I was totally lost.

″I don’t know.″ Laura replied with a clueless expression. ″He said he saw something in there. A brown thing running across the field. He also saw a black panther and he told me that he will try to catch it to be his pet.″

I was stunned. I tried to convince myself that Lorenzo was making stories for Laura not to insist on following him but there was something inside me that wanted to believe it.

Months passed and we started to act like real family. Except for Audrey who still didn’t want me around. She was acting like a true sister in front of mother and Uncle Fernando but when they were gone, she was going back into being an evil stepsister.

I didn’t mind her being mean as I started to get along well with Lorenzo. He’s someone who loves to explore and sometimes he doesn’t mind me hanging out with him. He was still quiet most of the time but he wasn’t ignoring me like before.

But Martin was complaining that he felt ignored whenever I was hanging out with Lorenzo. But I tried to remind myself that unlike me, he doesn’t have even a stepbrother or sister with him so I needed to be patient.

Sometimes the three of us would go camping in the woods making a huge bonfire. Martin was always welcome in our small home and I could see a change in him from being an introvert into a normal cheerful boy.

My closeness with her brother caused Audrey to treat me worse that before. She made it clear that she didn’t want anything to do with me and wished that I don’t exist. She could convince Laura to go against me which made me sad as Laura is my sister and I didn’t want her to be caught between me and her other sister.

It was the beginning of summer and almost the end of our school year. Classes were already dismissed and some students were left in the school ground to watch a stage play. I was trying to catch a glimpse of the show, jumping over the heads of the students covering the stage.

I was surprised when Audrey approached me with her sweetest smile.

″What are you doing here, Helen?″ she asked.

″I wanted to watch the play.″ Although I didn’t know what was going inside her mind, I tried to answer politely.

″Silly. The play will finish without you having the chance to watch it.″ She took me by the hand which I was totally surprised I found myself pulling my hands away from her.

″You don’t want to come with me?″ She sounded as if she was hurt. ″Come on, I know I was mean to you before but I’m trying to be a good sister now.″

I reluctantly let her hold my hand again as she led me into the fourth flour of the main school building.

We were outside the terrace when she started to climb in the concrete railings.

″What are you doing?″ I asked, panicking. ″You could get into trouble for this if a teacher sees you.″

″No one will see me, Helen. I could have better view of the show over there.″ She replied, pointing at the roof top of the lower building.

″Come on, Audrey, please get down.″ I begged her to no used.

I was startled by a shrill female voice coming from an old woman.

″What do you think you are doing there?″ boomed a voice from behind.

We looked back to see a school teacher, ready to hit us with her long meter stick.

Audrey looked at me, asking me to follow her. As the teacher was about to come, I immediately climbed up the railings and hold into Audrey’s back. Without hesitation she tried to jump over the gap going to the roof top of the next building. As her right foot landed on the roof, her shoes betrayed her. She slipped and missed the landing.

″No!″ I shouted in terror.

The teacher quickly pulled me through my skirt that I hurt my back as I fell from the railing to the concrete ground. She looked down from the terrace and was horrified with what she saw.

″You pushed her!″ she yelled at me, with the end of her long meter stick pointing at my face as I tried to stand up. My eyes was filled with tears as I finally had the chance to look down and witness the terrible thing that happened to my sister.

The teacher grabbed me through my polo sleeve and dragged me going outside the school building.

″This is the one who pushed the girl!″ the teacher was shouting as she informed the crowd.

I couldn’t look at them. My eyes could only see the lifeless body of my sister, lying on the ground. In the crowd, I saw Martin and Lorenzo with their questioning eyes.

″You pushed the poor girl!″

″It was an accident!″ I managed to say.

″You pushed her!″

″I didn’t kill her!″ I shouted, my voice echoed through the school ground.