“Did you like the ice cream?”
“Yep, they’re super delicious! Thank you, Abi,” Her smile was so bright and Abi couldn’t help but squeeze the super cute little girl in her arms.
“I’m glad. Was there anywhere else you wanna go or something else you want to do?”
“I think I’d like to have a date with you at the park,” she said cutely.
“Is that all? Are you sure?” Abi prompted her.
“Mn,” the little girl said with a nod.
Abi could only shake her head at the girl’s simple request. She wondered if Little Betty had any larger dreams as she took the girl’s hand and headed towards the park.
Abi was pulled back to the present when the little girl started talking about this book that the caretaker at the orphanage read to her last night. The story was of Little Red Riding Hood. The little girl kept up her monologue in between licking the melting ice cream in her hand until they found a park bench.
“Abi, thank you for staying with me today. I’m so happy. I’m not sad that I have no parents. I’m happy as long as I have you.” She then hugged Abi tightly and Abi embraced her back.
Little Betty was such a sweet, precious girl. Ever since Abi found out about Little Betty’s condition, she wished that a miracle would happen so that this little girl could at least be saved, even though it seemed like miracles didn’t really exist anymore – there was no miracle for her mother, after all and she knew that there would be no miracle for her either. Still, she wished for it because maybe, just maybe, a miracle would happen for little Betty.
As she hugged the little girl, Abi saw a cotton candy booth across the road. She pulled away from their embrace and asked the little girl.
“Do you want some cotton candy?”
The little girl was a foodie like her so of course, she nodded enthusiastically. Abi looked around and saw that there weren’t many people around the park so she decided that it was safe for Little Betty to stay on the bench. She didn’t like to exhaust Little Betty, especially with her condition. Besides, the booth was not too far away. She would be back in no time.
“Stay here, okay? Wait for me and don’t move while I go buy the cotton candy,” Abi told her. Once the girl nodded and made a promise to wait for her on the bench, Abi finally stood up and walked towards the candy booth.
Abi kept checking on the little girl as she reached the candy booth and saw that the little girl was also looking at her as she sat on the bench with her little legs swinging in and out. Abi gave her a little wave and she received a wave back.
The sky was starting to change color, from yellow to a reddish hue, indicating that it was almost twilight, but Abi, who was now busy with the vendor, still didn’t take note of the time.
Once the pink cotton candy was in her hand, Abi smiled at the little girl who was still patiently waiting on the bench as she walked towards the pedestrian lane.
However, she took just three steps when suddenly, a fast car whipped past her, barely missing her.
It didn’t hit her but Abi fell backwards like a leaf being blown away by a strong wind. She, along with the cotton candy, fell on the ground as the car that came out of nowhere, screeched away from the scene.
“Oh god! What the hell’s wrong with that driver?!!” People who saw what happened started cursing the driver of that car who didn’t even bother to stop, while some old ladies walked towards her and helped her up.
“Are you alright?” they asked and Abi finally snapped from the shock. Her heart was still thumping hard from the adrenalin rush as what happened finally registered in her brain. It all happened so fast! One second she was smiling, walking towards the little girl with cotton candy in her hands and in the next moment, she was on her backside from a near miss car accident! She saw the cotton candy covered with dust on the ground and her head snapped towards the bench where she left Little Betty.
When she saw that Betty was already running towards her, she forced a smile towards the old ladies and brushed the dirt away from her backside.
“I’m fine. Thank you so much.” She thanked them with a smile as Betty finally reached her.
“Abi! Are you okay?!” she asked, worried as she clung on her leg.
Abi immediately bent down and hugged the girl. Making this girl worry was the last thing she wanted to do.
“I’m fine, baby. I actually avoided the car, aren’t I great? Haha” She grinned at the worried little girl to let her see that she was okay. She could see the little girl’s chest moving in and out rapidly as if she was about to have a panic attack, so Abi immediately coaxed her to calm her down. “This big sis of yours can avoid even the fastest car. Look, I’m not even hurt,” she continued and she let the girl examine her. When Little Betty saw that she had no wounds, her face started to relax and her breathing began to slow down, causing Abi to heave a long sigh of relief.
“Ah oh, the candy… I’ll go buy you another one!” Abi immediately focused her attention towards the candy. The little girl looked at it and bit her little lips before she turned to Abi.
“It’s okay, Abi. I don’t want cotton candy anymore,” she said as she caressed Abi’s face as if she was trying to coax her big sister instead, causing Abi to chuckle.
“Aww… you’re the sweetest. Sweeter than any cotton candy.” Abi smiled and hugged her and as she did so, she felt her heartbeat stabilize so she finally stood up.
