Lance
"Aera, come here," I called her name and showed her the headband I saw. "Let me put this on you and see if it looks good." I added.
She put down the snake toy and headed toward me.
I put the headband on her head. "You look cute. Do you want to keep it?" I asked.
She looked at the mirror beside me and fixed it. Then she suddenly removed her ponytail and fixed her hair too. Her curly hair is long, and it has already reached her waist.
She turned around and smiled at me. "Yeah, that is better. Let's buy it." I told her.
She nodded happily and got the other headband, which had a halo on it. She tiptoed a little bit to match my height but still could not reach my head, so I lowered it for her to put it in.
"Do I look like one now?" I asked and laughed.
She typed on her phone before showing it to me.
'Yes. You are known for being an orphanage angel. You deserved a halo. Can we take a photo?'
"Sure, sure. I will take it for us since I am taller than you." I replied.
I saw her pouting after mentioning our heights.
"Come here a little bit. I will match your height." I added and matched her height, and then I put her phone up high a little. "Give me your best smile, okay? One... two... three cheese!" I said and captured a photo. "Another one. One... Two... three!"
I looked at the photos I had taken.
"It went well. Here, look at our photos." I said and handed her the phone back.
She looked at the phone for a few seconds before swiping it to the last photo. She faced me and gave me a thumbs up.
"Let me put this back," I replied, putting the angel headband back on the stall. "Let's pay for the headband now. So we can look around." I added and guided her to the counter.
Since it was Sunday, I asked her to go out. I fetched her from the orphanage and asked Sister Ailee for permission too.
I took her to the amusement park. This is one of the things I previously promised her. I told her I would bring her to an amusement park someday. That is why before lunch, I messaged her if she wanted to go out with me to the amusement park. Then we reached this amusement park at noon, and this shop was our first stop.
After I paid for the headband, we looked around. There are a lot of stalls you can see here. There are food stalls and games you can play aside from the rides.
I looked at the woman beside me. She was busy looking around. Her head could not stop moving around.
I tapped her hand. "We will try them all. Do not worry. Choose what you want to do first. We have the time to finish them all before they even close. Do not rush ourselves and enjoy it, alright?" I told her.
She nodded shyly and slowly pointed to the first stall, where there were many small and big teddy bears. We headed in front, and a staff member approached us.
"Good afternoon, Ma'am and Sir. Would you like to try our game?" She asked. "You only have to pop the balloons. If you pop all the balloons, you can get any prize you see there." She added and pointed at the teddy bears on the side.
I bobbed my head and gave her an okay sign. "We want to get it." I told her.
The staff called the man in charge and handed us seven darts.
"What do you want there?" I asked Aera.
She quickly pointed to the brown, medium-sized teddy bear.
I thought she would go for the big one, but it was pretty surprising that she chose the medium-sized one.
But anyway, we only have one goal, and that is to get that cute brown teddy bear she likes.
I handed her the three darts. "Do you want to start first?" I asked her. "It's alright if you can't pop them. Let's play together." I added.
She politely accepted the darts and pointed at herself, saying she would like to go first. She turned in front and looked at the balloons we needed to pop.
"We can do it." I assured her.
She started throwing the first dart, and she popped the balloon.
"Nice, nice!" I told her.
I raised my hands, and she gave me an excited high five.
"Now, it is my turn," I added and turned in front. I aimed at the pink balloon and threw the dart. "Nice one!" I said when I popped the balloon too.
We had another high five as our celebration. "It's your turn," I told her.
She threw her second dart, and, unfortunately, it did not pop the balloon.
"That's okay. We can play again." I comforted her.
She handed the last dart to me.
"Why?" I asked.
She took out her phone and began to type.
'I do not want to play anymore. I do not think I will be able to pop those balloons. Can I just cheer you on while you play? I think you are better than me.'
I laughed at her response.
"You are putting some pressure on me now," I responded. "But I will try to win that bear for you, alright? Let's win that." I added.
She gave me a thumbs-up and waved her hands as if cheering me on.
"Sir, can I ask for more darts? I need a new set and to play a new game." I told the staff in charge of the darts.
He handed me another three darts to complete the seven darts.
I started throwing the darts. I managed to pop the balloons six times and then looked at Aera again. I handed her the last dart. She was not accepting it, so I had to get her hands and put it on her.
"Do not lose your hope after failing once. You should do it better while you can. You popped a balloon once. You can do it again. Do it." I encouraged her.
She was only looking at the last dart.
"Come on. It's okay if you cannot pop the balloon again. We can just play for another round." I told her.
She then nodded and began typing on her phone.
'I will try again. I just want to apologize in advance if we lost the game.'
I laughed at her. "Okay, okay. Also, please accept my apologies in advance. Do it now." I replied.
She held the last dart tightly before throwing it at the balloons.
It was like slow motion. The balloon did not pop at first, but it popped right after the dart fell.
"You did it!" I exclaimed and congratulated her. "I told you that you could do it! You just have to try and try." I added.
"Congratulations, Ma'am and Sir. May I know what you want to get as your prize?" The staff asked.
"Ah, she wants that brown, medium-sized teddy bear with a black tie." I answered.
The man got our prize and handed it to Aera. "Congratulations again! Thank you for playing. May I know if you could not speak?" he asked.
Aera nodded.
"I see, but anyway, you are pretty. I want you to know. Be confident, and do not lose hope." He replied, which made Aera smile.
Aera bowed her head and began typing on her phone.
'Thank you very much, Sir. Because of you, I have gained a little confidence. Have a good day~.'
"No problem. Come back again, Ma'am and Sir. Enjoy your day!" He said this before we headed to the first ride.
"All the people you will meet are not all bad. You will also meet kind people, like the man in the dart game. Being able not to talk is not a problem at all. There are many ways to communicate. We can use them all for us to understand each other." I give advice. "Although I am proud that you are starting to have more confidence than the first time I met you, you are doing well, Aera. Just continue doing it." I added.
She smiled sweetly and pointed to the line.
"Let's try the simple rides first. I do not think you can ride those extreme rides, but if you want, we could do it after this." I told her.
She first pointed to the roller coaster and then signed a big X with her hands.
I laughed. "Okay, we will not do it." I replied.
She pointed to the tower drop ride and signed a big X with her hands again.
Aera looks like a little kid telling me we should not ride it because it is dangerous.
"We would not ride it." I assured her. "Does it look scary?" I asked.
She typed on the phone.
'It is. It feels like I will die if I ride it. I am afraid I will fall on the ground.'
She replied.
"It's alright. There are a lot of rides we can ride her on, and they are safer than those two." I commented. "Have you been to an amusement park before?" I asked.
She shook her head.
'It was the first time I went here. On television, I saw this place a lot. I did not know it was more fun if you were here personally.'
She grew up without experiencing these kinds of things. That's sad to hear.
"We will do everything one by one. I will tour you around and let you enjoy things you have never been able to enjoy before. So there is no saying no, okay?" I warned her.
She nodded excitedly and signed me thank you.
"Do you think the kids would love this? I am planning to bring all the kids here to play and enjoy." I asked.
I want the children to experience this kind of happiness too.
We can just rent the amusement park and let those orphanages bring the kids here.
'They will love it. But how about the expenses it will cost?'
Worry is shown on her face.
I pinched her cheeks lightly.
I nodded. "I can. We can. Aside from me, I am also receiving a lot of help from different people, companies, and countries. They are helping me send some help to the kids financially and with things." I shared.
After I got the name 'Orphanage Angel, ' many people started sending emails saying they also wanted to help me. I am also going to those fundraisers and conferences to share some words about those kids in the orphanage.
Children deserve to have their own family, and they deserve to be happy.
'If I can get rich in the future, I will help you help the children in need. I also like to help them and make them happy in some ways. I understand what they were going through. That is why I am striving hard to finish my studies.'
I tapped her head. "You are doing a good job. Just study hard. It will bear fruit soon. You will be able to help the children too, for now, you can only give some moral support and give them some encouraging words." I advise
She nodded.
'I am happy that I finally met you again. I am losing hope that I will not be able to find you. I am always praying that I will be able to meet you and thank you personally for all the efforts you made for me.'
'Before, I was not able to understand them. I did not know what you were doing for me needed much time and effort. I also put your life in danger. It makes me feel happy that even in my lowest times, there is someone who would help me and make me feel like I am normal.'
'I used to believe that my life and situation were perfectly normal and deserved it because I had been told that this is how I should live until I die. My mother told me I did not deserve a good life because I was not a good kid. I was born as a result of something she did not want to happen in the first place.'
'Meeting Sister Ailee and the kids, your family, and my new friends made me feel that I deserved to be alive and be happy.'