Goodbye, Twilight

But they left me inside the dilapidated house.

I cried and went after them. “Uncle! Uncle!”

My aunt glared at me. “David has been kind enough to raise you up to this age. You need to move on with your life on your own in the future.”

I became an orphan again.

There lived a strange young man near the dilapidated house. He was a loner. His face was always dirty, so I could not tell what he looked like.

I was so scared of him that I stayed really quiet at night.

The night my uncle left me, I sobbed inside the dilapidated house.

The strange man gave me a box of pizza the next morning.

I froze as I stared at him. I was aware that pizza was not cheap. My uncle and I had only eaten that pizza twice.

But the strange man pushed the pizza into my hands. “I bought it just a while ago. Eat it while it’s still fresh.”

His voice was a little hoarse.

I was very reluctant to accept his food. But hunger pangs made my stomach growl.

I noticed that he looked a little blush on his dirty face. “Use the cutlery. It’s clean.”

How could a child resist such temptation? I licked my lips and ate the pizza.

“Why did you cry last night?”

Upon hearing this, I sniffled, and tears streamed down my face again. “My uncle abandoned me.”

The strange man looked stunned for a second. He felt helpless and wanted to wipe away my tears. But he paused for a moment before touching me.

He raised his voice a little and said, “Don’t cry. You’re not abandoned. I’ll adopt you!”

“Really?”

“Yes.” He promised. “So long as I’m alive, it’s not a problem for me to provide for you.”

His voice was loud inside the shabby house. But it somehow soothed my fear and anxiety.

When I was in my most helpless state, it was the same strange young man, whom I was wary of, who offered me a helping hand.

Little did I expect him to provide for me for more than two decades since then.

How did a teenager provide for a four-year-old child?

At that time, I was too young. Harry was a tall guy in my eyes. But he was, in fact, thinner and shorter than most of his peers.

No employer wanted to hire him. He had no choice but to work illegally inside a fast food restaurant.

He received a dollar per day. So, he earned thirty dollars a month.

At night, he was a scavenger and collected discarded items. When he returned, he would often bring me candies.