Little Warrior
“Again!”
The young boy smiled, fascinated by the innocent girl in front of him.
“Okay. Do you want me to help you climb up the stairs?” He held her hands as he helped her back to her feet.
“No, thank. Emma a big girl. Emma can climb stairs now.” Her pigtails occasionally brushed against her face as a result of her rapid head shaking. Her silly grammar made the boy chuckle. However, in his view, she is quite advanced for her age. Not all two-and-a-half years old can speak that fluently.
Emma, however, ignored the boy’s frantic yelling and raced in the direction of the stairs. Although she wasn’t familiar with the older child, she somehow felt safe in his presence. And she trusted him that he could protect her from anything or anyone.
She placed her hand on the railings as she climbed the steps with her tiny legs one by one. This was something she was capable of. Even though a mysterious boy helped her before, she can now ascend the stairs on her own. And she wanted to show that boy how brave she is.
She eventually arrived at the top of the stairs after a little while. Instead of displaying her triumph, her tiny feet quickly raced for the slide. But just as she knelt to sit on the top of the slide, she heard a voice calling her name. She raised her head, her attention drawn to the source of the sweet voice.
‘Emma... My sweet Emma...’
That warm, soothing voice was one she was familiar with. It has been almost three years since she first began to hear that voice. Even though they haven’t yet encountered the outside world, a youngster will never forget the voice that soothes them.
“Mommy?”
She slowly opened her eyes when she felt a warm hand caress the top of her head.
“Mommy?” She called in a soft but murmured voice.
“Good morning, my little princess. Come. Mommy made your favorite breakfast.”
The mother put her hands under her child’s underarms before taking her child into her embrace. The mother handed the young girl her adorable pink wolf toothbrush and set her down on her feet in front of the long vertical mirror. Her mother then guided her on how to brush her tiny teeth.
Up, down, up, down.
They both headed downstairs after the bonding session between a mother and her child. She pulled her hand free of her mother’s hold as she hurried towards the dining table after smelling her favorite meal.
“Yay! Fwen toast!”
“It’s French, Emma. NotFwen.” The older brother corrected her.
“Fwench?” She tried to mimic her big brother as her large eyes stared at him with a tilted head in wonder.
“French.” The brother kindly repeated, but pressing on the pronunciation of letter r.
“Fwencher.” The youngest recited, unknowingly correcting the wrong part of the word.
The children went back and forth while munching on their meals. The mother, on the other hand, was amused as she giggled at her lovely children. She continued to scrub the pan while keeping an eye on them.
But then, her movement halted.
Her eyes shifted from dark brown to bright blue. A sign that she had been mindlinked. She dropped the pan in the sink after a few moments and dashed towards the children.
“Children. Come. We need to hide!”
“What wrong, Mommy? Are we playing hide seek?” The young girl asked her mother using all of the grammar she knew as she hopped down from her chair.
The mother wore a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. She was doing everything she could to hide her fright.
“Yes, my sweet Emma. We’re playing hide-and-seek.”
But before they could go any further, they’re all startled with the thuds and chaos not far from their warm comfy home.
“Mommy, what was that?” The older brother now asked.
“Quick, children.” The mother then took the kids in the direction of the hidden room-entrance, which is located directly beneath the house. Built solely to protect the pups in the event of an emergency, such as this one.
The brother was the first to enter, followed by his younger sister.
“Be quiet, my sweet children. Protect each other. Mommy will come back to get the both of you.” The mother kissed each of them on their foreheads longingly.
However, a loud thump was heard before she could shut the door. The entire house shook, followed by a few feral growls.
“I’ll be back, my love.” With that the mother shut and locked the door.
The room had formerly been brightly illuminated but was now completely dark. Instead of screaming in terror, the pups remained silent, as they had promised their mother. And, true to the promise, they embraced and protected one another.
The thunderous thuds and growls were their only indication that whatever was going on outside was not far from where they were hiding.
But then, just as quickly as they appeared, there was silence. Those terrifying wild growls have been replaced by a gentle dog whine.
“Evan?” The girl whispered in a shaky voice.
“Shh...”
Before the brother could calm her down, they were disturbed by the sound of a few footsteps approaching them. When the footsteps were extremely close to the door, the brother’s embrace tightened, forcing the small girl to whimper in fear. Their bodies shivered in fear, which became more intense when the door was unlocked. And with that, whoever was on the other side pulled the door open, allowing light to flood into the previously gloomy room.
“It’s okay, children. You’re safe now.”
As a brother, he believed it was his obligation to protect the younger member of his family from danger. Despite the fact that he had no prior fighting experience. As long as his sibling was safe. He drew his sister behind him, putting himself between her and the familiar outsider.
“Evan, where’s Mommy?” His sister whined. But he didn’t answer her. He couldn’t as he also did not know the answer of their mother’s whereabouts.
The stranger leaned her head in the direction of the tiny toddler and grinned sincerely.
“Mommy’s off to see the doctor, little ones. Come. We’ll take you to your mother.” She extended her hand for the pups to grasp onto.
The pups, on the other hand, eyed them with suspicion and hesitation.
“Hey, there. It’s okay. We’re not going to hurt you. Mommy and I are friends.” Another female coaxes them into assurance.
“You friends with Mommy?”
“Yes we are, little warrior. Let’s go see Mommy, shall we?”
