Mamuang

The small town was experiencing a heavy storm, the wind blowing the trees so wildly the locals feared it would tear them out of the ground. Thunder clapped in the air followed by the scary lightning.

The Monk rested peacefully in his small home, meditating, oblivious to the chaos outside. The one that snapped him out of his peace, however, was the sound of a knock from his door. Who would be knocking at his door late at night and through this crazy weather?

Heading to the door with furrowed brows, he opened the door slowly to be met with a small girl staring up at him, drenched from head to toe. His eyes widened in disbelief and without saying anything he ushered the girl inside his warm home.

"Thank you," the little girl said as she was ushered deeper into the home. But to him, she spoke in a completely different language. From what he could guess, she was speaking Korean. What was a small Korean girl doing in a small town in Thailand?

"Do you speak Thai?" he asked her once they were comfortable. She merely blinked at him through her mop of raven hair. "How did you come here?" Still no response. "I'm going to call the police so we can find your parents." The Monk approached his home phone to dial the police, only to come to a deadline.

He looked around his home worriedly, wondering what to do next when he noticed the little girl clutching a book in her hands tightly. He approached her, using his hands to try and communicate with her. "Can I look at this?" he asked her while pointing at the book. She handed it to him wordlessly. It was a book written in Thai, yet, the title caught his attention immediately. How To Speak Korean

Why did the little girl have the book? Nonetheless, he opened the book to try and say a few words to the girl. He asked her what her name was. "Park Nari," she replied. He asked her how old she was. "Six." He then asked her how she came here. She went on a ramble, sending the Monk into a frenzy. He only learnt those small sentences in a few minutes, doesn't mean he's fluent!

So he just allowed the girl to ramble to him what seemed to be what happened before she came to him when she pulled out a letter that was miraculously dry despite the storm she was just in. Grabbing the letter from her, he was surprised to see it was written in Thai. Eager to get some answers, he immediately opened the letter to read it.

To whoever lives here...

I am the mother of the beautiful girl that is before you, Park Nari.

The reason why she is here instead of with me and her father is that we can't look after her.

Unbeknownst to Nari, we've been homeless for two weeks now, saying to her that we are merely taking a vacation in this small town. We have been robbed of all our money and are in bankrupt, so we decided that in order for our daughter to have a lovely life, she must be away from us until we build a stable life for all three of us.

So please, look after her with all your heart, make her happy in our place. I promise to you and our daughter that we will try our best to bring her home soon...

Teach her to speak your language so she can fit in, but make sure she doesn't lose her mother language, please. Raise her into the beautiful woman that we know she will become in the future. And maybe in time, we can reunite and ask for both of your forgiveness for handing you this burden without any warning.

I'm sorry, but please help...

Sincerely,

Nari's Mother

He gently folded the paper back into the envelope, now understanding the situation. It now made sense why the girl held the Thai book with her. To help the two of them in their journey.

He looked to the girl in front of him. The way she looked to him with pure innocence and joy, not a sight of negativity. He knew she would do great things in the future. The Monk looked through the book hastily, trying to make a sentence up for her to understand.

"Your mother and father," he said slowly, "are at work for a while. They won't be back for a long time, so you're going to be staying with me." He looked up at her with a small smile. "Okay?"

"Ne!" she grinned happily.