Some time later, Sophia shook my shoulder and pointed with a trembling finger. A glowing butterfly fluttered in the darkness. Its wings shimmered with a soft blue light that pushed back the shadows. It was trapped inside the truck with us, and it was the prettiest thing I had seen after months of nightmares.
We tried to catch it. We chased it across the trays, reaching and stumbling, our laughter echoing faintly inside the metal box. The butterfly never let us touch it, and this frustrated Sophia. With a pout, she grabbed Arthur's shirt and woke him so he could catch it for her. But when he sat up, he did not even try. He frowned at her leg instead.
In the faint light from the butterfly, he asked me for my handkerchief. After I gave it to him, he wrapped the cloth around the small wound on her calf and insisted she rest. His hands were shaking slightly, but his voice was firm.
Even after the catastrophe we escaped, even after everything they witnessed, they behaved like normal children again. They looked happy. Watching the two of them smile in that small patch of blue light made me forget the orphanage altogether.
Later, when she felt better, we chased the butterfly again, giggling whenever it dodged us effortlessly. And as our eyes adjusted, we noticed what filled the trays around us. Every tray was piled with brand new clothes.
Arthur and I quickly chose outfits and changed. Sophia, however, kept refusing every dress she picked up. She wandered around in her blood-stained white gown for nearly an hour. Eventually Arthur lost patience and started arguing with her, grabbing clothes and shoving them toward her.
Seeing them bicker like siblings made me smile, but I could not bear to watch Sophia wearing that ruined gown any longer. So I picked up a shopping bag from one of the trays, handed it to them, and asked them to fill it with anything they liked. Then I chose a dress I thought they would both approve of. They actually agreed with me, and Sophia changed into it quickly.
It warmed me, the way they listened to me. It gave me hope. It made me feel like maybe, just maybe, they had accepted me as family.
We stayed in that truck for a long time, wrapped in the dim glow of the butterfly. Then one day, the truck came to a stop. Quietly, we climbed down with three bags filled with stolen clothes, thinking we could sell them, wear them, or trade them later.
We soon discovered that we had traveled for an entire week. It was a miracle how we survived inside that truck without food or water, but perhaps our fear had swallowed our hunger. Because the moment our feet touched the ground, both hunger and thirst crashed into us at once.
We tried selling the clothes, but every shop refused. Just when Sophia began swaying from dizziness, a man approached and helped us. He guided us to a small shop and convinced the shopkeeper to buy every piece. Sophia fainted the moment we stepped outside.
My heart stopped. For a second, everything inside me froze. Arthur cried out her name as if the world were ending. The man immediately carried her to the hospital and stayed with us until we were safe. Only after she recovered and we were discharged did he quietly leave.
With the little money we earned, the three of us survived another five or six weeks. When the last of our coins disappeared, we had no choice but to sleep by the side of the road.
A car passing by slowed, stopped, and the same man stepped out.
He told us to follow him. Arthur agreed before I could even think. We followed him to his house. He fed us, gave us blankets, and told us to sleep inside.
That night the three of us slept in different corners of the room, but within minutes Sophia crept to Arthur's side and wrapped her arms around him. I also crawled closer to them because I was too scared to sleep far away.
In the morning, I opened my eyes and saw the man lifting a knife from under Arthur's pillow. My heart nearly stopped again. I stiffened, trembling uncontrollably. He looked at me, saw my fear, and gave a small faint smile.
"Do not be scared," he said gently.
And strangely, his voice soothed me. The trembling faded. I watched him walk into the kitchen with the knife and return with empty hands.
For the first time since escaping the orphanage, I felt something warm in my chest.
Something like safety.
Soon, Arthur and Sophia woke up as well. As soon as they rubbed their eyes awake, the man asked us to bathe quickly and follow him. I did not know what Arthur was thinking in that moment, but he immediately told us to do whatever the man asked and trust him. And since we truly had no choices left in our lives, we obeyed. We bathed quickly and followed the man outside.
He took us to the park.And then to a movie.And then to a shopping mall.And then to a restaurant.He showed us the entire city from morning until the night sky appeared.
The whole day, he laughed with us, bought us food, walked beside us, and played along as if he had known us for years. When nighttime arrived, he did not send us away. He asked us to stay with him again, and we stayed. Because we trusted him. Because sleeping under a roof, even the roof of a stranger, felt safer than sleeping on the roadside.
Two days later, he took us to the same shop where he had helped us sell our stolen clothes. He talked to the owner, negotiated for us, and managed to get all three of us part-time jobs. The next day, he took us to a school and admitted us there with himself registered as our guardian. He even bought all the textbooks and uniforms we needed.
A week later, while we were playing outside his house, he called Arthur toward him. They stood at a distance, talking to each other. I could not hear what he told Arthur. I only remember Arthur standing silently while the man patted his shoulder.
The next morning, when we woke up, he was gone.
No note. No clothes of his, no shoes of his. No leftover plate.
Nothing.
He packed every single belonging of his and left before dawn.
Sophia cried.
I searched every corner of the house, every street, every nearby shop.
We did not even know his name.