When Lorelei woke up, she didn't see the man next to her, so she got scared and clung even more tightly to the stuffed animal she was holding. She thought she was scared, but the real word to define her emotions would be worried. Worried about being left alone again, worried about having to be repelled again. She did not want to go through it again, not another time.
Suddenly, she heard a voice calling out her name in a sweet voice.
''Lorelei! Here you go, dear.''
She saw the man standing with a plate of food as he handed it to her. She stared at the man for a while, observing him. She wanted to ask him why he was taking care of her. Why did he allow a monster like her in his dwelling, but she could not find the words to do so, so she stayed silent. The man then placed the plate in front of her and told her to eat. As of her habit, she ate hastily.
The man once again told her.
''Slow down, Lo, the food isn't running.''
For the first time, she had been given a nickname, not one that inspires fear and hatred, but love and attention. All those bottled-up emotions, emotions she has been suppressing since she was labeled as a monster, resurfaced. She had accepted the fact that she was being treated differently from the others because of something she had done, but no one ever dared to say what. For the first time since then cried and wept tears of happiness; someone still saw her as a human.
She somehow, by instinct, understood the man and started to slowly eat whatever was left on her plate. Once she was done, she handed it back to him.
''Thank you, we say thank you when someone does something nice to us. ''
Lo repeated with her mouth still filled with the porridge he made.
''T H an k yOu.''
Once night came, the man read her one of the books on the shelves she had picked herself. She especially liked one with a pretty lady on the cover, named the princess.
It was a story of a girl who did everything to be loved by her people, yet was still being cast aside as she went on with her life. She faced numerous struggles and dangers to ascend to the throne and finally did it. The man taught her what the word Princess meant as she repeated how to say Princess.
Before Lo went to sleep, the man always sat on the side of the bed while singing a hume that she had memorized after listening to it every night since they met. He was knitting; she didn't know what he was knitting, but he was. He looked like he was enjoying himself knitting there, but his eyes always seemed distant as if he was recalling something or regretting something. Lorelei clearly noticed that since the first day they met.
Every day, the man would teach Lo new words as she got accustomed to them. She slowly started speaking simple phrases, such as 'I want food, please', her pronunciation wasn't yet perfect, but the man was proud of the little progress she made.
She understood many concepts, such as kindness, family, and hate. She also understood how to be polite. At the table, she had to eat slowly and not talk while eating.
Lorelei was single-armed, so it was difficult for her to hold up a fork while eating, since her fine motor skills weren't as developed as they should be at her age. Since the day the man covered her missing arm, the healing was going well. The only time she felt pain was at night when the man was applying the ointment. Lorelei surprisingly didn't seem too bothered by the fact that her arm was missing, for her, it meant that there were fewer people who would die because of her.
The man never asked her any questions about her past or how she ended up in this forest somewhere within Lorelei; she thought that maybe he already knew about her, about everything. He purposely avoided any physical contact with her hand, which Lorelei noticed a long time ago, yet he still gave her enough love for her to feel cherished, so it did not matter to her. Every night before sleeping, the man would lightly comb her hair in a soothing motion while humming to the same tune he hummed while knitting. Sometimes, Lo would also hum along to his tune, kicking her feet in the air to distract herself while the man was combing her hair. For her, it was the best moment of the day, a moment she always looked forward to.
When the stars filled the sky, the man asked Lo to follow him out of the house and sat down on the ground. Lo followed his motion and did so. As they stared at the starry night sky, lying on the ground, the man said, Lo, have this as he handed with his hand a small box wrapped beautifully.
''Open it, if you ever feel lonely once I'm not here to protect you anymore. You know better than anyone who humans truly are, you saw their true nature, you felt it, they will harm you if they discover what you, only you, are capable of, so promise me once I'm not here anymore, promise me that you will open it.''
The girl softly muttered ''I promise.''
Lorelei didn't understand what the man meant by 'No longer here to protect her.' She was always with him and thought this moment would last forever. When a shooting star passed, the man told Lorelei.
''Look! Lo, it's a shooting star! Do you know what we do when we see one?''
Lorelei shook her head.
''When we see a shooting star, we make a wish! I wish to see Lorelei grow up and be a beautiful and kind woman, even though you already are.''
The man chuckled and asked her.
''What is your wish, Lo?''
Lorelei repeated.
''wIsH? WHat is WiSh?''
''A wish is something you desire to have or to do. Do you have one?''
Lorelei stayed quiet for a while. Still thinking about what she wished for.
'WisH mE iS stAy WitH yOu''
She rested her head on the man's lap and smiled, looking at him. Seeing her, the man smiled back and started singing. For the first time, he sang what the humming really was.
''My hero, my hero, please don't you feel afraid for I the sun is still high, for you the stars are still here, so find yourself a way, a way back to me, I waited long, long ago, I slept , I dreamt, I cried so, my hero, my hero, can you make it my reality? Everything I do, everything I do, why don't you tell me who? I don't know who I'm even waiting for...''
By the time the man finished his song, Lorelei had already fallen asleep long ago while clutching onto the man's clothes as hard as she could, as if she was saying ''Don't leave me''. How much has she grown, he thought.
He smiled and carried her back in on the bed and sat down in the chair as he had been doing for the past four years with her.
''My mother always had done this with me. She's the one who taught me this lullaby, but she already passed long ago, before you were even alive. She was a kind woman, and so are you. I'm sure that your future will be filled with happiness and joy. I pray for it. You really grew up from the first time I met you. I'm proud of who you are, Lo, don't ever forget that. As long as I'm here, they won't make you a weapon again, not as long as I'm still harboring this earth.''