"FLORENCE, IS THAT YOU?" A serene voice called from behind me and I rotated my neck in the direction of the voice.

Standing with a grin on her face was Mrs. Stacy Parker, the woman in charge of the Orphanage. I embraced her passionately and inhaled the rich scent of her long brown hair. I was surprised that she could still remember how I looked like.

"I'm quite astonished that you could still remember me." I broke out of her embrace and we moved slowly towards the main building. The children were engrossed in playing each other so they didn't notice us passing by.

"It's impossible for me not to recognize you when you look just like your mother. What a striking resemblance."

She buried her hands in the pockets of the trouser she had on and studied my face carefully.

"I was taken aback when you all stopped coming to see the kids, the kids pestered me for information, but sadly I couldn't give them any. They're all adopted now."

A little girl ran up to us, as she smiled, I had a glimpse of a missing tooth (part of children development). She had on a pink flowery dress and her hair was held up in  pigtails. She tugged on my trouser and I crouched down to meet her eye level.

"Yes sweetheart." She pulled out a flower concealed at her back, and handed it to me. Her little gesture touched my heart and I couldn't help but kiss her forehead. Such a sweet little girl.

"I and my friends think you're beautiful, this flower isn't as beautiful as you are, but it's just a little gift from us." She gestured her friends who were standing afar with their eyes fixed on us. I wasn't surprised that most of them were boys.

Boys will always be boys.

She turned to Stacy who patted her head affectionately.

"I can see that you've drawn so much attention to  yourself, I'll leave you with them. I'm heading inside, in case you want to talk, you know where to find me," I acknowledged her speech with a smile "We have another visitor too, I think you'll get to meet him later."

I nodded and she hurried into the building that housed the children.

"What's your name, sweetie?" I demanded, still crouching.

"Sam..." She replied with glee.

"How old are you Sam?"

She raised seven of her slender fingers to show me her age. She looked at them again to ensure that they gave me an accurate answer.

"You're technically a lady Sam." I laughed and she giggled.

"Show me to your friends, I'll like to meet them."

Sam jumped up and down with her hands in the air. "Yay!"

I pushed myself up and she held my pinky, leading me to her friends, the boys were looking themselves over to ensure that they looked good . I snickered as one stuck out his chest proudly. Sam noticed too and she rolled her eyes.

"Boys!" She shook her head in disbelief.

The boys crowded around me and I went on my knees to properly see their faces.

"Miss, can I touch your hair." one of them with chestnut hair asked, tugging on my elbow.

"Sure." I offered my hair to him and he examined it closely.

"Miss you're beautiful."

"Miss, will you like to be my friend?"

"Miss, can you tell us a story?"

Excited voices rang from around me. The knowledge that my presence affected the children positively, brought joy to my heart. For a while, I forgot about all my problems and channeled all my energy into making the sweethearts happy.

They led me to a tree and Sam gestured for me to sit, I sat on the grass and all the children did the same forming a semicircle around me.

Other children playing lost interest in whatever they were doing and scurried towards us.

I narrated funny stories and they listened keenly, emitting throaty, uncontrollable laughter at different stages of the stories.

"Cute, aren't they?" A voice spoke from above my head and immediately, silence fell on all of us.  I twisted my neck to see who came along with silence . I stared into a familiar pair of eyes.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded shifting a little bit so I could see his face.

"The same purpose as you, Miss Florence." I snorted in disbelief and did a sassy hair flip which made the kids snicker, their eager eyes fixed on us.

"Whatever..."

"Miss, do you two know each other?"  A boy with sea blue eyes asked from beside me, I reached out to ruffle his hair.

"Y...yes we do." I stuttered and looked up at Philip who shrugged and lowered himself to the grass beside me.

I was utterly dumbfounded seeing the almighty Philip seating on the grass and interacting with a bunch of adorable kids. After a few minutes of pondering, I abandoned my thoughts and focused on his arm which grazed mine slightly creating a pleasant sensation.

The children whispered excitedly among themselves and I exchanged glances with Philip who wore a confused expression. The kids fixed their eyes on us and grinned at the same time, which was kinda creepy.

"Are you boyfriend and girlfriend? Because you look good together." A boy yelled  and I blushed furiously, avoiding the innocent looks on the children's faces. I couldn't tell how Philip reacted because my head was lowered to conceal my blush-stained cheeks.

"Guys did you see-" The same boy spoke in a merry voice, but he was interrupted by Sam who smacked the back of his head. He rubbed his head and glared at her as she glared back.

"OK guys, that's enough." I clapped my hand to interrupt their glowering contest.

"Hmmph..." Sam flipped her hair and stuck her nose in the air.

Philip and I successfully resolved the dispute between the two ' sweethearts ' so I completed the story from where I left off and the children paid great attention to me. Philip merely cocked his head to the side and watched me with amusement showing in his eyes.

After a few hours of interacting with the adorable kids, I stood up to leave and Philip imitated me. I said goodbye to Stacy who wanted me to stay longer, but unfortunately I couldn't. The kids especially Sam howled in protest. I felt sorrowful about leaving them, but all I did was hug every one of them, accompanying the hugs with tender kisses on their foreheads.

Well guys, that's all for now, till next week( you know my schedule).

To all those who've been voting and commenting, a very big 'thank you' is what I'm offering 😀😀.

Anyways, school work calls..

Random questions.

What was the last thing you did before going to bed last night?

What country would you like to visit if you had the opportunity? Mine would be Italy.

What's one habit you detest so much? Nose picking, ew, it's just nasty.

What's your favorite Subject? Mine's Math 😳😳

That's all for this week, I'm off...

Tris.
❤❤