The taste of seperation

At a random mansion far from the outskirts of magic city

"So you mean you saw her and you couldn't do anything?" A young man in his early 40's was scolding 3 hefty looking men. He threw the glass of wine in his hands on the floor, shattering the glass to pieces and making an annoying sound.

"We are sorry boss but there was really nothing we could do. We were on another assignment and Mia, well she was with a police officer in the hospital. If we had even tried as much as to touch her hair then we would have been caught '' one of the men showed a lot of remorse towards his enraged boss.

"Yes he is right, there was really nothing we could do" another of the men supported him.

Their so-called boss who had been backing them earlier on suddenly turned around and grabbed the collar of the first man that spoke with both of his hands.

"You are so useless. If you couldn't use your hands to hurt her, at least you should have used your brains to find out what she was doing at the hospital and why she was with the police. You could have tried to get me some valid information and not come here to tell me this nonsense" he was almost strangling the young man.

"Boss please stop, you will kill him" one of the men who was quiet all this while finally spoke up.

"Now you better leave this place and go get me some information. If not I will chop your fingers off and feed them to you before I separate your head from your body" he let go of the man's collar roughly, making him stumble and almost fall to the floor.

At the orphanage

"Mia, what's wrong?" Rebecca found herself asking against her will but as expected Mia didn't say anything to her, she just sat on the bench outside.

"Ever since we came back from the hospital you have been acting really strange. For instance, you didn't even go to see Miss Melinda where as you were the one that insisted we pay her a visit" Rebecca kept on talking, she knew that if she kept on saying things then it would surely push Mia into saying what the problem was.

"I mean, Miss Melinda kept on asking after you. The officer also told us what you did, that was very brave of you" Rebecca complimented and advanced to taking a seat beside Mia.

"You know I'm going to keep talking until you finally give me a reply" Rebecca tried to make herself comfortable beside Mia.

"What did she say?" Mia turned to look at Rebecca.

"Who?" Rebecca asked Mia back.

"Miss Melinda, what did she say?" Mia was quite attentive this time.

"Nothing much," Rebecca shrugged.

"But you just said she was asking about me? So you were lying?" Mia turned away from Rebecca slowly.

"I wasn't Mia, she really did ask about you" Rebecca tried to defend herself but Mia zoned off from their conversation.

"Lunch is ready" a lady working at the orphanage announced cutting their conversation short, the lady had been working in the orphanage for a while but she had taken a short vacation but returned when she heard what happened. Rebecca feeling guilty ran inside the house.

Mia was about to follow suit when she felt someone passed. She turned around thinking that someone might be behind her but she saw no one. She thought she might have just been overreacting because of the incident today but she had the feeling again, as if someone was walking up to her from behind.

"Common Mia, you have to come too" the lady approached Mia, Mia turned around and she didn't see anybody.

"I'm not hungry," Mia declared, trying to escape lunch.

"I know you are but you don't want to eat with the rest, that's not a problem, you can have your lunch outside" the lady rushed in and came out quickly with a plate of food. She offered to feed Mia but she rejected and began to feed herself.

"Miss Joyce, do you ever get scared?" Mia suddenly asked.

Miss Joyce who was lost in a world of her own even though she sat next to Mia, finally came back to herself.

"What was that Mia?" She shook her head and blinked her eyes.

"Fear? Do you experience fear?" Mia repeated but she chose her words carefully.

"Of course Mia dear, everyone gets scared sometimes" Miss Joyce gave a smile.

"So what do you do when you get this feeling?" Mia questioned again.

"Well sometimes it might be good to face your fear while other times it is just in your best interest to forget about what makes you scared as it is always the easiest way out" Miss Joyce parted Mia head.

"Well, what if you can't forget ? What if that thing is always in your mind!" Mia dropped the food so she could pay all her attention to Joyce.

"Then you are left with no other option than to face your fear, most times what we are scared of always aren't as scary as they seem" Miss Joyce answered her and walked away maybe to avoid any further questions.

If only Miss Joyce knew that this fear of Mia's wasn't something she could forget about it or something she could let go, this fear was from her past and it would hunt her for as long as she lived.

Melinda's POV

At the hospital

"Please mom, I don't want to hear any of it. If you don't have something else to say to me then I suggest you leave, let me have my rest" I was semi scolding my mum.

"And what could you possibly mean by that?" My mum raised an eyebrow at me and I blinked my eyes slowly and turned to the other side of my hospital bed.

"Melinda I don't know what exactly I am saying that is getting you offended. I am only looking after you" my mom was being dramatic, maybe she wasn't but I certainly felt that way.

"Please mum, don't even start with your drama right now. You are asking me to leave the country just because of a little incident that happened in the orphanage. Mum, common that is preposterous and obviously you are just over reacting" I was trying my best to make her see reason.

"Am I overreacting? Melinda you got shot on the leg and you are telling me I am overreacting?" My mum stood up from her chair beside my bed.

"Yes mum you are. Ouch '' I winced in pain, I was having a painful headache and the last thing I needed was for my mum to be yelling at me.

" Melinda look at your condition, why can't you just understand where I am coming from. I am your mother and obviously I am concerned about your safety that is why I am asking you to leave the country just for a while at least until things settle down" my mum sat back down and was massaging my head gently, this time her voice was more calming and soothing.

"And when will things finally settle down?" I took her hands off my head and faced her.

" Maybe, three to four years from now" my mum shrugged and looked away from me.

"Three to four year?" I raised my voice.

"Yes darling, by then this people who attacked you would have forgotten about your existence" my mum held my hand in her palms once again.

" No mum, I can't. I just can't leave the country, not even for twenty four hours" I looked away from her this time because I knew where she would drive this conversation to.

"Don't even tell me it is because of those homeless kids you are harboring?" My mum was clearly being sarcastic and self centered.

"Mum, those kids have a home and I would appreciate it if you don't call my children homeless" I tried to defend myself.

"Oh please be quiet. You are not married, not to talk of having kids. The sooner you realize you are wasting your time, the better it would be for everyone especially for you" my mum rolled her eyes in disgust.

All this yelling and arguing was really getting to me and I felt something clustering my chest and it made it very difficult for me to breath. I began to gasp for air, opening my mouth and seeking for air.

My mum hurriedly went to get the doctor that was on his night shift, he immediately put me on oxygen, using a non- rebreather mask.

"Madam I'm sorry but you will have to leave the room for a while" the doctor instructed my mum while he went to get a nurse.

I could see the pain and fear in my mum's eyes, although I was the one gasping for air, she was the one suffering it. When my condition had stabilized they finally let her back in the room but this time the room was dead silent. None of us wanted to speak to the other person.

I did want to speak to her , but I just couldn't take my mask off, so she broke the silence herself.

" If you have ever loved me as your mother and if you even have the slightest pity for me then you would do as I have instructed you" my mum cried out before she rested her head on my bed while she spent the night with me at the hospital. Growing up without a father, my mum had always been my only support and she knew just how much it hurt to see her break down. She always used this method to get me to do whatever she wanted but I wasn't sure about this particular request of hers.

I had dedicated my life to that orphanage for many years and I just couldn't bear the thought of being separated from those kids. They mean the world to me and not having parents, I just wanted to fill that void in their heart. I had always managed to get through each and everyone of them except Mia and I always wondered why.

At the orphanage

Melinda had finally recovered and returned to the orphanage, the love the kids showed her was just enough to get rid of her sickness. Ever since she declined her mum's request for her to leave the country, her mum had refused to speak to Melinda and at one point she claimed she was no longer her daughter but Melinda didn't let that bother her because she knew she was just angry and like other times, her anger would subside. Mia on the other hand tried to continue her life, she tried to forget about her fear just like Miss Joyce had told her but things only became more challenging for her, she always felt like she was being watched. She felt like someone kept on following her and she couldn't take it anymore. "Leave me alone, get away from me" she covered her ears and screamed at the gate of the orphanage. Hearing her awful screams Melinda rushed out of the orphanage only to find Mia on the floor with her school uniform, she had clearly lost consciousness. Melinda quickly went inside to get her car key and informed Miss Joyce about what had transpired in a haste. "But what happened to her!" Miss Joyce ran after Melinda who was running down the stairs. "I don't know, I will explain the little I know later. Watch after the kids" Melinda yelled at the entrance of the house. She picked up little Mia and almost threw her in the car before rushing her to the hospital. Once again Mia found herself in the ICU, the doctors had been there for over 2 hours and Melinda just couldn't get herself to settle at a place. She would stand then sit then stand again, then pace around. She just made random and unnecessary movements until a chocolate skinned lady walked out of the ICU with a lab coat. "How is she?" Melinda rushed the doctor at once, not giving her any breathing space. "Well she is fine but there are some things we need to discuss but not here. Please come to my office with me" the doctor gestured towards her office and Melinda obediently followed her without uttering a word. "What is it, doctor? You said she was fine and now we are here?" Melinda barely sat on the chair in the doctor's office before she started to panic. "Miss, you will have to calm down. The little girl is fine but I would like to discuss the reason why she lost consciousness in the first place" the doctor shut the door and took a seat in front of Melinda with a rectangular wooden table in between them. "I would also like to know the reason why she passed out. What exactly is the issue?" Melinda still wasn't settled. "Well, from my observations, I am 99% sure that she passed out due to over thinking and for someone with her condition it is normal to overthink but the guardian of such a child should never allow things to get to this point" the doctor had lost Melinda at the part where she talked about "condition". "I'm lost? What condition are we talking about exactly?" Melinda stopped the doctor from going any further with stating her diagnosis. "You don't know?" The doctor was quite shocked. "Know what doctor?" Melinda was more surprised. "Mia has autism?" The doctor told Melinda very calmly but Melinda was still scared. "Is she going to die or something?" Melinda was exaggerating but she couldn't be blamed though. "No" the doctor held back her laughter. "Well it is a kind of disability that affects one's verbal and non-verbal communication. Common signs are the reliance on rules and routines, inability to have eye contact, delayed speech, being upset by minor changes and not understanding other people's emotions. There are other symptoms but these are the most common. However autistic people tend to use their brain more differently than normal human beings do, this makes many of them have extraordinary abilities'' the doctor tried her best to break things down in the simplest way. "Wow" Melinda took a huge breath, she was in utter shock. She couldn't figure out what shocked her the most, hearing about autism for the first time or the fact that Mia had Autism for the past 2 years she had spent with them and she had no clue whatsoever. Mia barely fell sick, but the explanation made Melinda to comprehend certain characteristics in Mia that she found strange. She remembered when a kid in the orphanage had used Mia's textbook and didn't return it at the exact spot Mia kept it. That made Mia look for it and she was very unsettled, it made her panic and freak out a lot, she behaved in a way a normal person wouldn't behave. "You can take her home in two hours" the doctor brought Melinda out of her thoughts. "Thank you doctor" Melinda stood up to take her leave while the doctor picked up one of the many files on her table. Melinda took a deep breath before she entered the room Mia was and found her awake. She sat beside her bed and there was an awkward silence "So.. you passed out" Melinda put her hands on her knee while she rocked on the chair which wasn't a rocking chair. "You will get hurt if you don't stop moving like that" Mia warned not taking her eyes off the ceiling. "Thanks" Melinda stopped moving at once. "So.. she also said you have autism Mia. Do you know what that means?" Melinda was saying things very slowly. "Yes, I have known about my disability since I was 3. I am ok with it" Mia hurriedly said, still fixing her gaze on the ceiling. "Ooh. But why didn't you tell anyone? Why did you decide to keep it to yourself?" Melinda was very curious as to why a child would want to hide such "No one is proud of having a disability" Mia looked at her for a second and turned away. "But yet everybody has one" Melinda began to stroke Mia's hair gently. "You don't, you are perfectly fine" Mia blinked severally. "No I am not. I get sad easily, that isn't normal. And if you go through everyone's life then something is definitely wrong with them in one way or the other. I don't want you to feel you are different or you don't belong with the rest okay" Melinda's voice was gradually cracking. Mia was silent again and Melinda couldn't help but cry. Mia turned to look at her and wondered why she was crying when she wasn't the autistic one. Melinda's POV For the first time Mia had requested for me to buy her ice cream on the way back from the hospital and I gladly accepted, I was so happy seeing her smile, something she almost never does. Although it wasn't a big smile but at least it was still something. Little did I know what had awaited us when we got back to the orphanage. "Yeii. Miss Melinda is back and Mia is with her too, more good news" Rebecca jumped in joy when she saw me arriving with Mia. She jumped on me and I carried her in my arms and kissed her forehead. "Rebecca you can't keep jumping on me like that every now and then. You are not as little as you used to be'' I laughed and Rebecca didn't even move an inch as she clung on me. "At least she won't be doing that anymore" Miss Joyce slowly walked towards my direction. "Yes, she is getting older and will surely get wiser" I replied thinking that was what she meant. "Not really thought. She will be wiser yes, but she would also be going to her parents very soon" Miss Joyce finally dropped the bomb. Mia, who had been quietly standing there watching everything, walked away. "Mia wait" I tried to stop her but she didn't even turn around to look at me" "Mia what is it? Why did you drop your ice cream on the floor like that?" I held her head and drew her close to me on the bed. But she didn't give me any reply, she just laid her head on my stomach without moving. "Is it because you are going to miss Rebecca?" I whispered not trying to sound too emotional but still Mia remained silent. She freed her head from my arms that wrapped around it and laid on the bed. Miss Joyce walked in on us and saw the whole thing, she signaled for me to come. "I think I know what is wrong with her" Miss Joyce said as I leaned on the door while she leaned on the wall facing me. "Yeah, it's because she is going to miss Rebecca" I guessed. "Yes but that isn't the only reason. She is upset Melinda, and it is because ever since she came to this orphanage, couples and even single parents have been coming here and they have all turned her down. They would find her cute and adorable at first but after spending little time with her they would end up picking another child" Miss Joyce was trying to keep her voice down so Mia wouldn't hear us but I wasn't comfortable with discussing such in front of her, even if we stood by the door which was a distance from the bed. "Let's go somewhere else" I demanded and we walked out of the room, leaving Mia all by herself. "Why would you think such a thing? Are you trying to say she is jealous or what?" I held Joyce's wrist as we walked down the hallway. "No, that is not what I meant. I just feel she is hurt and she just needs her space, you should give her that for the meantime, I have to go now. The kids would want something by now" Joyce explained and went to do other things. Maybe Joyce was right, time heals all wounds and maybe the rejection Mia is feeling right now will heal with time.

Slowly, Mia came to accept the fact that Rebecca was no longer going to be staying with her in the orphanage, she was going to have new parents.

"Mia" Rebecca knocked on the room door to get Mia's attention.

"Aren't you supposed to be leaving with your parents soon?" Mia replied not taking her eyes off the book she was reading.

"Yes they will be here soon. You know Miss Melinda said I could come visit you here if it was okay with my parents" Rebecca sat next to Mia who didn't raise her head up to look at her.

"Okay that's nice" Mia shrugged and dropped her book to leave the room.

"I will miss you" Rebecca rushed towards Mia and embraced her tightly.

Mia didn't reciprocate as she just stood there and let Rebecca wrap her hands around her.

"You will be fine" Mia left the room, as soon as Rebecca finally let go of her.

Melinda who had stood by the door watching the whole thing with a long face left the room, she just couldn't stand to see a child suffer the way Mia was suffering.

After Rebecca left, Melinda tried her best to get Mia adopted so she could get love from both parents but that didn't work out, they all just kept turning her down.

"Here is the little angel I was telling you about '' Melinda brought Mia out of the room to show a lovely couple that was seated on the couch.

"She is really a beauty!" The lady exclaimed and stood up to meet Mia.

"What's your name, little girl?" The lady inquired, not noticing the fact that Mia was looking away from her.

"Her name is Mia," Melinda quickly responded.

"Let the little girl speak" the man who noticed Mia's complete absence of mind, stood up from his chair and went to carry Mia who kept on kicking her legs in the air to be brought down before she finally ran away.

"I can explain" Melinda spoke, trying to cover up Mia's mistake.

"We have seen enough. We have other orphanages to try, let's go honey" the lady gestured for her husband to leave with her.

"Mia, why did you do that? They are the sixth couple that have rejected you this week, no wonder you are the only child left in the orphanage" Melinda scolded a terrified Mia who wasn't paying any attention to what she was saying.

Many years went past and Mia was 14 already. Melinda had finally decided to get married and she was ready to move in with her soon to be husband in Italy where he had decided to settle down. Miss Joyce was already married and she also moved to another country, the only person that was left in the orphanage was Mia and Melinda was contemplating on how she was going to break the news to Mia. She wanted to sell the orphanage so Mia would have to be transferred to another orphanage.

"Mia" Melinda knocked on the door of Mia who was busy observing a broken bulb.

"Can I come in?" Melinda asked Mia who moved back a bit. Melinda didn't wait for a reply before entering Mia's room.

"You know I am going to get married soon right ?... and my husband wouldn't let me adopt another child while I am pregnant already" Melinda was stroking Mia's hair as she sat beside Mia on the bed.

"I know about the transfer" Mia replied and looked at her for a second before looking away again.

"How did you know?" Melinda was surprised because she had never mentioned it to Mia before.

"I heard you talking about it on the phone. I have to go and dispose of the bulb now, it's broken" Mia left the room. Leaving Melinda lost in the forest of her own thoughts.

On the day Mia was meant to be taken to another orphanage after returning from school, she was stopped by a man who was putting on a casual T-shirt and trousers

"Hey darling Mia, do you want a biscuit?" The man tried to grab Mia's hand.

"How did you know my name?" Mia became curious.

"That is because I'm a good friend of your mummy and daddy. They have asked me to bring you to them" the man smiled at Mia who didn't trust him. She didn't want to keep talking to him so she made an attempt to walk away but then the man dragged her back and two hefty looking men dressed in black came from behind and covered her mouth.

She raised her head to look at them and discovered they were the same people that came to her house. Although she was younger back then, she can never be able to forget their faces.

"Stop! leave me" she kept yelling, before she bit the hand of one of them and ran away but she was soon caught. A man who was walking by saw the whole thing and started to fight with the guy that was dragging Mia towards his open car but he was hit on the head with an iron rod by one of his accomplices, but the man didn't fall unconscious as expected. It wasn't an easy struggle, his clothes got torn and many burnt marks could be seen on his body.

The men weren't going to give up, one ran to their car and brought out a gun to shoot at Mia's savior, he was shot but didn't bleed. Now Mia was scared of the man as well, seeing that the man didn't bleed they all ran for their dear lives. Now it was Mia and the man, for some reason Mia began to move away from this strange man who made very strange body movements.

He was closing his eyes and bent his head towards his right so his shoulder was touching his face.

"Please take this Mia" the stranger stretched out his hand which looked like it was fading. Mia seeing the strange occurrence moved backwards from him. The man slowly began turning into to dust.

"I am running out of time" the strange man whispered and dipped his hand in his pocket to bring out a necklace which had an oval shaped red emerald embedded in it.

"Daddy loves you, take it and don't ever take it off" he said before he turned into complete dust leaving the necklace on the floor.

Mia looked at the necklace on the floor and used her finger to tap it, it didn't do anything. She thought about it for a while and finally she put on the necklace and walked away

Mia picked up her school bag and began her walk home as if nothing really happened.

"Mia are you okay?" Melinda asked a disturbed looking Mia.

Mia just walked into the building and took off her uniform.

"Where is it? Where is it?" Mia began to panic as she was searching for something.

"What are you looking for Mia?" Melinda walked in on Mia that didn't even look up as she began to scatter the whole place, she turned her school bag upside down making all her books fall to the ground.

"Mia, you have to calm down. What are you looking for?" Melinda walked up to her and began to clean up the mess she created.

"My pen, where could it be?" Mia began to scatter the books that Melinda had just picked up from the floor.

"Stop Mia just stop. It's just a pen, I will get you another one please just stop, you are creating a big mess" Melinda pleaded as she picked up the book once again. Mia began to hit her head with her palm.

"I don't want another pen. I want my pen, I want my pen" Mia screamed and threw her dressing table on the floor.

Melinda had enough of it, she just couldn't take any more and she slapped Mia across the face. But that didn't stop Mia from messing up the whole place. Melinda just left her to continue with her nonsense. Now Melinda was more than convinced that she needed to get rid of Mia. Even if her husband were to agree to her adopting Mia, she still won't be able to keep up with her. Although Mia couldn't find her pen and she concluded it fell off from her school bag while she was struggling with those men.

The transfer was successful and Mia found herself in yet again another orphanage. Only this time, people who ran the orphanage cared less about what Mia wanted. Her file clearly showed that she had autism but that didn't give her any special attention. She was treated almost like other kids except she was seen as a liability.

"What's your problem? If you don't want to eat then don't waste our food okay? you reject" one of the ladies scolded Mia after she threw a plate of food on the floor.

The lady had been forcing Mia to eat and she was just not going to have any of it. All the kids at the orphanage tried their best to avoid Mia in every possible way. Some of them even said Mia was insane.

They even tried to get Mia transferred to another orphanage but no orphanage would want a child with autism, they made excuses such as they are very difficult to handle, they may result to violence. Alot of them even came up with several stories that weren't true just to avoid taking Mia in. So Mia was stuck in a place where she was rejected and hated by almost everyone.