Chapter 10
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From the moment I was born, everything appeared to me as just a blur. As time went on, even those faint glimmers gradually faded away. The doctor told my parents that I was unlikely to ever see the light again.
My mom and dad weren’t my birth parents. They found me on a freezing winter day. I was abandoned by the roadside next to a trash bin. I was wrapped in a tattered blanket, on the verge of starvation.
My parents were poor, scraping by with a tiny shoe repair stall. After their son, Gabriel, was born, life became even harder for them.
But they never once thought of getting rid of me, what others might call a burden.
I met Stella purely by chance.
When I was five, my world was filled with only darkness and sounds.
I remembered that day when Gabriel took me out to play. I caught a wonderful scent in the air–warm and bright, with just a trace of metal and sunshine.
Then, a girl’s voice–husky yet clear–rang out above me. She asked, “Hey, little one, what’s your name?”
I felt a bit scared and clutched at Gabriel’s sleeve.
Gabriel said, “This is Thea, my sister. And you?”
“I’m Stella,” she said.
After that, Stella started visiting our house from time to time. She’d always show up with all sorts of odd parts, tinkering away beside Dad’s shoe repair stall, saying she was upgrading her ride.
She’d always tell me wonderful stories about the world outside, like how brightly the stars shone, how fast the wind rushed on the racetrack, and how magnificent the roar of engines sounded.
Stella would secretly slip some candies into my hand. Even though Mom didn’t let me eat too many sweets, I always thought the candy from Stella was the sweetest.
I still remembered one time when I secretly used crayons to draw on paper–a little girl holding hands with an elder one in a racing suit and helmet. Beside them stood a kind–hearted boy.
When Stella saw the drawing, her eyes glistened with emotion. She carefully folded the picture and tucked it into her pocket She said it was the best gift she’d ever received.
Everything used to be so wonderful. But after Stella started high school, she visited me less. She told me she had to prepare for a really important competition and focus on her studies.
After that, I only heard her twice from afar.
Once, I heard her motorcycle roar past our house–that familiar engine sound, unmistakably hers. I called out, but she didn’t stop.
Another time, it was just the same. But that time, Gabriel found an envelope in the mailbox by our door. Inside was a substantial amount of money, along with a note that read: [For Thea’s eye treatment–Stella.]
Gabriel hugged me and pressed the envelope tightly against my cheek. I could feel his tears falling onto my hand—each drop burning with emotion.
Actually, Stella was a bit clueless. She thought we never noticed all the things she secretly did for our family. She never
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Chapter 10
imagined we knew about those late nights when she quietly helped Dad fix his old tools or tidied up Mom’s scattered belongings
Mom, Dad, and my brother had known all along.
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But they all pretended not to notice. Gabriel would quietly slip over to the window every time I heard Stella passing by and gaze out for a long time.
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Later, my family really took me to the top hospital in town with the money from Stella. The doctor said there was still hope my sight could be restored.
The surgery was a complete success. When I first truly saw the colorful world with my own eyes, when I saw my parents and brother, their faces wet with tears of joy, and when I saw the golden sunlight streaming through the window, I broke out crying.
All of this was a precious gift from my parents, my brother, and Stella.
My family worked even harder at their jobs and studies. They vowed to pay Stella back every cent and help her live her best
life.
Later, I heard from Gabriel that Stella had been admitted to Berverlyn University, the top school nationwide, where she studied her favorite subject mechanical engineering. Gabriel said he would work hard to get in there too.
Gabriel was only a year behind Stella, and he actually did it.
The following year, Gabriel also received his offer from Berverlyn University.
My family hugged each other tightly, laughing through tears of joy.
Gabriel cried too, but I knew what truly moved him was finally being able to walk the same path as Stella again and stand shoulder to shoulder with her.
That night, our whole family gathered around Gabriel in nervous anticipation, watching as he reached out with his trembling hand to dial the number he had kept close to his heart for so long, yet never dared to call.
The phone rang for what felt like an eternity. Just as we were about to give up hope, a familiar voice–husky yet clear— finally came through on the other end. “Hello?”
At that moment, all of us burst into smiles.
Gabriel smiled silently, but tears streamed down his face nonstop onto the table.
His voice trembled with barely contained joy. “Hi, Stella. I’m Gabriel Collins.”
I know in my heart that Gabriel and Stella’s journey together had only just begun.
I knew I would grow up strong and study hard just like them.
When I grew up, I would attend Berverlyn University too.
I’d enjoy the most beautiful ginkgo trees and build the coolest robots with Gabriel and Stella.
[The End]
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