People dressed in all back stood solemnly in front of two graves. They went through the proceedings and slowly started to leave. In the end, only two people were left.

Specifically, two children.

They had been ordinary children living an ordinary life. While they weren’t particularly privileged, they had been pretty content with their lives. Their mother was a gentle and charming lady, except when she was particularly angry, and their father had been a kind and hard-working man.

The older of the two siblings, Grace, had turned eleven just a couple of days ago. She had obviously been very happy back then. Now, she couldn’t find even the slightest bit of the happiness she had had at that time.

Instead, even recalling those memories brought her pain. The pain of what she had lost. Tears filled her already red and swollen eyes. But she didn’t let out so much as a whimper.

Inwardly, she had been screaming for quite a while. She was a child. An ordinary eleven year old child. No matter how mature she was, it was impossible for her to remain calm. However, on the outside, she tried to contain her emotions as much as she could.

While she couldn’t contain her tears, she had been careful not to let out even a sound. She closed her eyes as she hugged her trembling younger brother.

He was why she put on a front much calmer than her inner turbulence.

Evan, her eight year old younger brother, hadn’t stopped crying for hours. He had been relatively quiet when he had heard the news at first, maybe because he hadn’t accepted it, or maybe he hadn’t understood what it meant. 

But when he realized that he wouldn’t ever see his parents again, he started crying.

“What will - sniffle - we do now, sis?”

Grace petted his head, but said nothing. She also didn’t know what they should do. No one had stayed behind for them. In fact, not one of the relatives who attended the funeral had been willing to take them in.

‘I already have two children of my own to look after.’

‘You know it’s difficult for one person alone to look after two kids. I’m sorry, but I know I just can’t do it.’

‘My work hours are crazy. I won’t be able to look after them.’

She recalled what those people had been saying a while ago. “Looking after kids could be taxing,” she thought. She understood where they were coming from. If she were asked to look after a couple of toddlers, she’d be okay for a couple of hours, but after that, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Children could be noisy, demanding, and at times, really gross.

Grace was mature for her age, so she understood why none of those adults wanted to take them in.

She was lost in her thoughts when she heard someone coming. The footsteps weren’t very loud, but they sounded hurried. Someone was running towards them. 

Grace lifted her head and saw a man rush towards them. Her brother also noticed and looked at the man.

“Hello. Are you two Grace and Evan?”

Grace tensed up and stepped in front of her brother, as if shielding him from the man.

The man saw that and took a step back. He then said to them, “I am John Greenwood, your father’s cousin. If you both are okay with it, I will be your new guardian.”