Chapter Four – Mei

It was a beautiful day. Creamy, white clouds adorned the azure spring sky of Jideba, capitol of the east. It was Sunday, and Mei was out for an early walk in the city. She felt light in her white and yellow cotton blouse, and took in all the wondrous smells and sounds of city-spring with much heartfelt joy as she walked about. The sidewalk was paved with red tiles, and lined with tall Ginko temple trees that were just beginning to sprout fesh, green leaves. She stopped next to one of them, gazing up at the vast array of budding branches amongst the canopy. High up there, she could sight two birds, busying themselves with laying the last finishing touch on their cozy little home-to-be. And what a lovely home it was becoming. She smiled, and felt herself drift away to a warm and happy place that only she knew.
Then suddenly, a sharp honk and the sound of a car hitting the breakes hard brought her back to reality. She turned around quickly, only to see a man standing in the middle of the road in front of a large, black car. The driver so rolled down his window and began to shout at the man in the street, who in turn shouted back with much anger. The shouting got louder and louder, and they began using words Mei wished she had never heard or learned. After a while, the driver seemed to have had enough and drove off. The man in the street then crossed to the other side, and that was the end of it.

Mei looked down, lost in thought. «It doesn't have to be this way...» she muttered to herself.
«Why did this happen? Why did it happen like this...this way...?»
Sure, there were no traffic lights or pedestrian crossing, so the man probably shouldn't have tried to cross there in the first place. But even so, it didn't have to turn out this way; two people throwing hurtful words at eachother in angry voice. If only they had known a deeper feeling of love for the other, this surely wouldn't have happened...right? Even if the man so tried to cross, and the driver so had to hit the breaks, the whole thing could have been so different, if only they knew some deeper feeling of love for eachother. Maybe then, the walking man would have apologised to the driver, who would then have said in a warm tone that, it was alright, and the man in the street could then have taken a few steps back to let the car pass before he crossed to the other side.
«...if only people cared more for eachother...» she muttered quietly to herself.
«It's not that they've forgotten to care...they...just don't remember it.»
Mei believed strongly that absolutely everyone knew a deeper sense of love and care for eachother somewhere deep inside, everyone. Even if they didn't always act as if they did, then surely it was only because they had forgotten that they knew.
This was one of the sides of city life that could make her feel so sad at times it was hard to bare. Sometimes, it seemed almost as if people didn't even look at each other as fellow human beings. Instead, they might be reduced to little more than just a role or a job. The taxi driver, the shopkeeper, the businessman or the construction worker. What's more, it somehow seemed as if kindness bought with money wasn't even considered a thing worth returning, or being thankful for.
«...if only people cared...» she muttered quietly again to herself.
She often saw how people would walk past each other on sidewalks, or inside shops just as if the person they just passed wasn't even there. They might as well have been invisible or made out of thin air. Sure, living in a city with so many people, Mei could see that greeting everyone you met on your way wouldn't always be so practical. But still, surely, there could be something in between, some sort of middle-way where people simply recognized eachother as fellow human beings no matter the role or situation. That would be something worth wishing for, and worth fighting for.
«...they just don't remember...» she whispered quietly to herself, still facing down towards the massive trunk of the tree. Then all of a sudden, all the way down between the roots, something tiny and blue caught her glistening eyes. A tiny flower, one that she knew from last spring. A tiny Forget-Me-Not stood there all by itself, swaying gently in the mild midday breeze.
«Forgetmenot» Mei whispered to herself, eyes slightly widening in surprise. A deeper feeling of love for eachother...forget-me-not. Please remember...»
She didn't yet quite know how, but she knew that she wanted to do something to help make people remember. And so it happened, that from that day on, that modest little flower who stood so seemingly forgotten by the busy world around it, became something like a symbol and a reminder to Mei. A reminder of what she had witnessed that day, and also of the decision she had made. She would do something about it. Forget-me-not.

Returning to her room later that day, she sat down at her desk to pen down her thoughts into her diary. Having jotted down the gist of it, she removed her blouse and reached into a drawer for a sewingkit. She so took out needle and thread, and began to make careful, blue stitches on the left chest-pocket of her favorite white and yellow blouse. One small stitch followed the other, and it wasn't before long that a pretty, small flower started to take shape. «Forget-me-not» she whispered contently to herself just as she finished with the last petal, holding the blouse out in front of her. She was no sewist, but it would have to do. After all, it was only to help her remember. Maybe some day, the world would listen, and become the place that she had always wished in her heart for it to be. She knew that perhaps it was too big a thing to wish for, but it was the true and honest wish of her heart, and so she was helpless.
Having put her blouse back on again, she looked down at her cat rubbing suggestively towards her legs and smiled. She reached down to pick it up, placing the purring little furball gently on her lap. Its color was somewhere between pink and orange, much like that of a ripe peach, and so that was the name Mei had given it. Peach. It was a beautiful color for a girl cat she thought. Only the tip of her tale and a crescent shaped spot on her chest was white, the rest a warm shade of fiery pink that complimented her bright pink little nose. And her eyes, a vivid shade of green emerald.
On the morning following a wet and stormy night three years ago, Mei had found her hiding between the many pots and plants in the little nursery downstairs. She must have snuck in just before the shop closed the night before, or at least so Mei had reasoned to herself. She remembered how Peach had been so awefully thin, and absolutely shaking with cold that morning. Mei had tried to give her some milk, but she wouldn't have any. She then warmed the milk up in a small bowl and placed it right in front of Peach, but not even then would she drink. It was first after Mei had left the room that Peach finally started to gulp down the warm liquid. Mei remembered how happy she felt standing with her back towards the door and listening to the little drinking sounds that Peach was making. For Mei it was love at first sight, but for Peach it took time to loose her shyness and warm up to Mei. Mei had thought the way she found Peach an amazing coincidence. For it just so happened to be very much the same way Mei had come to Erina, whom she now lived with, five years ago.

Before that, Mei had lived at the grand central orphanage of Jideba. She was sorry to say that she had few good memories from those days. The grown-ups were incredibly strict. They often yelled at the children, sometimes beat them, and hardly ever praised them. She remembered a lot of crying and screaming, and there was little or no freedom to leave the orphanage and go into the city. When Mei had asked the caretaker about her parents, she was simply told that a stranger had found her in a basket floating down the Panei River, and brought her to the orphanage. The caretaker didn't even look up from his journal and look at her when he answered her, so she didn't try to ask more questions. For the longest time, Mei had wanted to leave that place for good, but that was easier said than done. Doors were always locked and there was no way getting out of the courtyard into the busy streets outside. Still, maybe there was one way she could think of. Afterall, each month there was one day when a small group of childre were allowed out into the city park on an outing, but only the best behaving children were chosen to be part of that group. So Mei decided that no matter how long time it took, she would make it into that group, and make it out of those walls. And so, after many months of dutifully carrying out her chores and assisting the grown-ups with various tasks, Mei was finally chosen to be part of that exclusive little group. At last came the day of the outing, and as the little group walked down the busy streets towards the park, Mei managed to slip out of line and loose herself in the crowd just as they were crossing a noisy street. Once out of the crowd, she turned a corner and started to run. She ran and she ran and she ran, and she ran. Where to? She didn't know. It didn't matter. Anywhere was fine. Anywhere but here. Far away. Where she was, she didn't know. It was after all her first time out in the city by herself. All day she walked around searching for some kind of place to spend the night. It was already autumn, and the chilly evening wind bit and tore at her thin picnic dress as she walked along a long line of shops. One by one, they were closing. The new moon had already come out, and it was getting late. She was so hungry, with not a penny in her pocket for food. It was then, when she had almost given up all hope, that she reached a small nursery at the very end of the street. An old lady with large glasses was carrying inside the many plants and flowers that had been on display outside. She looked kind and gentle, Mei thought. Acting without thinking, Mei leapt over to one of the plant-filled trollies and crouched like a tiger cub behind the biggest plant she could find. When the old lady so came to wheel the trolley inside, Mei followed it as quickly as she could, and miracously somehow made it inside without being noticed. Terrified, she spent that night crouching between the many plants, and first when morning came did she finally fall asleeep on the cold stone-tiled floor. It was then, and like that, that the old lady had found Mei; fast asleep on the hard stone floor in a thin flowery dress. She had kindly given Mei warm food and a comfortable bed to rest in, and as Mei told her honestly about her escape and hopeless situation, the old lady even gave her the promise, that she could stay for as long as she'd like. It was the kindest thing anyone had ever done for Mei. Not used to kindness, she remember crying so hard it hurt. The days that followed that tearwet morning were the most beautiful and happy ones that she had ever known, filled with much smiles and many warm cups of herbal tea.
That was how Mei had first met Erina and come to help out in the little nursery downstairs during the day. And strangely enough, that was also how Peach had met Mei, almost exactly two years later.