"Hey, son. I'm sorry we couldn't make time for your birthday," he says in remorse.
"We're sorry, but to make up for it, we got ourselves vacation tickets," she says in an excited tone, waving tickets.
"Yeah, Luke, we're going on a vacation together, and we'll have fun as a family," She says, smiling.
"Said Father, Mother, and Rose, three days after my birthday," says Luka with a blank expression.
Luka had always been used to this. His parents never had time for him; his sister was always too busy with schoolwork, so Luka had never actually felt the complete love of his family, not even once, until that day. With a little smile of excitement, "Really?! Do I really get to play with all of you?!" he says with the innocent face of a child who had been drained of all emotion while trying to express his little show of excitement.
"Of course, we'll be together on the vacation, and we'll have lots of fun together," Rose says, trying to cheer him up. The five-year-old had finally seen a glimmer of hope and excitement that he'd finally get to be with his family together.
Throughout the years, Luka had grown to lose his emotions due to the lack of attention from his family and his early sense of self-awareness manifesting at a very tender age. Being smarter than his age, he was able to understand the predicament his family was going through. "It's not their fault. It's just the work and school activities; that's why we don't spend enough time together." Luka thought to himself while thinking one day.
And he knew exactly what he had to do. Stay out of their way and avoid causing problems to lessen their burden.
And that made a great contribution to the stoicism of the five-year-old. Receiving a lingering ray of hope, he couldn't help but finally make the emotion of excitement known on his face.
BUT UNFORTUNATELY, that hope was short-lived.
"Do not panic, I repeat, do not panic!" the captain of the cruise ship shouted, while clearly more panicked than anyone else.
"Everyone, get hold of something stable on the ship, hold on tight, and stand your ground," he shouted again.
The ship was stuck in a typhoon with a twenty percent probability of making it out. The rumbling and shaking and spinning, all enough to make someone quake and shiver in fear, made no difference to Luka anymore. Fearful and fretful, Luka could do nothing but to hold on to the metal pole railing right in front of the Porthole, only to witness a sight that no one would ever want to see. While trying to help some people into the cabins, both his parents ended up falling overboard.
Suddenly, the voices of everyone on the ship became clearer and clearer as the scream grew louder and louder, and the realization of death being closer drew closer to the mind of a five-year-old. So there he stood, totally lost for words at what he had just seen, trying not to give in to the pressure overwhelming him. The sudden outburst of anxiety became too much for him to bear; he burst into tears as he began breaking down and cried all the heartache and pain. Pain strong enough to destroy even adults was inflicted on a kid of just five years old, as he remained there with the memory kept on replay in his mind.
"Luka?! What's wrong?! Why are you crying?!" Rose approaches him and tries to calm him down while about to hold on to the metal railing.
On seeing her, a certain little surge of relief sweeps through his body, and he tries to speak, "R-Rose, are you..." his voice cracking and the entirety of his body shaking and trembling.
"It's alright, Luke, calm down. I'm right here; it'll be alright…" She kept trying to console him before she realized that her hand had just slipped past the railing.
Suddenly, with a bang, the ship hit something and tilted to one side, and Rose fell rolling to the edge of the wall because of how the ship was tilted, and everything inside the room fell towards the tilted area, towards Rose. That relief suddenly becomes non-existent; the place just seems to become silent even though he can clearly hear the sound. The screams and the screeches grow louder and louder. The memory of the death of his parents and the sudden scream he hears from his sister, diffused with the sound of her being crushed, hit him all at once. "Aaaaahhhh!" he screams with every muscle in his body at the sight of the blood of his beloved sister, whom he saw become crushed just seconds ago, and collapses, falls unconscious, and drifts into the mindless void.
"To think that a child so young has had to go through this ordeal at the mere age of five... fate is cruel," a man says, standing before the boy.
"Come now, darling. Though the circumstances do not seem appropriate, I think we have found who we are looking for," a woman standing beside the man says before she bends down and stretches her hand towards the boy. "Come now, child. Let me help you"
An old couple with saddened yet stoic expressions, dressed in fine clothes of expensive quality, look upon a totally broken Luka and adopt him from the orphanage he was put in three months after the incident.