YURI

“Hello, ma’am… I’m so hungry.” She turned toward me — a really pretty lady with kind eyes that seemed to take in everything all at once. “Hello, little one. Where’s your parent? Your mom and dad?” I stared at her, my mouth opening but no words coming out. The truth was, I had no idea why I was on the street, or where I’d come from. My mind felt like a blank wall, and behind it… nothing. When I didn’t answer, she didn’t push. Instead, she took my small, cold hand gently in hers and led me toward a nearby café. The smell of warm bread and coffee wrapped around me the moment we stepped inside, and before I knew it, a table was filled with food — more than I’d seen in what felt like forever. She watched me eat, her expression soft but searching. “What’s your name?” she asked. I paused mid-bite, the fork heavy in my hand. Again, no answer came. My mind was still blank, my chest tight. I didn’t even know who I was Our next stop was the police station to ask if there was a missing child’s report but nothing has been reported, after all is said and done she took to a very big house and told me I’ll stay with her for now until my parent came looking for me; that was sixteen years ago My name is Yuri Sinclair, I guess you all are wondering how I suddenly have a name that’s because after one year of waiting for my parents to show up, Mirren Sinclair the pretty woman who took me in official adopted me. Flashback “Hello, little one.” “Hi,” I responded softly, my voice barely above a whisper. She knelt so we were eye-level, her smile warm but her eyes glistening, as though she was holding back something deeper. “Would you like me to be your mummy?” I blinked, unsure if I’d heard her right. “You know,” she continued gently, “I’ve always wanted a daughter. But heaven gave me three boys instead. They’re grown now — off living their own lives — and I’m grateful for them, I truly am. But still…” She reached out and brushed a strand of hair from my face, her touch as light as a feather. “…I’ve always longed for a daughter. For you, my Yuri.” Her words wrapped around me like a blanket, warm and strange all at once. I didn’t fully understand what she meant back then, but I felt it — the sincerity, the yearning. And for the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel invisible.