Sun Stealer. Walking In Circles

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.

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(c) by A. Mani

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              “Please, help me! I have been robbed! You have to help me!” the young girl cried.

             
The documenter listened to the girl and recorded her on camera. This could be a great story for him. One that can promote him straight to the network guard’s position.

             
“You remember me, right?” the young girl cried, “I am Diamond! Diamond, the singer. I was two points away from fame. My entire life was about to change only, this morning I found out I was robbed! Are you listening to me?” she knocked on his helmet.

             
She was a beautiful young girl, who wore tight light cloths, which flattered her nice figure and dark skin. She had a long, dark curly hair and big green eyes.

             
The documenter nodded without saying any word. That was the only way to communicate with them and the only way to bring justice into light.

             
“What should I do now? Will you pass my complaint? Should I turn to the cyber police myself?” the young girl kept asking but he just ignored her and jumped on his bike.

             
“Hey! Are you going to help me?” she shouted but her voice disappeared in the street’s commotion.

             
People were walking by but nobody listened to the young girl. Everyone were too busy in their own life. So she just stood there quietly. Her life was no longer in her hand or at least that’s what she thought.

              “So you have been robbed?” I turned to her.

             
“What? Yes… do you know me?” she wondered.

             
“I just met you…” I said with a smile.

             
“No, I mean from the net. Are you a member of the music network?” she asked.

             
“No. I am not. I just heard you talking to the documenter. Is everything okay?” I asked.

             
“No, it is not! I lost everything, I have nothing, I am nothing!” she cried.

             
“Where do you live?” I asked her.

             
“Live? Well, nowhere! I am homeless until they will find the stealer!” she answered with tears in her eyes.

             
“The process with these issues can take up to three months. Do you have a family who lives here?” I asked her.

             
“No… I have nobody… I came here by myself to try to fulfill my dreams and I almost did. But now it is all gone…” she cried.

             
My heart went out to her. Not that I had a heart but who can understand this girl better than me?

             
“You can stay at my place”, I finally offered.

             
“Can I? Why are you doing this? You don’t even know me…” she wondered.

             
“I don’t. I only know how you feel…” I mumbled and started walking.

             
“I didn’t introduce my self, my name is Diamond. Well, that is my stage name”, the young girl grabbed her bag and ran after me.

             
“That is a beautiful name Diamond”, I kept walking to the bus station, “I live at the valley, you are okay with that, right?”               “Yes, I guess... You didn’t tell me your name”, she was confused.

             
“No, I didn’t”, I turned to her and looked into her eyes, “I am Almas”.

              The bus arrived and we both went up. We didn’t exchange any word on the way. The young girl was too concerned about her future and I, I just did what I was used to do; I picked up all the lost and the lonely. And on these days, we all were. 

              The bus drove fast through the highway and soon the view of giant, luxurious towers alternated with an exhausted version of itself.

             
“You actually live here?” Diamond asked me once we had arrived my house.

             
It was a boarding house for retired civilians with a little shelter for deserted animals.

             
“You can always go back to the city of lights and the streets of darkness”, I said with a smile.

             
“Why would someone like you, live in a place like this?” she wondered and searched around.

             
The parlor was filled with our dear residents. It was dinnertime.

             
“I see you brought a guest”, an old man on a wheel chair approached Diamond, “Welcome to our humble house”, he greeted her with a smile.

             
“This is Diamond. She will be staying with us for a while. Diamond, this is Leonard”, I made a short introduction and quickly instructed Diamond to her room.

             
“I’ll bring you clean towels so you can shower before dinner”, I said to her as she hesitated her way to her room.

              “A girl named Diamond. Let me guess… what would bring my love to have her here?” Leonard asked me with his warm smile.

             
“The same reason that brought us together…” I gazed into his eyes.

             
I met Leonard long time ago while I was volunteering at the local hospital. He was an injured soldier who was rushed to get help and every time I heard the name Leo or any other version of it, my heart stopped. Could it be? Was he my lost son? I could never count the number of times I had experienced the cruelness of the unbearable integration of anticipation and frustration.

             
The incident with Leonard was one of many yet, very different from the previous ones. I was hoping to find my son and to heal my wounded heart and instead, I found a friend for life. Someone who didn’t give up on me and taught me how to love again. How to participate in life and not just play the part of the passive crowd. He was the only one I could trust and the only one who knew my secret. He tried so hard to fill the emptiness I was feeling all these years. But that was an impossible mission, even for him, the courageous warrior of our Army. I was a mother to a lost son. How could anybody live with that?

             
“So you found a diamond on the streets of fame?” he laughed.

             
“She is helpless. Another victim of the system. She has no place to go, I had to bring her here”, I explained while I was setting the table.

             
“My love, you can bring any guest you wish but deep down you must know. Saving others will not save your soul. You have to do it Almas”, he urged me with his calm voice.

             
“We will talk after dinner”, I said firmly and went to Diamond’s room.

              “What is that noise?” Diamond asked me as I entered the room.

             
“Cats and dogs”, I said, “I run a little shelter for lost and wounded animals. The kind that nobody desires to adopt”.

             
“No wonder…” Diamond mumbled.

             
“Oh, I am sorry. A famous singer as you is probably used to the glamour of Hollywood. I guess I should thank you for honoring us with your presence”, I said with sarcasm.

             
“I am sorry Almas. It was very kind of you to open your house to me, if you could call it a house but I really don’t understand, how come a hot mama like you lives in a dump like this!” she raised her voice.

             
“Hot mama?” I repeated her words.

             
“Yeah girl. You do have mirrors in this house, right? And all these old people… I know it is none of my business but this Leonard, is he your sugar daddy?” she whispered the last two words.

             
“No honey. I can promise you, any connection between this dump and sugar is a sheer coincidence!”

             
“Exactly!” she stated and pointed her finger to me.

             
“Exactly what? What does it mean? What is it with you young people? Why are you so cheap with your words? I don’t even understand what you are trying to tell me!” I yelled at her.

             
“Young people? How old are you Almas? You just sounded like my grandmother…” she said with a strange look on her face.

             
Sometimes I forgot that externally, I looked just like these young girls while underneath I was an old soul, who refused to integrate into this world.

             
“How old are you?” I asked back.

             
“Twenty one”, she answered.

             
“Well, me too”, I said and turned away so she wouldn’t sense my lie, “dinner will be served soon!”

             
“Is it safe to talk now?” Leonard asked me quietly. We were sitting at the parlor by ourselves. Everybody had already gone to their rooms and an absolute stillness embraced our house. It was our time. We used to sit like that for hours and just talk. Sometimes I would dance for him. He loved to watch me dancing. We could not do that in front of other people since I looked like his granddaughter, so at daytime, I was his employee and at night, when nobody was around, I was his partner in crime.