" One, two, three, four.. plant the seeds and cover them up. One, two, three, four… smooth the surface and water with love." Echo sings immaturely as she does as she says. After sprinkling water on her designated spots for her crops to grow, she exhaled and got up on her feet.
" Grow quickly dear plants. The village is running out of food and if I can't gather enough food to feed us all, we might all starve to death." Echo turns away from the clean surface she just planted on and walks to another clear fertile ground—gets down on her knees and starts digging.
" One, two, three, four… plant the seeds and cover them up. One, two, three, four… smooth the surface and—."
" Echo!!"
After hearing her name from a distance, an exhausted sigh escapes her lips. " What is it?" She mumbles before turning to who was behind her and notices a neighbor running over.
" Echo! Come quickly!"
Echo gets up on her feet facing the girl completely. " What is it that you want Maggie?! Aren't I already busy enough?!" Echo yells back in anger and Maggie runs further towards her.
" Echo! It's your grandpa!" Echo's balled fists slowly loosened at the call of her grandfather and worry soon clothes her countenance.
" W-what happened to grandpa?" Maggie reaches Echo already and stops just five metres away from her.
" He lost consciousness when bathing the horses. The women in the neighborhood are trying to figure what the cause was and have sent for an apothecary."
Echo, without a second thought, drops the bag of seeds in her hand to the ground before taking up on her heels and heading straight for the village. " Echo! Wait for me! They will not let you into the house to see him just yet! I was only able to get this news because I peeked!"
Echo does not listen to Maggie as she continues running ahead. " They don't have the right to tell me when to enter my house! My grandfather's life is in danger and telling me to stay outside is a request I cannot grant!" Soon Echo reaches her neighbourhood and is welcomed by the amount of people who gathered at the front of her house.
" Excuse me… excuse me." Echo forces her way through the adults and pushes some who were refusing to move out of the way.
" Echo, you're not supposed to be here, go back outs—!"
" What do you think you are doing?! Barging into someone's household all in the name of helping!" There comes Echo's outburst followed by a sudden silence in the room.
" Echo…" The woman who was yelled at, whispers hurt at Echo's choice of words.
" All of you out!" Echo points at the door and there's mumbling from some of the neighbors as they all proceed to leaving. Soon the front of the house is dry and the only person left was Maggie. " You too Maggie."
" Echo…"
" I don't need any of you here." And then Echo runs off to her grandfather's bedroom. " Grandpa! Grandpa, are you alright?" Echo enters his room to see the old man sitting comfortably on his bed reading a book with his glasses on.
" That was quite rude of you to drive the neighbours out, Echo. What do you think they'll say about you?? What if they decide to never help us again?"
" We can manage on our own." Echo grits at the thought of them coming closer to the old man again.
" Overconfidence isn't always the answer Echo. I would've died today if they hadn't found me laying under the sun and slowly losing my breath. You were busy at the farm so you didn't have any idea. If our neighbours were bad people then you would definitely be planning a burial for me already."
" Stop spouting nonsense grandpa! You know what strangers did to mom! They are the reason I lost mom. I can never put my trust in a stranger again! I would never!"
The old man shakes his head again, there was no point in convincing his granddaughter to do as he wished because she only did as she wished, and convincing Echo that she was wrong about strangers was also like believing one could fly—impossible.
" Go and apologize to the neighbours Echo. The outburst earlier wasn't called for, at least see through peoples' skin and examine their hearts. Not every stranger is the same."
" I cannot apologize grandpa."
" Hmmm, Is that ego I see??" The old man questions as he places his quill in ink and writes in his book.
" Not at all, grandpa. If I apologize it will look like I am in the wrong." Echo bows her head and shakes it in disagreement.
" That is clearly ego I see there." The old man concludes but Echo doesn't seem to want to apologize.
" You see Echo… cough cough… life isn't all about evil. There is always good, and even if there is a limited amount of good, it's still worth keeping than throwing out… cough cough… if someone shows you stars and you call it distasteful then, they won't even dare to show you the sun. Yelling at those people today for helping me will make them lose interest in helping us ever again."
Echo sighs as she yells in frustration before kicking the old man's bed. " Am I getting into your head?" The old man questions with a chuckle. " Even if you don't apologize to them, at least admit to me that you're wrong. I am aware but I will like to hear it from you myself."
" I-I… I am wrong grandpa." Echo whispers the last two words. " I shouldn't have vented my anger on them all. They didn't deserve any of it." A smile lifts the old man's lips.
" That's what I like to hear now." Echo lifts her head to look at the old man and a smile forms on her lips too, if Williams was happy… then she was happy too.
Williams harsh coughing breaks the moment of harmony and it gets strong that he takes out a kerchief and coughs into it. " Grandpa, are you alright?" With worry on her face, Echo questioned as the old man stopped coughing. He nods slightly as he looks into his kerchief and then frown at the sight he sees.
" Is it blood?" Echo questions knowing fully well that that was the cause of his frown.
The old man nods slightly and Echo is down. " I promise to find you the flower grandpa, I vow to find the Ethereal golden rose petal grandpa. I won't let you leave me before your time."
" But it is my time." The old man chuckles leaving Echo to frown.
" You know how well I distaste when you say that."
" But it is the truth. What big of an offense do I make when I speak the truth?" The old man tucks his kerchief into his pocket, and then proceeds to writing again. " Well I do hope, I can remain with you so long to see you learn to appreciate strangers who are willing to help."