Lemonade Dreams

s Tiara's bedspread. She could hear her mother humming in the kitchen, a tune that had no name but always meant safety. The smell o

and the world was still a place of infinite possibilities. School was out for the mid-term break,

food gets cold!" her mother cal

orridor, past family photographs that documented different achievements and celebrations-her first birthday, h

her face glowing with the particular contentment of a woman who had chosen her life and l

leepy, s

and her mother simply said "You are a city set on a hill that cannot be hid". Tiara smiled softly as she looked at the table that was set wi

kind eyes and a laugh that could fill rooms. He worked in import-export, a business he'd built from nothing, a

bending to plant a big fat kiss on t

Tiara announced solemnly. "Mama said

oble mission. That tree is our family's pride. Do

er head, mout

n difficult soil, weather harsh seasons, and still produce fruits. I wanted you to have a symbol-something to

wrinkling her nose at the sore mem

t care-sugar, time, patience-you can make something b

serious. "Sometimes you'll face bitterness, Tiara. B

d anyway, filing the words away in the part

~~

ng with potential business partners; her mother was accompanying him to visit an old friend wh

vent reasons they should stay. "What if it rains?

lonely. Mrs. Okafor is here, and you have your books and the garde

wha

ocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. "Here's something sweet for you while we're go

te dissolved but manageable. She walked them to the car, th

mother adjusted her headscarf in the side mirror. They looked so ordinary, so alive, so pe

said, blowing a kiss t

," her father a

corner. The dust settled. Birds resumed their songs. The world continued as if nothing had shifted. If she had only knew, she would

rting. She read about princesses and dragons, heroes and quests, imagining her own adventures. Hours passed in that

~~

a child's superstition, wondering if her earlier worry had summoned them. Mrs. O

or said, though her voice carried

oked like scribbles, houses that wouldn't stand straight, colorings that refused to stay within the lines. She ret

ith false promises of beauty. Still, no car pulled into the drive

wasn't her parents. Instead, neighbors began arriving-Mr. Taiwo from three houses down

ra heard fragments of whispered conversat

s streaming down her face, and tried to explain. "Your parents.

a mistake, a misunderstanding. Her parents had promised

"They're certainly coming

e water, drowning her disbelief. Her parents were gone. This morning's goodbye had been final, and she had not known

tree stood guard as it always had, indifferent to human tragedy. She slipp

ispered to the tree. "Teach me ho

up, squeezed it until juice ran down her hands, and tasted it. The sourness made her eyes water, but she didn't spit i