It is such an amazing night for stargazing—except there are no stars. It's really odd too because it has been a week since these dark clouds and flashes of lightning started and up until now, it's still going on. However, it never rained...

I am currently living in the beautiful town of Winter Plum and by the name itself, there are a lot of winter plums there that bloom beautifully in winter seasons, but not recently. Not even a single flower bloomed. Slowly, day by day, people move away to other places believing that it is a bad omen, which I can't blame them because these bizarre events only got more bizarre as days go by.

While people move away, my family stayed because of two reasons. One is that we are not superstitious and two is because it is cheaper to live there. And oh man am I so glad that we never moved. I could not even comprehend what happened one night.  After everyone left, one night the town became so dark that you can see nothing outside. It's cold because it is winter, and the wind is blowing and swaying the trees creating a calming but disturbing sound. It is really nice to listen to it but on the other hand, I'd rather close my windows. The trees dance along the breeze and created music I'd rather listen to when it's daylight. After closing every window and door we were supposed to sleep until...We heard a knock.

knock knock knock...We didn't open the door of course because we are not that naive, and we all stayed quiet. Lights? oh no we didn't turn it off. If we did, that "person" outside will surely know that someone is inside. So, we rather took the risk of letting the lights keep lit. But—it knocked again. knock knock knock and this time the knocks were more aggressive, but we never heard a voice calling us. We know for sure that we were the only ones left in town and let's just say that it was someone from town—then they should be calling our names by now. But that never happened. Although we were scared, we tried to go to sleep but my father kept watch. With all the strange things happening in town, he can't take any chances.

Morning came we were up and safe and when our father felt that everything was safer now, he finally got a shuteye. My mother made breakfast and my siblings went to take a bath. It was scary but I opened the door.  My soul almost left my body about what I saw...

My eyes widened and my legs froze in shock. I took a step back and fell. "b-bl-blood" I said but no one heard. My hands shivered in fear, but I tried my best to crawl toward my father, but it grabbed my feet. and I shouted " AAAAHHHHHHHHH". My father woke up in shock and saw what happened. He pulled me fast and away from the "person." "You....what. no... who are you?" my father asked while hiding me behind him. but the "person" only replied with "help". And he fainted.

He looked so weak. pale face and he was covered with blood all over. Although we were hesitant to take him in, we wouldn't want to watch someone die. My father carried him carefully like a princess and put him in my bed. Yes, my bed of all places. My mother took care of him with first aid for the time being while my father ran to our town's clinic to take medicines and medical things my mother will need.  Our town was pretty far from the city, so we had to build and keep our own resources in case of emergencies and the one in charge of the clinic was my mom and some of the townspeople.

While my family was busy aiding the man, I was by the door cleaning the blood and I realized, the sky finally cleared up. Of course, I thought it was strange, but I was more occupied cleaning the blood on the floor, on the door, and outside our house. Afterward, I took a rest on the couch outside where my father slept. Our house is not that great, but I wouldn't say that it's bad either. We have three bedrooms one bathroom and comfort room. From our front door you'll come across our living room and straight ahead is our kitchen, and we do have a little mini garden outside and that's it.

Once I was done, I finished what my mother was cooking because my mom really hates cooking once she touches blood. No matter if it's just a drop of blood if it reaches her very skin she would not cook until a day after. So after I finished cooking our food we ate and went on our normal day routine.

When night finally came, we all finished everything, ate, cleaned the dishes, and sat in the living room to watch a movie. It was a horror movie and we turned off all our lights. The movie was getting intense. One by one the lights turned off and the music was building up, the main character was shaking holding her phone trying to turn on her flashlight, and when she did...

We all shouted. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH" Even my father squealed with a high pitch when we saw the man that we helped blocked the television with his face covered with his hair. He leaned sideways and we only saw a few parts of his eyes and everything else on his face was covered with his hair. So, I hurriedly turned on the light and saw how messed up he looked but it didn't destroy his beauty at all. He was prettier than any woman I saw and the most handsome man I saw. He is the very definition of beauty itself. His beauty was mesmerizing and just like in fairytales I thought he would be my prince charming, but he was out of my league. I can only appreciate him from afar and so to console myself I was thinking that beautiful things are meant to be appreciated. Because, unlike those fairytale stories, mine don't have once upon a time.

I was staring at him blankly and fell into a trance because of his beauty, my mother ran to him hurriedly to support him because of his injuries and I snapped back into reality. Her reflexes as a nurse really never left her. She knows exactly what she's doing. She helped him sit down on our couch gently as if he was a fragile baby while on the other hand my father was wary of his every action. My father is the owner of our town's farm and he helps from time to time so the town will have enough vegetables and fruits. And just as much as he cares for his plants, he is also quite protective of us. He is ready to take a bullet for us. However, he is scared of my mom. But even so, he cares a lot for Mom and he doesn't like the fact that she is so close to an unknown man; not because of jealousy but because he's worried. You see, my mom is quite a kind person and she helps people when she can. The time when just the two of us went to the city to buy medical supplies for our clinic, we came across a homeless man that seems to be unconscious and lying on the cold ground. no one seems to bother looking at him. I mean people usually just mind their own business these days. So, because my mom couldn't take it, she helped him. She did what she could to help him thinking that he was pitiful. "Stellar, as you can see there are a lot of less fortunate people in the world. We may not be able to help turn their wheel of life, even a little kindness won't hurt." She told me as she tried to check the man lying on the ground. I can feel her sincerity and her kindness from her every word to her actions. It would have been great until she was almost stabbed. At that time, I was thankful that I did not have my mother's trait of being kind. I am wary like my father and I was so glad. I grabbed my mother away from the man but he was able to steal my mom's bag and ran away. Even so, I didn't care about the bag. I was just glad that I was not a second too late in my judgment. My mom was pretty much traumatized afterward and was silent the whole time we went back to town. I can in her eyes the shame she felt. Her eyes shouted that she felt like she ate every word she told me. "The world is supposed to have a dark place to maintain the balance," I said as I held my mother's hand. Although I want her to be wary and think about her safety, I don't want her to change herself because of one incident. It's enough that me and my father worry for her and my siblings. However, I still said everything that happened to my father when we came back home and I explained to him thoroughly so he'll understand and so we met at ground level and came to an agreement. I know my father would not want Mom to change too. Even so, that is the reason why he is protective. While I try to protect my two younger siblings, my father watches out for Mom. My father trusts me enough to protect my siblings. So then my mom helped the man sit down and when he just sat down we heard a growl. All of us looked at each other's eyes. We're communicating telepathically through our eyes asking who that was. When I looked at the man he was blushing from embarrassment and shame. It turns out it was his stomach growling because he was hungry. My mom then told me to prepare food for him while she tries to check on him. I placed the plates and the food on the table in front of him. " I don't know if you have any allergies or food preferences but if you do please do tell me," I said while I looked at him with my eyes full of worries. He looked so beat up and malnourished. If he was able to eat properly or live properly his health will be much better and he would shine even brighter. I thought to myself. He looked so pitiful and I can't just stop wondering just what in the world happened to him to reach such a weak body. He looks great as he is but he would look even better if he was a bit healthier than now. " You don't have to tell me if you are uncomfortable, you can just set aside the food that you can't eat," I said. He looked me straight in the eyes innocently and tilted his head a bit showing me that he didn't understand what I said. I tried to explain it to him but he looked even more puzzled. I was feeling frustrated because I don't know what to do. "Mōshiwakearimasenga, wakarimasen." He said while bowing to me. I was dumbfounded and I don't know what to say or do. What the heck?! What am I supposed to say? How am I supposed to respond to him? I looked at Mom and Dad for help but they know nothing about it too. He saw how frustrated I looked and tried his best to communicate. "S-sorry, I...no...english...I...Japanese". He said with a lot of effort, he looked like he tried his best and, I can feel his sincerity. I didn't know what to say or do because I don't know if he can understand it so I just smiled at him sincerely and tried my best to assure him that he can eat the food hoping he has no allergies or anything he can't eat among them. I looked at him while he ate and It seems that his hands were still shaky. I wanted to help so I decided to feed him. I fed him the porridge first because he might not be able to digest the other food yet. He looked down from embarrassment so I patted his shoulders and smiled at him to ensure him that it is all fine. I don't know what happened to him but in the meantime while he was still with us, something in me wanted him to be healthier, happier, and have a better future. I know I will not be part of it but I wish I get to help him even just a bit to achieve the future he deserves.