Survivors of the fittest

"Mommy, why did grandpa and grandma die when they didn't deserve it?"

"I don't know, I don't have an answer to it" I stood up, "But I just know everything happens for a reason. It might hurt us sometimes, but in the end everything makes perfect sense."

"Eh ? How does the death of grandma and grandpa make sense ?" my daughter frowned.

"Without that day, I and uncle might not be as strong as we are now. We would have never been able to experience how it feels to wander through the streets during Chinese New year. There are many people out there who don't even have a shelter and food like we experienced during those days. We experienced how it feels to be one of them."

"Without their death, we wouldn't have been orphans to experience a life how orphans feel. We lost, experienced and learnt. Everything was worth it when I recall it now." I sighed, smiling slightly with tears in my eyes.

"I see mommy." I was unaware that she might not handle these deep stuff, so I thought to change the topic.

"Alright, now I need to sweep and clean the home, since the Lunar New Year is approaching." I smiled heading toward the storeroom.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah dear?" I searched for the vacuum cleaner.

"I want to hear the story till it's end." she demanded to hear more.

"After that morning, We had to continue our journey of finding shelter and food. But we failed in that." I started wiping each and every table and cupboards to wipe them clean.

"Someday we spent our nights on the streets, while our days walking in search of food door to door, colony to colony. But we never succeeded to get what we needed."

"All we got was to see families staying far away getting together, enjoying with their loved ones, kids playing around, exchanging gifts, older people got oranges and tangerines from children while kids got red packets of money from elders."

"The smiles that the children had on receiving the red packets were full of satisfaction, family love and warmth of the Spring Festival."

"As we went by the houses, the house decorations with red lanterns were implying how much good luck was lurking upon them, everyone was chatting, laughing, enjoying with each other and all it cost was only a smile."

"I still remember the sound of the bell on New Year's Eve. The first ringing of the bell in the New Year."

"Mommy what's the bell?"

"You heard it every year, but probably you don't remember. A bell is a traditional symbol of Chinese New Year, and Chinese people believe that ringing a large bell can drive away bad luck and bring good fortune. At midnight on New Year's Eve some people like to go to large squares or temples where huge bells are rung. In recent years people have begun to go to mountain temples to wait for the first ringing of a bell in the New Year."

"I had taken you along with me last year, but you forgot. This year, we will take you again to the temple, you must hear the ringing of the bell." I said as I started sweeping the house.

"Yes yes Mommy, I'll hear this time!" she giggled with excitement.

"Those 14 days were spent like this, sometimes we got to eat a few oranges that could be found on the trees and sometimes we ate leftover fish made by some food stalls."

"Mommy, leftovers.... it isn't healthy."

"We couldn't be more thankful to get at least leftovers that time. It isn't healthy but we had no choice dear. Sometimes situations make us do things that we never thought of doing. Situation tests us whether we are survivors of the fittest. In order to survive, we are bound to pass our tests no matter what it takes."

"I'll be strong like you mommy, I have learnt many things from this story. What happened next?"

"Good girl," I chuckled. "The story turns into a tragic path when my brother fell sick on the fourteenth day. He had a stomach ache as far I can remember and I guessed it was from consuming unhealthy foods. He was younger, so his digestive system was not as developed as mine."

"Due to his illness, we had to spend a whole day on a river bank, he was puking and he needed water, so we spent the day there. We couldn't see a doctor for him since we got no money."

"I brought some leftover bread from a nearby bakery shop and oranges to feed him. Oranges helped him to recover faster. I was worried for his health, because we didn't get a check up from a doctor, I was afraid his health might decline more."

"That night was the longest night when I stayed up to take care of him, the fear of losing him haunted me every time I tried to sleep."

"Finally it was the full moon night, on the evening of fifteenth day of the festival, we saw the town people were gathering near the river bank to see the lantern festival."

"What is a lantern festival?"