"No Longer Alone": Part 16

Five Years Later

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I ask Brynn as she straightens my tie.

“Yes! Now get your fancy pants out there and stop complaining!”

She pushes me out onto the stage, forcing me into the spotlight. I only have a few seconds to collect myself before I have to give my speech. The same speech I spent a month working on. The same speech I am most definitely not ready for.

“Hello,” I say shakily into the microphone. “My name is Jaehyun Kang, and today I will be talking about…”

I trail off, losing my train of thought like losing a needle in a haystack. My eyes drift to the crowd, scanning the variety of faces, my words getting stuck in my throat. Brynn should’ve done this. She’s much better at speeches than I am. I look over at her in the stage wings. She’s standing next to Jack. He gives me an encouraging smile, while she simply looks at me expectantly. My eyes turn back to the audience, landing on the couple in the front row. The same couple in the same seats at every event I’m at. Their names are Robert and Kareema Clark. They also happen to be my parents.

“Five years ago, my entire life changed. Some say for the better, and some say for the worse. It all depends on how you see it. I was a fifteen-year-old orphan, living at the only orphanage in town. My best friend got adopted and left me. Then, I got adopted. I found a friend, who turned out to be my long-lost twin sister. I met my biological parents, who ended up being jerks. I decided to go back to the orphanage I was raised in, and instead found a pile of ashes and debris. Have you ever heard of the Blooming Children Orphanage Fire? Well, it was a tragedy not only for the people involved but for the whole city. Lots of money was put into clearing out the area, but none was put into rebuilding. Because of this, many children were left without a home. Approximately 40% of the orphanage population became homeless, whereas the other 60%, sadly, died. The cause of the fire was the fault of no one in the orphanage, but of the city who allowed the building to be built with numerous insufficiencies. If those problems were fixed, there would be many more people living on this Earth today. But what of the children around the world still having to fight for their lives? I was one of the lucky ones, but many were not so lucky.”

I look over to Brynn and Jack, then to Robert and Kareema. 

“Alongside my sister, Brynn Kang, and my best friend, Jack Hwang, we would like to officially introduce you to Blooming Children International!”

I pause for applause.

“An organization dedicated to helping underprivileged children worldwide, Blooming Children International obtains no money and instead works with governments to make sure homeless shelters are safe and comfortable for all. And,” I gesture for Brynn and Jack to join me on stage. “We would like to welcome you to the Blooming Children Family!”

Brynn grabs each of our hands, raising them into the air as we’re rained on with applause. I’m not used to this much attention, but Brynn and Jack look right at home. However, as I look around at my sister and best friend, my mom and dad standing up in the front row, I feel at home too.