Thursday, March 22th. 8:00am.
I must leave the house at 8:30am if I don't want to be late for my Macroeconomics class. It is one of my favorite class to be honest. The exam is like the study guide and the exercices we do in class. This is the type of teachers I like. The type that give an exam similar to their exercices and not those teaching us subjects that aren't going to be in the exam. To all the teachers like this out there, YOU CAN'T JUST MIX A HAMMER IN A FRUITS SALAD AND EXPECT PEOPLE TO EAT IT WITHOUT CHOKING GOD DAMMIT! Anyways, this is not the reason why I'm feeling good today. I'm happy because I'm going to meet my friend. Even though I'm helping her with her volunteering work, we are spending time together at least. This is great enough.

11:49am.
I'm in class for almost three hours. Tik. Tok. Tik. Tok. I might have good grades in this class but I can't hide the fact that it is boring. The teacher is at the last slide of his PowerPoint.

12:15pm.
Finally! Class is over. I need to meet my friend in 30 minutes.

1:04pm.
When I exit the subway station, I see my friend. Kaiya is standing in the spot. Our squad spot. Upon seeing me, we greet and hug each other. "Long time no see", I said. "Same for me!' she replied. "And thank you for coming. I can't believe the principal gave me this work because I tried to hack the school system and change my finals' schedule. You know how much I hate to start at 8am." What she did what illegal so I told her : "Next time, invite me. I'll make sure you won't get caught", I said with a wink. We both laugh and reminisce about our past together. What we did, where we went and for what occasions. We hated high school but seeing where we are now, high school is probably one of our best years.

"By the way, you didn't tell me where we were going." I asked with curiosity.

"Right... We are going to the hospital."

"Oh great! We can play with children then. It must be boring being locked inside and having nothing to do."

"About that... What I did was really, but really illegal so the principal told me that I'll have to take care of old people in the hospital if I don't want him to report me to the police." Kaiya was scared at this point. She didn't know if I'll just ditch her here or not. She was surprised by my reply though. "Why did you even hack your school? And at the school library? Really? Dude did you forget your school is the best when it comes to hacking? Anyways, you know those movies where young people spend time with the oldies and then they start to tell their story? I always wanted an experience like that. Maybe we will find a nice person there who is willing to tell us his story. How he survived? How he lived until now? I don't know lol." With that, we walked together to the hospital.

Kaiya and I are very close. We are much alike. You can say that we are practically twins. I am From East Asia and Kaiya is from South America, but we have kind of a similar life. We were both raised by our dad only. All we know is that they tried to flee their country for our own safety. That's why they don't want to tell us where exactly we are from. They give vague answer. They want to forget. Our respective moms died in the process of giving birth to us when they arrived in Montreal. That leads us with only our dads. My dad said he met someone like him while fleeing. Both lost their house, wife and need to raise a child alone. Having the same background story, they decided to help each other out. Basically, I grew up with Kaiya and we were separate after high school since we went to different colleges. We keep contacts and meet from time to time. Instead of giving us the talk, our dads shared this story with us. "Why didn't we have a mom?" They couldn't support that question anymore. You can see it in their face. They didn't want to answer. They were hurting. So, Kaiya and I decide to stop digging into their past, not that we tried but still.

1:56pm.
"How can we get lost so bad? It was only a 25 minutes ride and it took us an hour! An hour, Kaiya! The sun is setting already!" I complaint.

"Oh shut up! Don't be a drama queen. You ain't living in North Pole and we aren't in winter anymore." Kaiya said calmly.

"Touché."

"Also, you're the one studying science how can you not know this?"

"Not my department, not my problems. Besides, I'm a business major now" I replied with confidence.

"Right right... anything that can make you sleep at night."

I gave her a death stare with that remark.

2:18pm
We finally step inside the hospital building. Upon arriving, a woman dress in a white coat greets us. They told us to follow her, so we did. The room was filled with golden age people. The doctor points her finger into a direction, so we followed it with our eyes.  An old man. He looks like he has 80 or 90 years old and has tan skin. He somehow reminds me of someone, but I don't know who. The doctor told us he couldn't walk anymore and doesn't talk to anyone. He is difficult to deal with. That's why nobody wants to spend time with him. People give up after three minutes of no reply from the old man. If he doesn't talk, why did the doctor even give us this job?

"Sorry girls. But your principal, who is also my husband, told me to give you the toughest work here." The doctor said arrogantly.

"That bitch!" Kaiya cursed under her breath.

"Also, you can't leave until he talked to you." The doctor replied upon hearing Kaiya's curse.

I gave her the "Do not even" look. Knowing her, she will probably jump at her and I don't want a murder in a hospital. Our job is to give company to an old person and help them with their routine. It was past lunchtime, so I give out a sigh of relief. No need to feed him. It will be so awkward for a first meeting.

"Good evening." I said.

No reply.

"What can we help you with today?'' Kaiya tried.

No reply.

The next hour is spend by us asking questions and him never replying.

"Where do you come from?''

"How was your life before coming here?"

"What is your favorite food?"

"How is the weather today?"

And then...

"DOGS!" I screamed.

Kaiya jumped out of shock. She didn't expect me to scream like this, scaring all the people in the room so she pulled me aside.

"You could have gaven them a collective heart attack you know that?" She whispered angrily.

"I know but who wouldn't ask "where" when someone says dogs?" I talked back.

"Apparently not that old dude." Kaiya said annoyed. "That guy doesn't even move an inch. We don't even know if he is still alive or not and at this point, I am scared you killed him."

"Just poke him. He'll probably be annoyed that someone is touching him."

"Eww! Not to be rude but what you're saying is disgusting."

"Well, you're the one with a criminal record. Not me." I said in my defense.

"God! Why am I even friend with you?"

"Cuz you're my twin and you are stuck with me forever." I laughed.

She was annoyed at this point. I am no help and she will never go home. It is in this instance that a miracle occurred.

"You are twins?" The old man said.

"Oh my god! He talked! I can leave! Nilla go pack your stuff. We are leaving."

"Wait! The doctor said he hasn't talk to anyone since he arrived there. He must want to know something since he talked to us."

"Not to offend you but I still have good ears, dearies." The old man affirmed.

We look at each other at the same time. He definitely heard all of our conversation then. I took the initiative and told him that we were really twins. Kaiya was mad red at this point. She just wanted to leave and here I am dragging the conversation. He asked us where we came from and I said Canada, but that's not what he wanted to know. He meant our origin country.

"We aren't very sure about that, sir."

"It's okay, dearies! In my time, when I was banned from my own homeland, I met a set of twins with the same characteristics as the both of you."

"Great! Yay! Good for you!" Kaiya screamed with sarcasm.

I gave her the 100th death stare today before asking the old man to continue his story.

"There was a war in my country. It was so small that we just say we live on an island. The year is 1989. Two little islands located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It was a fight between Húdié and Sangre Island. I decided that I didn't want to participate, and I wasn't the only one who revolted against the government. They were mad and furious, so they banned us from living there. We were doctors and didn't want to participate in this horrific war. There was no reason why they should fight. Their stubbornness took over them. They wanted more lands and decided to attack. Just like they say : the earlier you attack, the better it is. Stupid, I said. So, I left."

"Húdié? Húdié means butterfly in Mandarin." I affirmed since I took a Mandarin course as my complementary in college. "And Sangre means blood I think." Kaiya replied right after me. We both studied Spanish in high school.

"You're both right. So, my coworkers and I walked and walked and walked until we saw another group of people. We saw them carrying medical kits. They were Chinese. We asked them if they need help without thinking that maybe they are here to kill us. We see people in need, we go help them. That's what I did, and it was the right choice. They were also like us, banned from their own country. All doctors. We decide to form a team and find a place to establish ourselves." The old man said with passion. After a short break, the old man resumes his story. "It took us 7 years to build our new home. We found that isolated place near the ocean. It was beautiful when I first saw it, so we decide to build our new home there. One day, two hurt soldiers arrived together. You won't believe but"

"One was Chinese and the other Hispanic?" I finished his sentence.

"My dear you are catching up!" I smiled at that. "Yes, they were. A bomb attack they said. And this is how we knew that the war started. Once it starts, it's over. If the two soldiers found us, it means more people are coming. We had to leave but couldn't do it now since my youngest daughter just died from giving birth to twins. Two girls. Very beautiful. The year was 1998. Her husband was captured for treason of his own country and died two weeks later, in the Chinese base camp. You can guess from it. One girl has Asian features while the other has tan skin and Hispanic features. It was the first time I see somehing like this and I wanted to cherish the moment forever."

I nudged Kaiya's arm with my elbow. "Just like us but we aren't very twinning." Kaiya just let out a small laugh at this. The old man looks sad now. He was probably at the heating part of his story I thought, and I was right.

"There was another intruder one year later. I knew him the moment I met his eyes. He was one of those loyal soldiers to the government. Ready to report anyone for anything just to upgrade his rank. And he did. When he found out our hidden place, he asked for back up by shooting his gun in the air. I know there was no time anymore and I had to do what I have to do. I gave a backpack with medical kit and survival things inside and gave one for each soldier. I showed them an exit we created 4 years ago in case something like this happen. We will stay in the underground bunker, but I wanted the two soldiers to go back home and forget us. They left, I cried. I just gave up on my granddaughters. I will never forget that moment. I don't even know if they are still alive today. All I know is that before being separated from them, I put the bracelet, my daughter made for her twins with their name on it, on their ankles. One was named Nilla and the other Kaiya."