I'm alone. It's a cold, rainy night in Iselia, and I'm outside with just my clothes on my back and a bag to carry my stuff. Not that I have any.
I hear squelching footsteps in the muddy road that sound like they're coming closer. Who could it be? Wait…It's a girl. She looks to be the same age as me. Should I say something to her?
"Who are you?" I ask, my head slightly cocked to it's side. The girl puts on a smile and takes my hand.
"My name's Colette Brunel. Come on, you look cold. Let's go to my house so you can warm up." The girl begins to lead me toward her house that seems to be not very far from where we are.
We enter the house and I see two other people in the room. "Colette! Where did you run off to!?" The man asks.
"Daddy, I was in my room and I looked out the window and saw a boy in the rain! That's why I left! I wanted to bring him in 'cuz you told me never to stay out in the rain or else you'll get sick. This is who I saw daddy!" This girl was so nice to me and she didn't even know who I was. This was the first time I ever saw her.
"Colette, did you also forget what I told you about strangers?"
"Daddy he's just a little boy! He's not going to hurt me!"
Colette…I really like her. But…her name…
"Yes Colette, he is only a little boy but did you ever stop and think his parents might be as worried about him as Granny and I were worried about you?"
Parents…? Do I have those?
"Okay daddy…But…"
"Colette, dear it's getting late. You should go to bed," the old lady who is sitting at the table in the middle of the room says. Colette just ran up those stairs…Was she…crying?
"Hey, little guy, what's your name?"
"My…name…?"
"Yes, your name." This guy is starting to scare me. I don't even know him and he wants me to tell him something I don'' know the answer to.
"I don't know mister."
"Oh, the poor dear must be an orphan…" The old woman at the table is being really nice…but I'm worried they might try to hurt me…
"Frank, let's take the poor boy in. A new addition to the family wouldn't be so bad." Is the old lady offering me a shelter? A home?
"I suppose so… But what do we call him?"
"I have this! Maybe it'll help. I found it next to me when I was outside. But I can't read…"
"Okay, well, just hurry upstairs and go to Colette. She'll help you get ready for bed. In the meantime, Phaidra and I will try to figure out a name for you."
So I do as I'm told and walk up the stairs where Colette is waiting. "You don't have a name?" she asks.
"Nope…" I say. She's smiling again. Me not having a name makes her happy? "Colette, why are you smiling like that?" I ask her.
"I'm gonna save the world one day you know. I'm the Chosen of Mana. Maybe…if you want…before I have to go off and do that, we can go on an adventure to find your name? You want to? It'll be fun!" Chosen of Mana? What's that? I think I want to go with her but it's hard for me to think right now.
"Colette, bring Lloyd down here."
"Lloyd? That's what you're calling him?"
"Just bring him down…"
We walk down the stairs to find Phaidra and Frank looking at the piece of paper I handed them earlier. "This note. It's kind of hard to read, but it looks like a letter from your mother. There's blood on it… It reads 'Please take good care of my son. His name is Lloyd Irving. Please tell him his mommy loves him very much. -------- Irving.' The only person with the last name Irving who lived anywhere close to here was Anna Irving. She lived right next door. She…I can't believe she's dead…She was so nice…"
I'm horrified. Not only now do I know my mommy's dead, but I'm alone. Alone again… I hear quiet footsteps. Now I'm being hugged. It's Colette. "Don't worry, Lloyd. I have a feeling that one day, we'll know more about this. But…We can still go on that adventure to find your name, right? It won't be name finding, though, but we'll figure something out."
I'm smiling now thinking about Colette and how much she really cares. "Sure Colette. I'll go with you. I'd go anywhere with you."
My name is Lloyd Irving, I'm fifteen years old now, and this is the story of how I got my wings. Me and Colette are still friends now and it's been almost seven years since this. I hope my story was good enough for you because I know it's fulfilling enough for me, knowing that there are good people in the world I've helped to save.