Kitchen, Green Kite Orphanage, Sakura City.
Four women could be seen working on the dinner that would be served that night.
Because many people were eating in the orphanage every meal, these 4 women had the tiring job of cooking three times per day.
But the curious thing was that only three of them were cooks hired to make the food for the children.
The fourth one was the matron of the orphanage.
Matron May, or as the children called her, Mother May, was the boss of the orphanage.
She was 59 years old, and it was under her direction that the Green Kite Orphanage flourished.
She was also an orphan who grew up in this orphanage, but during her time, when she was growing up, the orphanage was in a much worse state.
Even though it was not as bad, still the children did not have the comfortable lives they currently had.
When she was only a teenager, May promised to change the orphanage for the better.
And for more than 40 years, Mother May indeed transformed the orphanage.
She was the mother that these children never had.
She was the role model that these children wanted to be when growing up.
She was their idol.
That's why when Uda entered the kitchen and saw her, his face showed a brilliant smile that only a son would give when seeing their mother.
"Mother May!" He called with a lively voice.
May, who was busy cooking, lifted her head and saw Uda at the kitchen door.
"Da-chan!" She called as she gave a motherly smile.
Her eyes were full of love as she looked at the young man at the door.
Throughout all her years in the orphanage, she saw hundreds of children coming and going.
Some were adopted and left to live with their new family.
And some stayed and lived in the orphanage until they completed 18 years old.
But even though she saw many children, May would never forget their faces or their names.
Even if they grew up and looked completely different from when they were little.
She saw these kids as her own children, so how could she forget about them.
Plus, most of the children who left the orphanage after growing up, often visited the building.
And May welcomed these kids with open arms.
This was their first home, and they could visit whenever they wanted.
"Come here, child." She said with a motherly voice as she cleaned her hands on her apron and opened her arms wide.
Uda did not hesitate and ran towards her and hugged her.
The other cooks laughed when they saw the scene.
They were too used to this scene.
Every kid who visited the orphanage would receive a hug from Mother May.
It was her way to say that they were welcomed.
And every one of them loved Mother May's hugs.
Shortly after, they let go of each other and she looked at him.
"Little brat, you haven't visited us in a while. Why did you come this time?" She said in a berating voice, but her face was gentle and she had a smile on her face.
It was noticeable that she was not really upset about his lack of visits.
May understood that Uda and the other were not kids anymore and that they had their own lives already.
The only thing that she wanted was for them to be happy.
"Sorry about that." Uda said with an embarrassed voice as he scratched his head.
"And I came because I missed you guys." He said with a silly smile.
"Hey, Aunties!" He added as he greeted the other cooks.
The cooks smiled as they heard that.
"Good, with you here, you can help me serve the table." Mother said.
Uda nodded and quickly helped them.
He knew that Mother May did not have to help in the kitchen.
After all, she was the matron of the orphanage, but she insisted on doing that because she loved cooking for the children.
And the kids loved Mother May's cooking, so she had been helping in the kitchen for decades already.
Uda was eager to taste her food again.
There was nothing better than homemade food, and that was what he felt with the food served in the orphanage.
A while later, the food was served and the children and teenagers were called.
When the children saw that Big Bother Uda would have dinned with them, they rushed towards with happy steps.
"Big Brother Uda! Big Brother Uda!" A boy no more than 8 years old called excitedly.
 The other quickly gathered around Uda.
"Can you read us a story today?" The boy asked with shining eyes.
"You all want to hear a story?" Uda laughed happily.
The others around also nodded to express that they wanted to hear a story too.
"Okay, I will read you a story after dinner." He said with a doting smile as he looked at these kids.
Because of his passion for literature, Uda developed the habit of reading stories to the children.
And they loved it!
That's why they were so excited when they saw Uda.
"Yay!" The children celebrated.
The dinner proceeded in a lively atmosphere.
If someone has a big family, they would know how the dinner went.
Everyone ate as they enjoyed Mother May's food.
And they talked loudly and sometimes they screamed.
It was a mess, but it was their mess.
Their family was like that.
And when dinner ended, the caretakers took care of the dirty dishes.
The teenager went to their rooms, they had homework to do, after all, they took seriously their studies.
But not before talking excitedly with Uda.
They had already given up on being adopted, so now they wanted to study well.
That's why Uda and the others who lived well after leaving the orphanage were their idols.
They wanted to grow up and be like that.
They wanted to earn their own money and help the orphanage too!
That's why every teenager in the orphanage took their studies seriously.
After Uda bade farewell to them, he went towards where the children.
It was almost their sleep time, therefore if he wanted to tell a story to them, he had to tell it at that moment.
As soon as he entered the room, the children exclaimed loudly in excitement.
They could not wait to hear the story!
Mother May, who was in the room taking care of the children, smiled as she saw the scene.
"You want me to tell a story?" Uda asked with a playful smile as he took a seat in from of them.
"Yes!" They replied.
"Hmm, I didn't hear it. What?" He asked again playfully.
"YES!!!" The children shouted.
Uda, Mother May, and the others laughed as they saw that.
These kids were so cute!
"Okay, okay. I will tell you a story." Uda replied as he took a book from his bag.
"Today's story is a new story." He started with a different tone of voice.
"It is a magical story, about a magical place, an orphanage!" His voice reverberated throughout the room and attracted the attention of everyone who heard it.
The great stories were only one of the reasons that the children liked hearing Uda tell them.
Uda was an amazing storyteller, his voice had the magnetic power to make them immerse in the story.
And when the children heard his first words, their eyes could not help but shine as they heard them.
An orphanage!
They lived in one, so their attention was instantly grabbed.
Even Mother May and the caretakers were immersed as they heard the word orphanage.
Uda told them the first tale of the [Tree of Joy] novel.
His words carried the power of imagination.
And everyone who heard it felt like they were indeed in that magical orphanage.
That night would never be forgotten for those children and the adults.
It was that night they heard the first tale of the book that would become their favorites in their entire lives.
Theo did not know yet, but his book was changing the lives of the one who read it.
That first day of December would be unforgettable.
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