The Tale of Mimosa

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There was a girl, aged 12, who lost her parents at an early age.
In the orphanage, she was nicknamed, "Mimosa", after the mimosa plant.
The reason was because Mimosa stopped talking the day she was admitted into the orphanage. And she kept to herself only, resembling the Mimosa plant, which closed up its leaves upon any touch or warmth.

Mimosa had never told anyone, but she had always harboured a dream---to be a performing artiste just like her mother was.
In Mimosa's memory, her mother was always kind and loving towards her, on the stage, her mother would seemed a different person altogether.
Charming, beautiful, full of confidence, and shining like the brightest star on the theatre stage.
Mimosa had watched her mother from behind the stage for every performance.
When they were at home, Mimosa would sing out her mother's lines in a crystal clear voice, especially her mother's favourite song " Somewhere out there".

"Somewhere out there, beneath the pale moonlight
Someone's thinking of me and loving me tonight.

Somewhere out there someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there."

Mimosa would croon delightfully,using a bottle as her microphone,twirling around in her cotton frock dress which her mother made.
Her mother, would then give her a standing ovation,cheering,"That's my girl!", just as if Mimosa was already a big star on the stage.

Those were the days.

And those days ended in that fateful accident.

But Mimosa yearned achingly for the lost time. The only way, for her to relive it, Mimosa decided, was to be an outstanding performer as her mother was.

She did not tell anyone of her aspiration, to avoid any mocking scorns.
Secretly, late at night,she would practice singing and the vocal chords warming-up exercises her mother used to do in the backyard of the orphanage.
Soon, Mimosa became known as the Phantom Singer, for the children at the orphange believed there were some angry spirits at work for the singing and humming they heard at midnight.

Mimosa's chance soon came when the theatre in town was holding auditions to scout for a child to star in their biggest musical ever.
She had saw their signs plastered all over the market square while running errands for the orphanage.
Yes, Mimosa knew this was her only chance for a big break.

But she had a very big problem.

She could only sing when she's alone. Not in front of anyone else, much less the intimidating scouts present at the audition.

Day after day, Mimosa would hang around the registration booth for the auditions.
Many times, she almost managed to muster the courage to sign up. But at the last moment, the lurch in her stomach would pull her back to reality and she would walk away, her head hung in disappointment.

One day, a young lad from the troupe approached her.
"Pardon me,lil missy, but would you be interested in signing up for the audition? I've seen you around these few days."
Mimosa's dropped her eyes to her shoes, and shook her head furiously, as her hands clutched and wrung the front rims of her dress so tightly her knuckles turned red.
"Don't be afraid. I'm from the troupe too. Im Pete. Pleasure to meet you." The lad extended out his hands.
To his surprise, Mimosa turned her back at sped off at the speed of light.
Pete, intrigued, stood rooted to the ground for a second, before sprinting after her.

They ran, and ran, and ran.
Soon, Mimosa slowed down and came to a halt when she felt as if her legs were going to give way. Pete stopped too, panting and wheezing like he was having fits.

"Whoa...(pant)..(wheeze)..you're good at running...(inhale,exhale)...so what's your name?" Pete asked.
Mimosa picked up a stick nearby, and wrote her name in the sand.
Pete started to make some clumsy attempts at hand signs.
Mimosa frowned in puzzlement, for she could not get what Pete was trying to say.
Pete did not give up, but this time he voiced out,while repeating the gestures,"I said, I loved your name."
Mimosa's cheeks flushed red,for this was the 1st time someone had complimented her.
Then it dawned upon her, that Pete thought she was mute.
"Im not what you think I am." Mimosa wrote in the sand.
"Oh," Pete hid his hands behind him, embarrassed for his misunderstanding.
"So, would you like to go for the auditions?" Pete continued, trying to change the subject.
"I can't. Im afraid." Mimosa replied in the sand.
"Shall I practice with you? I know a very good place on the hill top. I used to go there myself to rehearse." Pete offered.
Nodding her head briefly, Mimosa turned and ran away, her heart beating like a car engine on super turbo mode.

For the following week, Mimosa and Pete practised singing together on the hill top. Mimosa would sneak out from the orphanage at night, and slipped back in at sunrise.
Initially, Mimosa was so shy and bashful Pete had to hide in the bushes before she would start singing.
Her voice would tear through the silent night, so raw and filled with emotions it shook Pete's heart greatly. Such was the power of Mimosa's voice.
Then, after the first few days, Mimosa became much braver, and more confident. In fact, she seems almost a totally changed person, as the children at the orphanage would tell you.
When she started talking to one of the children, the child was so freaked out he came down with fever that day itself.

Soon, it was the last night before the audition.
And Mimosa was a nervous wreck.
Instead of the usual practice, Pete had arranged to meet Mimosa at one hour before sunrise. The venue was at a different spot on the hill top, further up than they normally practised.

When Mimosa arrived at the hill top, she could barely make out Pete in the darkness.
"What are we doing here?" Mimosa whispered.
Pete guided her to sit down beside her.
"See these? These are mimosa plants." Pete placed his nightlight near the mimosa patch.
"I know," Mimosa replied, not really paying heed to Pete. " Look I don't think this is a good idea, the whole audition thing. Im just going to make a fool of myself."
Pete ignored her and went on," It took me sometime to search out these plants."
"Yes, but," Mimosa wanted to go on.
Pete ignored her words and went on.
"When we touch them or when it's warm, the leaves of the mimosa plant would close." Pete demonstrated.
"But do you know what's the way of opening closed mimosa leaves?"
Mimosa listened intently, shaking her head.
"Sunlight. Mimosa leaves naturally closed themselves at evening. But eventually, they would open at sunrise." Pete explained.
"I know you are the best. I've heard you sing..."He trailed off awkwardly.
" Im not very good at doing this, but I was just hoping, that maybe watching the sunrise with me will cheer you up." Saying, he looked away in embarrassment.

The two of them sat there, as the sun rose and showered the earth with its light.

"Somewhere out there, someone's saying a prayer
That we'll find one another in that big somewhere out there."
Mimosa hummed lightly, stealing glances at Pete every now and then.

The sunrise, opened the leaves of the closed mimosa leaves.
The sunrise, opened her once closed heart.

------Written by (Lia) Leow Hui Ting, Yours Sincerely