The Story of Yana

Some of us are born with incredible abilities, and can do great things. Yana is not a person who will change the world, and she knows it. Yana was an orphan in Cambodia, taken in by Father João, who raised her and taught her more than the kids in the city. Yana was offered an accounting job because of her education, but, knowing that she is not one to achieve greatness, decided she should be the one to help others do incredible things. So she started an orphanage herself.

Yana was preparing Rojões à Moda do Minho, a meal that Father João had taught her to make. Yana had been modifying the recipe over the years, attempting to achieve the taste of Father’s Rojões à Moda do Minho, to no avail. While cutting the pork, Yana received a call from one Father’s other children. When she picked up the phone, Yana immediately knew something was wrong when all she could hear were silent sobs. When Yana was informed from Cheayean that Father João had died, Yana broke down into an inconsolable heap, not responding to anything. It took 4 hours for Yana to finally stop crying and come to her senses; she ordered a plane ticket to Portugal right away, to go to Father João’s funeral.

At the funeral, Yana saw all of the other children Father João raised in his orphanage, that is, except for two. Sokheng and Traeore were not at the funeral, because they had died a few years before.

Sokheng was the eldest of the orphans, he always looked out for the younger kids, and he had an instinctual sense of justice. One time during the Water Festival, some boy took Yana’s water gun that Father João had bought for her; Sokheng ran down the boy, took the water gun back, and broke the boy’s nose. He served a day in prison for assault, but he didn’t care, because in...

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... quality meal every now and then?” “Yeah, it was so good!” “Well, one night I put some leftovers from my meal under my bed, for the boy. I woke up hearing breathing next to my ear. The boy was lying next to me, and I screamed when I first saw him. The thing is, he had no arms or legs, and he didn’t have a tongue either. After I started screaming, he just disappeared. Poof.”

Kong interrupted. “Wait, no arms or legs?! What?” Yana confirmed her previous statement.

“Well at least he’s gone now, right Yana?” “Yes, I guess so.” But like Kong at Traeore’s funeral, Yana was holding something back. Yana hadn’t been able to sleep at night for the last week, because the feels the boy behind her, hissing in her ear while she tries to sleep. She’d wake up to see notes by her bed, telling her to carry on the “tradition” of João’s way of feeding orphans Rojões à Moda do Minho.