All of a sudden, she felt like she'd fallen into a giant ice hole, struggling hard to crawl out. But the more she struggled, the faster she sank, the icy water already consuming her body. She fought, but the freezing water got deeper and deeper, threatening to swallow her whole.
Just as things were getting dire, Cornelia's gentle voice echoed in her ears, "Leonardo, Tahlia, could you two give me a hand with peeling some garlic?"
The familiar and soothing voice pulled Tahlia back from the icy abyss, the sunlight slowly hitting her again, warming her up.
Cornelia's words instantly diverted Leonardo's attention, "My hands are way too valuable for peeling garlic."
Ignoring him, Cornelia placed the bowl of garlic on the table, "Everyone's busy here, you can't just sit around doing nothing. You're on garlic duty."
Then, Cornelia turned to Tahlia and whispered, "Tahlia, do you know how to peel garlic? If not, I'll show you."
Leonardo was speechless. Why was it his job to peel garlic? Why did Tahlia get such gentle treatment? And why did everyone treat him differently?
He was the one who worked the hardest today, yet he was the one getting picked on. Poor him!
Cornelia picked up a clove of garlic and began to instruct step by step, "These are easy to peel, just remove all the skin."
Tahlia looked into Cornelia's eyes, listened to her gentle voice, and a warm current flooded into her heart, "Nelly."
"What?" Cornelia looked at her, only to find her eyes welling up, "Tahlia, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? Tell me."
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