Christmas time, probably the happiest time of the year. So why did she look so sad?

Emil sighed as he strolled the streets with his older brother. The streetlights gleamed brightly, mixing in with all the festive lights out there. Lukas was going late present shopping and wanted Emil to come along. Emil could care less. Why didn't Lukas go earlier when there was daylight outside? "I wanted to see the Christmas lights." He replied bluntly. Emil had to admit though, the lights were pretty.

The two walked passed an orphanage on the way home. Emil had no idea why his older brother was using this route home, but it didn't really matter, as long as they got home in one piece.

A little girl, about the age of seven, caught Emil's eye. She looked really upset about something. Wait, why was she out here, in the cold, at this time of night? It was close to 8:30 PM, there's almost no reason to be outside. Unless, you went shopping like the two did. Emil decided he was going to return here tomorrow morning, but for now he just wants to take a shower and go to sleep. "Emil, are you coming or not?" Lukas asked. Emil had been so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't realize he stopped walking! "Coming, Lukas." Emil said, running to catch up with his brother.

Emil was on his way to the orphanage when suddenly someone ran into him. He stumbled a little while the person fell on the ground. When he looked at the person, he found out it was the little girl from last night! "I-I'm sorry!" She stuttered, getting up to run past him.
"Wait!" Emil said. The girl stopped and turned around.
"Yes?" She questioned. Emil noticed the girl was trembling.
"What's your name?" He asked.
"(Name)." She answered, and with that she ran away.

The next time Emil saw her was the day before Christmas, or Christmas Eve. Emil was taking a walk in the park and saw (Name) sitting on the park bench. It had to be freezing, so Emil walked over and handed her his scarf. "Here," he said, "take it. You need it more than me."
She smiled and exclaimed, "Thank you, mister!"
"My name is Emil Steilsson, or Emil Bondevik." She looked confused.
"Why do you have two last names, Mr. Steilsson?" Emil didn't know how to explain it to her.
"My mom married another man, and we got his last name." She nodded. "Hey, it's getting cold, so why don't you head back to the orphanage?" Emil told (Name).
"I will, thank you for the scarf, Mr. Steilsson!" Emil waved and them headed on home.

"Hey, Emil," Lukas said, "where do you go?"
"What do you mean?" Emil asked.
"You've been disappearing and then reappearing a couple hours later."
"I had some stuff to do, okay?" Emil answered, irritated.
"Whatever you say." Lukas shrugged.

The last time Emil would see (Name) would be the day after Christmas.

"(Name), what are you doing now?" Emil asked her. (Name) was wearing his scarf, but it seemed too big for her unhealthy skinny body.
"I was looking at the sky. It's really pretty, right?" She said, smiling lightly. Emil nodded and looked up; the sky was tinted many different colors.
"When was the last time you ate?" Emil asked as she blinked.
"Um, around this morning?"
"Are you hungry?" Emil asked her. She shook her head.
"Nope!" Just then, her stomach growled. She blushed and held her stomach.
"Here." Emil handed her a sandwich. "Eat it."
She wrapped her little arms around Emil the best she could and whispered, "Thank you, Mr. Steilsson."
"You're welcome, (Name)."

Emil went to the park two days later to find it empty, except for the couples and occasional people passing by here and there. "Maybe she's at the orphanage." Emil thought out loud.
"Whoever they are, they're probably dead." Emil spun around and saw a girl.
"What do you mean?" Emil asked.
"The orphanage was shut down a month ago; no one is there anymore. Probably living on the streets if anything." The girl said.

A month?! (Name) was still there even though it got shut down?! "Do you know if anyone stayed?" Emil asked.
"Ah, I heard one girl did." She replied.
"Was her name (Name)?"
"Yeah, how did you know?" The girl asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I met her."
"Oh. I heard a girl died here yesterday." She gestured to the bench Emil and (Name) sat at the other day. "They said she died from starvation and pneumonia."

Emil was silent. All this time, (Name) was alone, scared, starving, and freezing. How come he didn't noticed she resided in an abandoned orphanage?! Maybe if he had treated her sooner, she wouldn't be gone. Maybe if he had invited her to come to his house, he would've found out she was on the verge of death.

"I think she was wearing a scarf, too. I wonder who gave it to her or where she got it from." The girl shook her head sadly. "In the end, she died anyway." Emil noticed the girl strangely looked like (Name) in a way, though her back was facing him.
"What's your name?" Emil abruptly asked the girl.
"Hm?" She turned around and smiled lightly. "I'm (Full Name)."

"Nice to meet you, Emil."