Passion Fruit

Author's note; This is a Clay Aiken fan fiction I wrote. It has some truth
to it though. In March, Clay went to Banda Ache, Indonesia which is the town heaviest hit by the tsunamis. He is the National Ambassador of Education for UNICEF and he went with them to see how UNICEF can and is helping to rebuild schools. This is written for a clay fan audience so if there are any things I could change or add to make it more understandable to other audiences, please let me know.
. Khrystyna Serednytsky
Passion Fruit
It was his last morning in Banda Ache, and Clay decided to spend it alone, sitting on the beach. He had been in this coastal town for three days now. He was visiting children that were affected by the tsunamis that destroyed their homes, and for some, swept away their families only three months before. It had been an amazing and humbling experience for Clay to be in the same place where all of this tragedy had taken place, and to see the people who were left behind. Their lives were changed forever, but they kept on living.
As he sat on the vacant beach, Clay tried to memorize every thing about how it felt to be there. He sat there, and listened, just listened to the sound of the waves gently hitting the shore. He shook his head as he watched them come in and recede, come in and recede, never changing their pattern. It was hard for him to believe that these peaceful waves could grow to be over 20 feet high and cause as much destruction as he had seen in the last few days.
Suddenly he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned around to see a young woman whose children he had met with earlier in the week. She had lost her husband in the tsunami and was left to raise her four young children alone. She was very pretty; with big brown eyes, and a kind smile. She was carrying a large basket of bright orange passion fruit that grew on the island.

"Oh, hello," Clay replied. "Do you need help with that?" he asked motioning towards the basket.

The woman shook her head "Thank you" she said carefully pronouncing each syllable. Like many people on the island, she wasn't very fluent in English.

"Oh it's not a problem." Clay insisted "Here let me help"

Again the woman shook her head. "Thank you" she said again, only this time putting her hand over the bright blue UNICEF band on his arm. She held her hand there for a few seconds. "My chil-dren need school." She said with effort.

Clay smiled warmly. "You're welcome." He said slowly. "We hope to do more."

To his surprise, the women put her basket on the ground and handed him a fruit. "Eat" she said kindly, handing it to Clay.

"Oh no thanks Miss," Clay declined politely. "The children need it more."

The woman shook her head "Eat" she said again, holding his other hand around it. She scrunched her forehead, trying to think of the right thing to say. "Break-fast" she finally said.

Clay didn't want to be rude since making this offer took her so much effort. "Okay" he smiled accepting the fruit.

"I eat too" she said happily, sitting down next to him and taking a fruit for herself.

Clay took his first bite into the round fruit releasing a sweet juice that dripped from his chin "Lord, that thing is sweet!" he exclaimed, making the woman laugh.

"Like this." She said, sipping out the juice of her fruit, little by little, before taking her first bite.

"I see." Clay nodded, and tried to do the same, this time managing to keep all of the juice in his mouth. They sat and ate in silence for a while; language being their only barrier.

Clay could see the woman wanted to say something, but was having trouble figuring out how to say it. Finally she turned to him and quietly, carefully began to speak. "In A-mer-i-ca, you work in school?" she asked him.

Clay shook his head. He wanted to tell her how much he loved to teach, about his foundation, about how much he cared about inclusion, but he knew she wouldn't understand much, if anything of what he said. "No, I'm a singer." He answered.

"Sing-er?" she asked, not understanding.

"Yes, I sing songs" Clay explained.

"Sing!" the woman said excitedly

Clay chuckled nervously. He knew that she probably wouldn't understand anything he sang. "Okay, what should I sing?" he said to himself. Clay looked out into the waves. He began to sing, his gentle but rich voice awakening the quietness of the morning..
When you're weary
Feelin small
When tears are in, your eyes
I will dry them all

When he was finished, he discovered the woman was in tears. She shook her head, wiping her eyes with her sticky hands. "I not understand, but that is lovely" she said with a smile. Suddenly they heard a child calling from the bungalow further down the beach. "That is my boy" she said, getting up "I must go."

Clay got up and helped her to lift her heavy basket. "Thank you for the fruit." He replied. The woman nodded and smiled. "Wait, before you go, what is your name?" he asked.

"My name is Nadia" she said "and you?"

"My name is Clay" he said. "It was very nice to meet you Nadia. Maybe I will come back and visit your family someday."

Nadia blushed. "You will always be welcome in my home." She said softly. She heard her son call to her again. "I must go." she said, starting to head up the beach.

"Good-bye Nadia" Clay called out to her. She briefly looked back at him and smiled. Clay watched her until she disappeared into her house. He felt tears come to his eyes. As he lifted his hand to wipe it, he smelled the scent of the passion fruit on his fingers. With his hands up to his nose, Clay closed his eyes again, listening to the waves. This is how he would remember this place for the rest of his life.