My youngest friend
by a. gautam

years ago, i was forced to travel with my grandparents in a train. i say forced because i was an unruly child of nine who felt like a teenager. i was in a hurry for everything all the time. to my surprise, i learned to lean back and relax when my compartment presented me with a strange surprise. next to me sat a beautiful child who had not yet grown any teeth or acquired words to express herself.
the boredom of the trip had inspired me to play peek-a-boo with the little girl. before an hour had passed, the little girl had become my new best friend. she pulled my hair if i did not look into her direction for more than five minutes. my spiky hair—shaped like mountaintops as a courtesy of my father's gel—had become her new toy. the little girl even found my cheeks appealing—like a plush toy. her parents had trusted me to feed her some grapes my mother had packed for the trip. before that encounter, i had never desired a sibling.
hours had passed, and the young family motioned to me that it was time for them to get off the train. my heart sank and stood still. i had grown to love the little girl as my own baby sister—perhaps, one who existed all these years without my notice. she cried and shrieked when she was pulled away from me, and i suffered the rest of my journey in silence.
before i knew it, my vacation in seattle was over, and my grandparents were taking me home in the same train. to my surprise, our fellow passengers were the same young family i had met a month back. the little girl—my youngest friend—was napping on her mother's lap. i eagerly waited for her to wake up and play with me. meanwhile, i thought of interesting games to play. when she would be old enough, i would write to her—i had thought it all out. when my little friend woke up, she looked at me as if i we had never met. she cried when i patted her head and went back to sleep. she had no memories of our friendship.
the author uses the phrase "a beautiful child who had not yet […] acquired words to express herself"
a.
to show that the narrator has an advanced vocabulary for a nine-year-old.
b.
to show that the narrator is confused about the events in the train.
c.
to show that the narrator is recalling the story after becoming an adult.
d.
to show that the narrator has a practice of teaching words to little kids.