Enfants de souffrance

Mail Jeevas

The day you left

Regaining consciousness, I pushed my slender figure up off the warm bitumen. A sharp pain shot through my wrist, causing me to drop back down.

"Ahh!" my voice seemed distant, like it wasn't my own. I clutched my arm close to my chest.

"M-.. Mail..?" A beautiful murmur carried my name. Looking around I saw lifeless bodies, scattering the blood stained road.

"Mama!" I scream, my eyes felt damp with warm tears. "Father?" My eyes fixated on the still corpse that lay beside my mother's. The tears fell down my horrified face.

When I awoke, I was blinded by the vivid white light. I felt something warm around my arm, I glanced down to see a white cast consuming it.

"How are you feeling?" a soft feminine voice asked, then a smooth petite hand brushed a stray lock of aurban hair from my face.

"Where am I?" my voice was hoarse, I tried sitting up but the woman gently pushed be down.

"You're at a hospital, dear. Just rest, you've been through a lot, 'tis a wonder you're alive.

I felt a sharp pang.. "Where's Mama and Father?" I then caught a glimpse of her face, it wore a melancholy expression.

"They're.. They.. Died." she sounded dreadful, yet I felt 1000 times worse. It's one thing to inform a child about their parents death, though 'tis another to be that child.. Again, my eyes brimmed with warm tears that spilt over and down my face.

"You shall be referred to as 'Matt' from here on in." the man who spoke was an elderly man, his grey hair receding up his scalp, glasses upon the bridge of his long nose and a thick mustache. Roger, he told me that was his name.. And 'Matt' was now mine. "Near." he called.

A young boy walked into the office of this peculiar orphanage, his hair whiter than the old mans, his skin even more so. I guessed he was albino. What appeared to be white pajamas were worn upon his abnormally small body. "Yes, Roger?" his voice was girlish and light, though I was sure he was male .

"This is Matt." the geezer indicated toward me. "Could you do the honor of showing him to his room and making him feel welcome?" he smiled.

The boy known as Near simply nodded, his face bearing an apathetic expression.

The room I was left in was plain, boring. A bed and a closet were all that filled it. The door clicked gently behind me and Near was gone.

"Hello, Matt." I whispered.