Daniel leaned against a wall and sighed. The cold and chillness of the cement drilling up into his spine and he shivered. He looked at his hand and sighed out in relief—those were the hands for a 26-year-old man, not those for a boy.

He started to wonder why he had been hallucinating his childhood, and also, the life of a mysterious man. He had been dreaming the hooded man's life since he escaped…no, not escaped, but rather abandoned from a group of weird men in white coat. Before that Daniel remembered being in an old man's clutch, gasping and struggling, reaching out desperately for the answer that where he was. He saw the triangle shaped symbol, vaguely recalled the words on the label clipped in front of a white coat—it seemed like "V" and "W" to him. Then he saw the cap with was putting down, as an authorized voice, combined with excitement, unclearly said, "Let's open it and see what's inside…"

Daniel wanted held his head with his arms, at least try to increase the minimum possibility of protecting himself. But as his ankles and wrists were restrained, he just trembled and gasped. He opened his mouth to shout for help, but all the words had died out before they could come out. No voice came out. Daniel was silently screaming. All he could do was feebly watching in fear as the dim light faded away right in front of his eyes.

A part of him was happy about this, but another part of him was sad: He had nowhere to go. He had been desperately looking for his purpose of life yet he failed. He thought he had found somewhere he belong, someone he can depends on, he thought he had found his purpose of life…

And yet, he was wrong, again.

The only thing came into his mind was a smiley shiny face of girl, but where is she…

Cold wind breezed across his face. Daniel shivered, hugging himself closer. Random cars passed by like a flash of light. And with a fleeting whistle, they were gone. These cars like some mechanism triggered a gear, like a catalyst that stimulate a reaction, flashes of pictures and voices started to show up in Daniel's memory. He concentrated and managed to catch glimpse of these that faded away quickly before they replaying in his mind. Theses flashes and fragment were warm, joyful, gave Daniel the sense of tranquil that he had forgotten for a long time.

Daniel and Rainey sat on the grass and watching enjoying the tranquilizing atmosphere. The wind breezed, gently brushed

"So where you from?" Rainey asked.

"I…" Daniel didn't know the reply. Instead, he looked down to the ground. Once more he was caught by a question that he couldn't answer. He thought nobody would care what he want, where he from or even who he was, but then the girl reminded he of his past that he had already forgotten. No, lost would be more accurate. It was not him forgot the past.

"It's okay if you don't want to say." Rainey's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Daniel looked up at Rainey, caught by surprise that Rainey had looked up at the sky, giving him a melancholy impression. He heard her muttered, "I can't…as well…"

"Rainey?" Daniel asked.

"Yes?" she looked at Daniel curiously.

"Can you tell me about your story?" Daniel asked. How did you manage to survive…I wonder.

"You want to know?" Rainey asked. She was surprised and startled about that question.

Hope I didn't trigger any of her sad memory. Daniel stiffed.

A nostalgic smile blossomed on Rainey's face. Well, that was a long time ago, when I was still a little girl…

You are still a little girl…Daniel couldn't help thinking about it. He settled himself at a comfortable position and listened to Rainey's story. The smile on her face lessened Daniel's worry.

She talked that she was an orphan. She used to be bullied by the elder children. She escaped and lingered in the streets. Just like Daniel, she was lonely,

Her life must have been hard. Daniel thought.

But…

She never gave up her hope "adapting to survive".

She smiled about laughed about her past, joked about her life in the orphanage.

How did she do that? Being so kind and so easy?

"Just let the past pass by. Tomorrow is a whole new day." Rainey smiled.

Somehow, Daniel felt he had found friend and his purpose.

The next memory was a bit fuzzy. Daniel rubbed his eyes and left the wall had have been leaning on for he didn't know how long. He couldn't recall the details of Rainey's story. He walked to the darkness and disappeared in the shadows.

Notes

Kind of lazy for the new short chapter.

Dead Wolf Walking, ZenHeyerdall, fallendestinyxx and Mr. Tony

Thank you for your support.