“I am Raen.”
“Oh, you are one of the survivors of that house”!
“So, will you direct me to the way..?”
“Yap, sure...take left from that corner and then the first right, go straight for a bit, and the house’ll be right there.”
Raen nodded. “Okay” he said.
And then he was making his way through the winding road, driving through few pot holes, he finally got there.
Surrounded by thick columns and rusting wrought-iron fencing, the once so called ‘his home’, now faded and black. He took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, “I have to face this.” He said to himself.
The dirt pathway leading to the door, was rutted, a thick layer of grass surrounded it from either sides. Raen took out the keys and opened the lock; he heard the hinge groan as he pushed through the gate.
The first step, drafted him to the pool of past memories;
******************
“Your school’s over, right?” enquired Raen, with an innocent stare.
“Yap”, answered Doris.
“Then why do you keep studying? “
“Because I want to, it has nothing to do with the school” she replied back.
“Who was guy you were talking to, last night?”
“You saw him? “
“I have been seeing him for the last 2 months.”
“Then, why are you asking me today?”
He stared at her, “mom and dad don’t like him”
“Who told you that?”
“I have seen them arguing over that matter, and it was not going good “
“They don’t like him, do they? “He mused again.
Seeing the pain on her sister’s face, he knew what the answer was.
“You guys love each other? “
“It doesn’t change the fact that he is hated in his house.”
“You are pulling away!! “
“It’s more than love”
“Meaning?”
“You are too small to understand its pros and cons”.
Although Raen was 10 years old then, but he knew something was going wrong between his sister and his parents. But what he failed to understand was, ‘why his sister was arguing them for a person who didn’t even belong to their family.’?
***************
Raen advanced further, what he could remember was some vague old memories.
The wall’s exterior, which happened to be white at a time, now had black scratches all over; still the overall appearance was appealing. Straight was their room, at one point of time, they used to fight every day to capture the window side of the bed... He missed those days, he craved for those fights now and over all, he missed his sister.
***************
“What we gonna do for your birthday? “
“Nothing! “
“Throw a party, with mom and dad, few of my friends. “
“Your friends?” she raised her eye a little.
“Actually there’s a girl in my class, we stare at each other at times.”
“And….?”
“And I was just thinking if we could invite her, maybe we could talk… “He stopped as she saw his sister making faces.
A moment later she burst off, “you are 11 and u Howe a gylfrynd “
“May be, you could stop laughing and then talk”
She didn’t stop and continued on on……
***************
He opened the door, there was hardly anything left in there, except a few boxes, the window’s glasses were creaked from sides, owing to the heat of the fire.
The whole room had one thing in common, everything was pitching dark.
******************
“What was her name?”
“Who?”
“Your female friend!” she said with two finger of both hand, pointing up.
“Mandy”
“Hmm…she seemed nice, I liked the way she smashed the cake at you face, he he he “
“Stop it, seemed like I was the birthday boy. The only problem is that they brought gifts addressed to you. “
******************
Getting close to one of the rooms in the ground floor, he set his gaze on the knob and kept staring at it, As soon as he placed his fingers on the cold metal, he was struck by noises people arguing inside and the voices seemed familiar....
**********************************
“Why don’t you understand I love him….and want to marry him.”
“We will decide who you gonna marry with, forget him! “
“I can’t do that “
“We have been saying this for over a month now, you just don’t know how to respect your elders, had you been our blood, you would have never said a word. You and your filthy brother, both are same.”
He slapped the girl; Raen opened the door and ran to her escape. He was taken aside and locked in his room.
Next thing he knew, when he woke up in the morning: police, ambulance sirens circling around the house. Little shocked he ran for his sister, but could not find her. All the elders were standing outside, and after last night incident he dared not to utter a word in front of them. Now he wonder who he was and what was his relation with them and where they have hidden his sister.?
Next week he was send to an orphanage, never to return back again. The only question he had where was his sister?
He got his answers 5 years later, at 18 he was handed the keys of the house with a statement – “you are the only member alive, your sister committed suicide, and one month after that the house caught fire, reasons unknown."
Neither he was interested as to why the house and its members got burned nor did he care about them. The thing he knew and which matter the most, the murderers of his sister were dead and they were not his parents.
The news brought some kind of havoc in his already messed up life, he was now indeed an orphan.
Life makes you taste the most bitter of drinks ever made, you just have to wish, all shall pass soon. Everything seemed gloomy after that, still he hanged around. And there he was at 23, walking on the rags of once so called “his home”.
With wet eyes he closed the door, and walked back outside. This house being the only memory of his sister.
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