Four

Knock knock!

The monster knocks on your door.

He brings a gift,

One you would not reject.

He brings pain.

There is no saying no once the door opens.

Run as far as you wish,

In the end,

you find out you accepted this gift.

****

Even as a boy, Andre knew pain. No, not the kind of pain every child met in the hands of their parents. It was the kind that left a stain in your life. A stigma that follows you everywhere you go. The kind that messed cute little Andre into a rejection, made him a freak in the society. Pain is built in different phases—shades.

Andre stared at his mother obliviously, she looked fragile and broken, too broken that even death had refused her. Her grey hair laying weakly on her so