Chapter 1(a): At the Orphanage

The Little Kids Orphanage and School located in the outskirts of town was well known for taking care of orphans. It was known for its strict rules and regulations and was quite normal to see new orphans coming in every day, Thank you.

That was a regular evening and the weather suggested that the unexpected rain would happen. The orphanage only watchman was sitting comfortably near the main gate — having his regular tea. He noticed, for the first time, a group of people were driving towards the Orphanage. He thought they were going to donate something. To his surprise, there was a boy with them; Maybe by the age of 10 or 11 —  he was handsome with silky hair and he looked very quiet and sad. The strangers dropped him off at the main entrance of the orphanage and left the place immediately like nothing had happened.

Morning 7AM:

    The boy grabbed the gate grills and looked down the main road in despair, his eyes clearly indicating he was not in the mood to spend his life in an orphanage.

— At the same time,  it started to rain heavily and the watchman sitting in his chair near the main gate rushed to his watch room — he noticed the boy still standing near the main gate, he was drenching in the rain. The watchman knew it was very difficult to live a life as an orphan - but he couldn't do anything. He took a deep breath and walked to him. He held his hand gently and took him inside the orphanage.

— Meanwhile, the caretaker of the orphanage, who had a daily duty of looking after the orphans, saw the boy walking along with the watchman. It was very common for her to see children being left near the main entrance —  she didn't like it anyway.

"— Did some strangers leave him at the main entrance ..." she asked.

"— Yes, what happened to his family?" he asked.

"- He only had a father .. he also died in a land dispute a few days ago ...

"Now there's no one there to take care of him ..." she said and took him to the 5th dormitory and pointed to the bed in the corner.

—The boy took a deep breath and looked towards the dormitory, which was very old with slight cracks in the corners. He has no other choice, he must be okay with what was given.

— He walked quietly towards his bed and put his bag under it. He noticed that many orphans were sharing the same room and some of them even looked at him strangely. — Everything seemed so unpleasant to him, feeling lonely, fear of the unknown inside.

— He had not slept all night and was thinking of something.

Morning:

Everyone in the dormitory was getting ready for school — some of them were rushing to the bathrooms — some were dressing up and some were waiting for the toilet. The boy slowly managed and got ready for school. He picked up his school bag, set up some old rough books and started walking to school along with the other students.

— It was a school rule; new entrants are required to introduce their name to other students during school prayer —.

Slowly each student began to gather for morning prayer and the boy stood somewhere behind the other students.

"—There's a new student here today, he'll introduce us to his name— ." said the school principal who was standing at the dias. The principal waited for the boy to come up but he remained silent and did not move from his place. He looked nervous and anxious. Meanwhile, the school's compounder standing in the corner of the prayer hall approached the boy and grabbed his left arm and took him to Dias.

Fear gripped the boy as all the students and teachers looked at him intently. His face was filled with sweat — his heart began to beat very fast, and suddenly he fell unconscious. The prayer hall was scattered and commotion everywhere. The school watchman, who attended school prayer every day, rushed to dias and gently picked up the boy with his hands. He took him to his dormitory and laid him carefully on the bed.

— After a while the boy regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he was lying on his bed, a doctor was sitting next to him and some students and teachers were staring at him. The doctor took a stethoscope from his neck and began to check his heart beat; it was pumping normal.

" — What is your name?" he asked.

The boy did not respond, he was silent and seemed nervous.  The doctor realized that he was afraid to answer in front of everyone, and asked them to leave the dormitory. Now the dormitory was only with the doctor and the boy.

" — Okay, everyone has left, Now tell me what's your name" he asked again.

Surprisingly, the boy was still silent and looked nervous.

The doctor looked at him for a minute and realized his problem — he put his stethoscope back around his neck. "— Can you hear what I'm saying? if yes, just nod your head" he asked.

The boy made himself a little more comfortable and nodded his head, yes.

" Can you speak …" he asked again.

He nodded, No. But the doctor knew he was lying.

The doctor went to the principal's office, took a deep breath and sat down in front of him.

"— I think the boy is suffering from social anxiety, which means he feels anxious to talk with strangers or in groups, but he can talk to someone very close —."

"Pardon …" said the principal.

"— I mean … his heart starts beating very fast every time he tries to speak with strangers, creating strong fears within him and even making him unconscious. This is why most of the time he tries to be silent with strangers unresponsive; it's their nature.

"—I advise you to free the boy until he is comfortable with this place and people. Let him do things himself without any pressure. If there is any stress in the near future, it can also lead to serious heart complaints." he said.

—The school principal did not expect this advice from the doctor. He was in a dilemma and did not know what to do with the boy — he ordered the school staff not to disturb the boy or force him to study or do any stressful work.

But, It was not what the doctor was expecting.

— Days passed, slowly the students and teachers started ignoring the boy. They avoided him for any important events, programs and trips. None of them bothered to understand his weakness or even tried to talk with him. The boy always sat quietly in the classroom — he had no friends to play with, no one to talk with and some students even made fun of him. Gradually, he became very silent and alone.