G O L D E N

I'm okay.. Not really okay but I shall live on.. Live on...

-Walter2

He wasn't exactly happy with the situation he was in.

Actually, no one would be happy if they were ever in his condition... In his shoes which was quite unfavorable.

He worked in this certain household tending on almost everything so as to get a roof over his head and food for his stomach, which wasn't much but it at least kept him alive.

He wasn't a servant but a slave!.

They never paid him with actual money. They never took him to school and they never loved him, they weren't his parents anyway so why were they supposed to care for him?.

His needs meant nothing and he wore rags while their kids wore nice and expensive designer clothes... Reason? He was not worthy to be in new clothes.

He didn't go to school either but he stole the old books that the other kids didn't use anymore and tried to self teach himself.

For now, he had no big dreams apart from staying alive and striving hard to get out of his current condition... No big dreams.. He only wished for freedom... For love... For company and at least a little compassion.

He took all of these in and uttered no word at all. He had to live on. He was in no place allowed to complain or tell anyone of what took place in that house.

He had to survive and prove to them that he would be someone of importance someday but for now, he had more chores to do.

He walked out from the laundry room, the laundry basket in his hands. He had to take the clean clothes to their respective rooms and take the dirty ones down for washing.

There was always clothes in need of laundry... There was always something in that house in need of washing.

As depressing as it was, he at times thought that he deserved it. Perhaps this was a punishment for him... He didn't know who his real parents were let alone remember them, the harder he tried to remember their faces, the fader their images in his head faded away... So he stopped trying to remember.

All he remembered was that his parents died in the fire that disfigured his face and other parts of his body. He looked at his reflection on the mirror that was in the hallway before quickly looking away.

He hated the way he looked and he wished... Oh how he wished that he had died in that fire alongside his parents.

He looked so ugly and disfigured with his face all burnt up. No wonder they bought him no clothes, no wonder they didn't bother taking him to school let alone allow him to step out of the house.

"You are a disgrace and you're paying for the death of your parents. You're probably the cause of your parent's death". Mrs. Rubis the madam of the house had once told him.

As far as he was concerned, he was the only child his parents had and he didn't know any of his relatives... Not his aunts, uncles or even grandparents. He was all alone. Alone and filthy.

"Are you going to stand there all day? Ghost?". James asked pathetically as he stood on the topmost staircase looking down at him, his arms crossed against his chest.

James was the son of Mrs. Rubis. The first born and the most pampered... Or rather, the most spoilt. James never used his name, he always referred to him as "ghost". It hurt at first but not anymore.... It still hurt (though not that much) that his disfigured appearance was the cause behind James calling him "ghost" but what was he to do?.

He looked up at James and slowly shook his head.

"Use your words ghost". James spat disgustingly. He did nothing but look at him.

"Stop looking at me lest you disfigure me as well". James added. The boy looked down at the laundry basket he held, tears threatening to stream down his face. He tried to blink them away but he failed.

"You're such a weakling. I need my clothes." James said as he turned and left for his room.

"My name is Korna". He whispered to himself. "Not ghost".

•••••

"Hi". The little girl whispered as she looked down at her feet shyly. She had dark brown curly hair just like her mothers. Large brown bambi eyes and pink lips.

Yeah, yeah she was pretty. But no, she was Mrs. Rubis' daughter. The last born but not spoilt as the first. She was simply not Mrs. Rubis' favorite like the way James was. Nonetheless, that didn't change the fact that she had Mrs. Rubis' blood in her veins. She was her offspring and sooner or later, she could show the dark colors that her mother had showed him.

She was shorter than he was... She was just five and he was ten years... Of course she had to be shorter than he was.

He took in a deep breathe and tried to reply but his mouth and throat felt dry from the lack of water, so he closed it and just looked at her.

The little girl slowly looked up at him, wondering what was the reason behind his silence.

Korna sighed. What did this girl want?. It was late and he needed to rest for he had another day to start over again in the same chores, duties .. Insults .. Pain and tears.

"Hi. I.. I saw you didn't take any dinner". She said. "Oh my name is Riska". She introduced himself.

"I know your name". Korna piped in. Yes, he hadn't taken anything for dinner.. It wasn't new. He had been used to this kind of punishment whenever Mrs. Rubis was angry with him. He had no say and thus with an empty stomach he had to retire for his bed.

Riska gave a small smile and rocked a little from side to side before pulling a big red apple from her baggy dress pocket's and stretched out her hand towards him.

"Here, have this". Riska said waiting for Korna to take it.

He hesitated at first. Riska had never spoken to nor looked at him before, so what could be the reason behind her kind gesture this time around?.

Korna had to admit that he had never seen such a big and red apple before. Or it was just his eyes playing tricks on him because he was hungry? ... Truth be known, he needed that apple but still, he needed to know why Riska decided to help him.. Perhaps, the apple does fall far from it's tree after all.

"Just take it. You need it more than I do". Riska said with a shy smile as she took his hand and placed the apple there, right on time as his stomach growled, making his face squeeze in pain.

He knew he looked even more ugly like that but Riska just smiled at him.

"Why are you doing this?". He asked before she could leave.

Riska turned to face him, her little hand on the door knob. "I realised, being nice uses less energy than being mean". She replied in her small soft voice then turned the door knob and left.

"I realised, being nice uses less energy than being mean". He kept repeating her words in his mind over and over again.. She was right.

Moreover, she had never been mean to him before in any occasion. She was always the silent one.. Actually, never in his life had he seen such a silent person like her before.

Riska was not only small but fragile, she had a pure soul and at least, she never insulted nor ill treated him. She was the kindest person he had come across to so far.

He smiled a little, though the scars on his cheeks hurt a little, not completely healed nonetheless, this time, the smile came from his heart.

A genuine smile!.

"Korna!. It's best if you take the trash outside before you sleep". Mrs. Rubis shouted from upstairs causing his smile to drop off of his face suddenly.

Why did she have to ruin all his happy moments?.

Anyways, he had to do as told or else he would get punished again. Moreover, it was dark outside and no one would see him.

He bit on his apple, chewing it quickly as he walked to where the trash bin was.

Korna pulled it out towards the street where the main bin was, as he was emptying the bin, he felt as if someone was standing behind him, his heart beat fastened, his mind ran around all the thoughts that crossed of whom could be possibly standing behind him... He swallowed hard the remaining piece of apple that was in his mouth that hadn't been chewed properly.

It almost choked him as it went down his throat in a huge chunk.

His breathe came out short and fast as his heart beat fast and hard against his chest. He could almost hear it pounding in his ears.

"Lad. Alas! Calm down I won't harm you". A voice sounded behind him.

He slowly turned and looked at the person. It was just an old lady, the wrinkles on her face and hand were clearly visible and a heavy greyish shawl had been wrapped around her at the shoulders.

Korna quickly looked down not intending to risk and get insulted by the older lady standing in front of him because of the way he looked. He didn't want to disgust her with his looks, He had been used to Mrs. Rubis' criticism but not other people's opinion about him.

"Don't be shy. I bring great news to you". She said but still, Korna didn't look up though he wondered, what kind of great news did the old woman have for him?. From whom was this news from?.

Since when did someone have news for him?. He had never seen this woman before and he was so sure that the woman didn't know him either.

He was curious, but then again, he had to be cautious.