I haven’t slept in a bed in years.
The slums are chaotic. Most houses aren’t properly built. They are a mix of metal sheets
and wood that offer a place to sleep out of
–
<
the rain.
There’s nowhere to stay for a kid, let alone a
foreigner. I can’t build my own place.
When I first got to the slums, I used to spend my nights huddled in cardboard boxes, hidden in alleyways.
There are only two fates for unwanted
children in the slums.
Their organs get harvested for the rich, or they become the playthings of the homeless.
I called the Joneses back then.
<
“Dad, Aunt Zhang left me in the slums! I’m so
scared! Can you please take me home?”
Dad said, “Rain, you lie. Zhang told me that
you moved to Wall Street.”
I crouched behind a dumpster and stared at
the silhouettes in the distance.
I was found. They’re searching for me.
Kids like me with clear skin and pretty
features are popular among those with
specific fetishes.
I held my breath to stop from crying. I shook.
L
く
Will anyone save me…?
Dad heard the silence and said, “Don’t bother
- me. I only pay attention to important
messages. Don’t waste my time.”
He hung up. I tried to call back, but I had been blocked.
It was just a false alarm. They didn’t find me.
I curled up like an abandoned stray cat, hiding in the filth, and wept.
It was the clearest I had ever understood my family’s disgust. I was abandoned.
I have no home.
“Rain, your parents want you downstairs for
dinner.”
The knock pulls me from my sleep. I realize I
must have drifted off and dreamed of my
past.
They want me to eat dinner? That’s rare.
The Joneses don’t like my silent, gloomy
nature. Dad once said I should just eat in my
room and not ruin the ambiance.
I don’t know what they want, but I follow the
maid downstairs in silence.
room and not ruin the ambiance.
I don’t know what they want, but I follow the maid downstairs in silence.
Mom is missing the spot that Lily used to sit
- at. She smiles and pulls me to her.
When I sit, she puts a piece of fish on my plate.
“Your mother had this made especially. Many kids love sweet and sour fish. Lily loves it.”
