An Abandoned Boy

Adam followed the old man inside the house.

The old man gave him a tour of the house. "This is the kitchen, this is where we sit to eat, this is the bathroom...."

Adam stopped and looked at the old man with a complicated expression.

"Why are you telling me that?" Adam asked.

"Well, as long as you get along with my wife, I thought you could stay with us for a bit. Don't worry, we'll feed you more than what Layla gave you haha. Anyway follow me, this here is Layla's room..." The old man said with a genuinely nice voice, but Adam didn't follow him. He kept standing there without moving.

"Wh...why should I stay here?" Adam asked while looking at the ground.

The old man looked at Adam with pity, before turning away and saying:

"We're good honest people. And you sound like an honest kid yourself. So you can stay with us and eat your fill for a bit before going wherever you need to go. You can leave if you want. I'd feel a bit sorry for you but that's all really. Without me and my wife, Layla and Salma would have been left alone, so we get it. Even though you're not family, you're welcome if you want to stay with us."

He turned back towards Adam and asked "What will you do....?"

Before the old man had finished his speech, Adam was already crying silently while struggling to wipe his tears. His face was red as a tomato.

"I'll...I....I'll stay...for a bit...please..." Adam said, struggling with all the fluids going out of his face.

'Poor kid' the old man thought before handing Adam some tissues.

Adam took them and started wiping his face.

"Let's resume the tour then." The old man said with a sincere smile.

....

The old man took an extra mattress he had and put it on the ground next to the kitchen. He then put on top of it a warm blanket and a pillow for Adam.

All Adam could do was look at the ground, as the old man was doing and giving him so much.

"I'll go wake up Salma, my other granddaughter. I'll let you make yourself at home. I'll make breakfast right after that." The old man said as he walked away.

Adam looked up.

"I...I can do it." He said quietly.

"Do what?"

"I can cook for you. It's...the least I can do." Adam answered.

The old man smiled. He liked people who pulled their own weight, or at least tried to.

"Sure. There are eggs in the fridge, some vegetables and bread. Make enough for 5 people and make it tasty!"

"Of course!" Adam said excitedly.

It was the first time the old man saw a smile on Adam's face.

Adam immediately went into the kitchen. Took all the ingredients he felt would make for a great breakfast and started cooking.

'A bit more salt here, some pepper would be good there too.'

He added a dash of spice here, some salt there. Since his family was poor, he had learned to make simple things taste good using cheap ingredients and spices. Plus, he always cooked things to perfection. The meals he cooked were never overcooked nor undercooked. That was because he always cooked for people he loved. Therefore when cooking, he was focused on that task only. This time was not different from any other time he cooked for others.

While Adam was cooking, the old man made his way to his grandaughter's bedroom.

"Salma? Are you awake?" He asked softly.

Salma was hiding under her blanket. The old man could hear her crying.

"Did you have a nightmare again?" he gently pulled the blanket that she was hiding under.

Salma's head popped out. Unlike her sister's, her hair was red. A fierce red. She had the same freckles though. She also had a kinder expression than Layla.

Salma nodded quietly.

"The same nightmare?"

"Yes, but this time it was worse..."

Ever since Salma's parents had left to enter a Dungeon, she had nightmares of them never coming back. Every night since they left, she would dream that as soon as they entered the Dungeon, they found themselves in a dark dark place and were ambushed by wolves. In her dream, she always stood behind her parents. She was stuck in place as if she was some kind of statue, but she could move her mouth. So she would scream at them, but, no matter how much she told them to step back and run away, they never listened to her. She usually woke up right after the wolves showed up.

"...this time, even when the...the ...the wolves came and surrounded us, the nightmare didn't stop. I...I...I saw them struggling against them. Only after dad's arm was...was... his arm was bitten. Only then did I wake up. Grandpa, imagine..imagine if it's true. Imagine if they never come back, what will..."

The old man put his hand over his granddaughter's head. With a sad smile, he started comforting his daughter.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they're okay. Once they will be back, everything will go back to normal. You don't need to worry, the nightmares will stop too. Okay?"

She nodded.

"Come there's someone you have to meet. And maybe, we'll even eat breakfast. If he doesn't burn the house down before that of course ." He said jokingly.

His granddaughter grabbed him by the hand and they made their way to Layla's room.

"Layla, let's go eat." Salma said kindly to her sister.

"You know if grandpa was the one to talk I would've told him to go away." Layla answered.

"Haha, your grandpa knows you so well. That's why I went to get Salma first.

Salma and her granddad laughed out loud while Layla smiled as she scratched her head.

Although Layla was difficult sometimes, their grandparents knew she loved them.

When the three approached the kitchen, they smelt an amazing fragrance coming from there.

Adam had just finished setting up the table. They all sat, except Adam.

"How does this smell so good?" Salma asked.

"Well, am not sure but, Layla aren't you glad he's here now? We're eating a breakfast made by a chef, it feels like." The old man said with a wide smile.

"I'll eat, but am not really glad. His clothes are still dirty." Layla answered.

"Please eat your fill! If you need or want some more, I can make it right away." Adam said, still standing while holding his hands together.

"What are you talking about boy? Sit down and eat. Out of the four of us, you're the hungriest." The old man told Adam as he pointed at the chair in front of Adam.

"Thank you..." Adam said awkwardly as he sat and started eating.

All four of them ate together. One plate was at the empty seat between the old man and Adam.

"This is amazing! Grandpa how come you don't cook like this person?" Salma said with shining eyes.

"It's not -this person-, his name is Adam. And I have no idea. Why do these eggs taste so good?" Her grandpa too, had shining eyes.

Adam started explaining how he cooked the breakfast.

"Well, I used some of this and some of that on there. I cooked the food until it looked this way...."

The three of them were taking mental notes of all the things he said.

Although Layla acted uninterested. She still liked the food a lot.

"How come you know so much about cooking? Do you cook a lot?" Layla asked without lifting her eyes from her plate.

"I used to cook a lot for my family. Breakfast is my specialty. I always cooked for my siblings in the morning. We were pretty poor, but I always tried to make the best tasting meal possible with whatever ingredients I had on hand. " Adam said looking at his plate with a contemplative smile.

"You used to? Where are they now? Do you not cook for them anymore?" Layla asked with an interrogative look.

"Well..." Adam scratched his head while thinking about what to say.

Just as Adam was about to say something, the front door of the house was opened. An old woman came in. She was wearing typical farmer's clothing. Her hair was covered with a headscarf.

The old man jumped up towards the door to talk to the woman before she came inside.

"HEY! Hey dear... Ummm... don't be surprised, we have a guest. Umm..."

"Oh really! It's been a while since we've had a guest. Who is it?" She pushed the old man to the side and went towards the table where Adam, Layla and Salma were sitting.

As soon as Adam saw her, he stood up and looked at the ground.

"Hello madam. I'd like to thank you too for the hospitality your...." Adam stopped mid-sentence.

The old woman was standing just in front of Adam. She had a stunned look on her face. Her mouth was wide open. She looked at Adam up and down for a couple of seconds.

"Umm..." Adam stood there awkwardly.

Her eyes started tearing up and she suddenly grabbed Adam in her arms.

Adam was startled, but the sudden embrace awakened feelings he had forgotten. He remembered the gentle embrace of his mother and the energetic hugs his siblings used to give him.

'Huh?'

Without realizing it, his eyes teared up a bit.

"It must have been hard right? And at such a young age, my god." She hugged him even tighter.

Adam was very confused by the situation, but he silently stood there.

The old woman let go of Adam's body and held his shoulders with her hands.

"You're so tall and yet you still have the face of a child. I can't even imagine what you went through." The old woman started wiping Adam's tears away.

"What..what do you mean?" Adam asked weakly.

"How come you went into one of those portals when you're so young? Did you enter one by mistake? Thank god you could make it out okay, young boy. Where are your parents? They must be worried sick!" She started wiping her own tears.

"How? How do you know that I got out of one?" Adam's suprised expression turned into an emotional one.

"What? Really? Grandpa did you know too?" Both Salma and Layla shouted loudly at the same time.

The old man chuckled a bit.

"Well, you weren't really trying hard to hide it, were you boy? You appear out of nowhere in a wheat field, wearing weird boots, an even weirder coat and military pants. You're extremely dirty. You even have a knife hanging by your side. That's exactly how the criminals who went out of the gates are described on the news. If you weren't crying like a baby when I saw you, I probably would have run away! Haha." The old man smiled.

"Oh..is that so?" He looked down at his military knife still in its sheath and at his Old Assassin's Boots. He raised his gaze towards the old man. "If criminals look like this, you shouldn't have talked to me, let alone invited me in. That's very irresponsible you know? What if....?"

He stopped talking as the old man and Layla started laughing.

It was the first time he had expressed to them any real sign of how he was feeling.

"Yes yes, tell us, what if...? The crybaby wants to teach this old man a lesson hahaha" The old man said jokingly.

"You looked more like an abandoned dog than anything really." Layla said while covering her mouth with her right hand. She was laughing at him too.

"Stop laughing at the poor boy." The old woman looked at the two of them reproachfully.

"That's right! Don't laugh at this person! Otherwise, we're going to have to eat grandpa's cooking again!" Salma added.

Adam, seeing this sort of jovial and familiar scene, couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

"Oh, you even made the poor guest cook? Are you serious Calvin?" The old woman looked at the old man.

His name was Calvin.

"Well, he wanted to help so..." Calvin looked away.

"Well then, let's sit, eat and listen to your story young man." The old woman made her way to the table. "You can call me Elizabeth, or grandma or madam like you did before. I'd rather it be one of the first two, but whatever you feel like calling me by is fine. Come. Sit."

They all sat and started eating.

"This really is tasty!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"I knooow right?? Grandma, can he stay and cook forever?" Salma was begging her grandmother.

"What do you mean? Is he staying here?" Elizabeth was surprised. She thought Adam was just passing by.

"Well, he said he had problems. He doesn't want to talk about his family and stuff so I figured he could stay here for a bit?" Calvin looked at his wife in a way that was asking for forgiveness.

"Of course, if he wants to I guess he can stay. So tell me, young man, what's your name? You must be at least 14, how are you this shy? Eat! You're the one who cooked!" Elizabeth turned towards Adam.

"I'm...My name is Adam. Am 12 but, I guess I am a bit tall. Um..thank you for the food." He felt very awkward.

He was anxious about the question that he was sure was coming next.

He started eating.

But the question didn't come.

He kept eating.

Even when he had cleared his plate, the question still wasn't asked.

He looked at Elizabeth with an innocent look full of surprise but also relief.

She noticed his gaze.

"Listen boy. Sorry, I mean listen Adam. I'm not going to ask about things that you do not want to talk about. I won't ask about your parents, nor will I ask about how you survived inside those portals. Am sure horrible things happened in there. So, if you want , our house can be a place where you get to forget about those things. You are safe here." Elizabeth patted Adam's head gently.

Adam looked at his plate, with his fists squeezed over his thighs. He did his best to hold back his tears.

He didn't answer Elizabeth.