The Demon Child

I remembered my first night in the orphanage. There were lots of kids my age, some were younger than me and some were older. I felt relieved when I saw that I wasn’t alone and that there were many of us here who lost their parents, or didn’t even get to meet theirs. I saw a bright light at the end of the tunnel and thought that this could be the place where I could start a new life, meet new people, create new friends, and fill the void inside my chest.

Children were playing around the corridors. There was even a beautiful playground outside with a slide and a see-saw and seven swings over a sandbox.

This place was just like kindergarten. I thought to myself.

But I was wrong.

When I arrived, nobody wanted to play with me. They said that I stank. They were right. But I was left under the bed for two days with corpses in front of me, their blood draining out of their bodies and seeping through the carpet. Of course I would smell bad. But nobody understood that because none of the kids knew what happened to me.

At first, I admit, I tried. I tried to be friends with the kids. But why would they want to be friends with someone like me who can’t even talk? I could still hear my mom saying “Chari, whatever happens don’t make a sound. Stay quiet.” her voice was trembling in fear. I could see in her eyes that she knew that her life was about to end.

People in the orphanage tried to make me talk. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. For the first few weeks, I participated well in class. I aced exams, I did everything I was told to, except to talk. I knew I had them worried, but I could feel that they were more annoyed than concerned. They just wanted me to be normal so that couples would adopt me.

After a month, we were prepared for this event where couples would visit the orphanage and pick kids that they would want to adopt. We were told to line up as couples choose kids that would be suitable for their liking. It was a whole-day activity and I saw my classmates getting adopted one by one. They were all so happy but I couldn’t understand why.

We were displayed like dolls in a toy store or dogs in a pet shop. It seemed like the orphanage was just taking care of us so that couples could pick one and then donate a huge amount of money.

After that long and exhausting day, seventeen of us got out of here and left with their new parents that would either love them or abuse them. Some might even sell them or use them for illegal transactions. Who would know?

But I sure didn’t think of it that way when I was six.

I was jealous of the kids that were chosen. I couldn’t understand back then why nobody picked me. Did I still stink? The orphanage did a good job taking care of me, they bathed me and fed me well for a month, why didn’t anybody want me?

But I just thought to myself… the kids that were chosen stayed here longer than I did. Maybe if I stay here long enough, eventually, someone will adopt me. I could finally have parents again that will love me and then I’d have my perfect life back, only with a new set of parents.

Everyday, I prayed. I prayed for kind couples to choose me. I looked forward to the adoption day that happens every once a month. I was excited every time. But to no avail, still, nobody wanted me.

One night, after a long and tiring adoption day, as I was heading back to my room, I overheard a conversation from two of our orphan keepers.

“It has been four months,” the woman said “We still couldn’t get Chari to talk. I heard a couple earlier say that they wanted to pick Chari but when they tried to talk to her and ask her how she was doing, all they got was a cold and empty stare.”

“Yea,” the man agreed. “The adopters immediately began to feel uninterested because they thought that Chari was mute and they didn't want to adopt a child with disabilities.”

“I haven’t even heard her talk though,” she said. “Maybe she was abused by her parents and they cut her tongue off!” she cackled

“Or maybe,” he immediately replied “or maybe she was born without a tongue at all”

They both laughed.

I stormed off to my room and cried. I buried my face under the pillows and cried myself to sleep.

That wasn’t the only thing I heard from them.

Months later, I heard another conversation from different orphan keepers.

“Do you also feel like there’s something wrong with Chari?” the woman with a long hair asked

“I do.” said the woman that she was talking to. “All the kids that came before as well as her batchmates were already adopted. Some kids who came here after her even got out already. But Chari… we just couldn’t get anyone to like her.”

“If I were the parent, I won’t even adopt her as well. She has a beautiful face. But when you look at her closely, you’d see darkness in her eyes, somehow monstrous.”

“Yea, me too! She’s like a demon child carrying a bad omen. I heard the headmaster say that Chari’s parents were killed in front of her but nobody witnessed their deaths. Nobody was ever arrested. You know, I think… I think she killed her parents.”

“But she was only six!”

“Nothing is impossible for a demon child.”

Yea, right.

A demon child.

Ever since that day, I decided to be cold as ice. I stopped smiling, I stopped combing my hair and I got angry every time someone tried combing it. I stopped being friendly. I just embraced the darkness and I finally accepted that nobody would ever adopt me.

Why would I even care though?

Nobody could replace my parents.