Chapter 2 Nighttime lullaby

I see my mom off to the bed. Most often I wait until she falls asleep. I caress her hair or softly humm to help her sleep. Because I can only sleep once, I'm sure she has fallen asleep tightly.

Tonight seems a bit different.

Its not very usual to see her on top of me strangling my throat.

I wince my brows.

Its getting harder to breathe!

I grasp her hand and try to tell her. "I won't.. ever leave you.. don't.. worry.."

This is it. I can say no more. Saliva is flooding in my mouth.

She flinches and leaves me. I quickly sit up and cough a lot. It is so hard to catch on breathing while coughing. I might really choke to death this time.

She rubs my back intending to help me breathing. I turn around and wrap my arms around her waist.

With my faintly recovering voice, I say..

"I know you will never go as far as to kill me. I trust you. But if you're mad you can just talk to me."

I can feel her warm hand resting on top of my head. She's the most gentle person in the world.

"It is a real problem." It has left her finger marks around my neck. How should I hide it? I button my uniform upto my collar.

Had it been winter, I wouldn't stand out a lot. Dressing up like winter in summer sure makes me stick out more than I already do. It feels hot too.

At school. In between class periods, Eclise tutors me to catch up.

"You're great in mathematics. It took me weeks to solve this equation using that formula."

"I like maths. It is the most logical thing there is."

"There are really few people who say that." Eclise stops talking amidst our conversation. I find it strange.

"What's wrong?"

He averts his gaze and covers his lips. "Its nothing."

At the supermarket, as a new employee, I go for my restocking task.

"Look I'm your senior here and I'll guid you through one by one. My name is Burnard. You can just call me Burn."

"Alright! Burn!" I salute him out of a joke.

"Today we will restock the medicine shelves. After that we will put the displaced products back to their places."

"Roger."

It is fun. My days in this new town are fun. I am living peacefully with my mother in a nice home. I'm friends with nice classmates. I work in a nice place. They are not scared of how I look. This is the best i could ever ask for.