1 Chapter 1: At the Orphanage

The Little Kids Orphanage and School located in the outskirts of town was well known for taking care of orphans. It was known for its strict rules and regulations and was quite normal to see new orphans coming in every day, Thank you.

That was a regular evening and the weather suggested that the unexpected rain would happen. The orphanage only watchman was sitting comfortably near the main gate — having his regular tea. He noticed, for the first time, a group of people were driving towards the Orphanage. He thought they were going to donate something. To his surprise, there was a boy with them; Maybe by the age of 10 or 11 — he was handsome with silky hair and he looked very quiet and sad. The strangers dropped him off at the main entrance of the orphanage and left the place immediately like nothing had happened.

Morning 7AM:

The boy grabbed the gate grills and looked down the main road in despair, his eyes clearly indicating he was not in the mood to spend his life in an orphanage.

— At the same time, it started to rain heavily and the watchman sitting in his chair near the main gate rushed to his watch room — he noticed the boy still standing near the main gate, he was drenching in the rain. The watchman knew it was very difficult to live a life as an orphan - but he couldn't do anything. He took a deep breath and walked to him. He held his hand gently and took him inside the orphanage.

— Meanwhile, the caretaker of the orphanage, who had a daily duty of looking after the orphans, saw the boy walking along with the watchman. It was very common for her to see children being left near the main entrance — she didn't like it anyway.

"— Did some strangers leave him at the main entrance ..." she asked.

"— Yes, what happened to his family?" he asked.

"- He only had a father .. he also died in a land dispute a few days ago ...

"Now there's no one there to take care of him ..." she said and took him to the 5th dormitory and pointed to the bed in the corner.

—The boy took a deep breath and looked towards the dormitory, which was very old with slight cracks in the corners. He has no other choice, he must be okay with what was given.

— He walked quietly towards his bed and put his bag under it. He noticed that many orphans were sharing the same room and some of them even looked at him strangely. — Everything seemed so unpleasant to him, feeling lonely, fear of the unknown inside.

— He had not slept all night and was thinking of something.

Morning:

Everyone in the dormitory was getting ready for school — some of them were rushing to the bathrooms — some were dressing up and some were waiting for the toilet. The boy slowly managed and got ready for school. He picked up his school bag, set up some old rough books and started walking to school along with the other students.

— It was a school rule; new entrants are required to introduce their name to other students during school prayer —.

Slowly each student began to gather for morning prayer and the boy stood somewhere behind the other students.

"—There's a new student here today, he'll introduce us to his name— ." said the school principal who was standing at the dias. The principal waited for the boy to come up but he remained silent and did not move from his place. He looked nervous and anxious. Meanwhile, the school's compounder standing in the corner of the prayer hall approached the boy and grabbed his left arm and took him to Dias.

Fear gripped the boy as all the students and teachers looked at him intently. His face was filled with sweat — his heart began to beat very fast, and suddenly he fell unconscious. The prayer hall was scattered and commotion everywhere. The school watchman, who attended school prayer every day, rushed to dias and gently picked up the boy with his hands. He took him to his dormitory and laid him carefully on the bed.

— After a while the boy regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he was lying on his bed, a doctor was sitting next to him and some students and teachers were staring at him. The doctor took a stethoscope from his neck and began to check his heart beat; it was pumping normal.

" — What is your name?" he asked.

The boy did not respond, he was silent and seemed nervous. The doctor realized that he was afraid to answer in front of everyone, and asked them to leave the dormitory. Now the dormitory was only with the doctor and the boy.

" — Okay, everyone has left, Now tell me what's your name" he asked again.

Surprisingly, the boy was still silent and looked nervous.

The doctor looked at him for a minute and realized his problem — he put his stethoscope back around his neck. "— Can you hear what I'm saying? if yes, just nod your head" he asked.

The boy made himself a little more comfortable and nodded his head, yes.

" Can you speak …" he asked again.

He nodded, No. But the doctor knew he was lying.

The doctor went to the principal's office, took a deep breath and sat down in front of him.

"— I think the boy is suffering from social anxiety, which means he feels anxious to talk with strangers or in groups, but he can talk to someone very close —."

"Pardon …" said the principal.

"— I mean … his heart starts beating very fast every time he tries to speak with strangers, creating strong fears within him and even making him unconscious. This is why most of the time he tries to be silent with strangers unresponsive; it's their nature.

"—I advise you to free the boy until he is comfortable with this place and people. Let him do things himself without any pressure. If there is any stress in the near future, it can also lead to serious heart complaints." he said.

—The school principal did not expect this advice from the doctor. He was in a dilemma and did not know what to do with the boy — he ordered the school staff not to disturb the boy or force him to study or do any stressful work.

But, It was not what the doctor was expecting.

— Days passed, slowly the students and teachers started ignoring the boy. They avoided him for any important events, programs and trips. None of them bothered to understand his weakness or even tried to talk with him. The boy always sat quietly in the classroom — he had no friends to play with, no one to talk with and some students even made fun of him. Gradually, he became very silent and alone.

Sunday Morning:

— It was Sunday and all the students were in the playground. Some of them were running — some of them sliding and some fighting friendly.

The boy sat on a rock far from the playground and watched all the students playing. He wanted to play, wanted to slide but did not know how to ask — he had no hope except to watch them playing.

— Suddenly, his eyes moved to a puppy who was playing in the playground — it was roaming all over the playground and was trying to catch the butterflies with his little teeth. For the first time the boy smiled — he liked that little animal. Slowly, the puppy covered the entire playground and walked towards him. It started wagging it's tail and his tongue was out. The boy looked at the puppy with a smile, but he did not know what it wanted. He tried to ignore him, but the puppy sought his attention — it was not leaving him. The boy stopped for a second, stared at him and softly ruffled the puppy's hair with his left hand.

At the same time, the school watchman was walking around — he was busy with his duty like no one else in the world. Suddenly some papers fell out of his pocket and he failed to notice it. The boy who was ruffling the puppy's hair noticed the papers on the floor, he moved his head around and saw the watchman walking. He wanted the watchman to look back for his paper, but he did not know how to make him do it — while he was guessing what to do, the puppy started barking. The watchman heard the puppy barking and looked back. The boy then pointed his fingers at the fallen papers. The watchman came back and took his papers. He gently ruffled the boy's hair, said, " Thank you" and walked away. The boy was shocked to see the puppy's behavior and wondered how he knew what he wanted to do.

"— Did he read my mind?" He thought to himself. The puppy barked again as if he read his mind.

School: Morning

All the students in the classroom were busy answering the class teacher. But this boy was sitting in the corner of the class and drawing something on paper— it looked like a puppy.

Slowly, the clouds in the sky changed from white to bright orange — it was a delightful evening. All the students in the class were waiting for the last hour of the school bell to ring — it was their favorite one.

Eventually, the bell rang and one by one the students left the classrooms and walked to the dormitories within walking distance.

— But this boy was still in the classroom and was waiting for everyone to leave. After all the students left the classroom, he walked to the classroom's window and started gazing at the empty road — he was eagerly waiting for something.

After some time a Milk van arrived on the empty road — a person got out of it and unloaded the milk boxes at the Orphanage main gate. He talked something to the watchman and left the place. After the van left the place, the boy walked to his dormitory. He always hoped to travel in a truck one day.

Dining Hall: Time 8 PM.

Everyone was waiting in line at the dining hall to gather their dinner. The boy was standing somewhere in the middle of the students and was waiting for his turn. After a while, he took his dinner plate filled with some vegetables, roti, and a glass of milk. He had his dinner, except the milk. He saved it for the puppy. He walked out slowly and reached the place where the puppy was sleeping.

The puppy woke up noticing he was coming. The boy fed him a glass of milk and returned to his dormitory.

— It became a daily routine for him to feed the puppy with Milk and sometimes with bread. Day by day the bond between them became even stronger. Unknowingly, the Puppy and Milk van became his world.

School Evening:

— The school bell rang, and all the students walked out of the class one by one to their dormitories, but the boy was still in the class — he was waiting for everyone to leave, so that he could see his favorite truck from the window. On the other side the compounder was busy doing his daily work — which was to check and lock the classroom doors. He was looking into the classrooms and locking them from outside. He looked into the boy's classroom to check in, but did not notice the boy standing at the window, where a pillar covered him. He locked the door outside thinking that no one was in the classroom and walked off the school.

— It was already late, but the milk-van did not arrive. The boy was still waiting in hopes. He spent almost an hour looking at the main road and finally realized that the truck would not come today. He picked up his bag, put it on his back and slowly walked over to the door and tried to open it, but it did not open — he did not know that the door was locked from the outside. He thought the door was stuck and tried hard to unlock it, but could not be opened. He slowly knocked on the door and waited for someone to reply — but no one answered.

— It was already past six o'clock and the boy began to feel nervous. He didn't know how to get out of the classroom. He started knocking on the door in fear hoping for some help. Since the dormitory was so far away, the sound of the door could not be heard. He walked to the window; looked everywhere for a sign of help. Fortunately, he noticed a puppy playing outside. It was the same puppy which read his mind. He relaxed for a second; But he wondered how the puppy would look at him. He looked around the classroom for any sign of an idea and noticed the chalk pieces fell near the blackboard. He walked over to it, collected all the pieces of chalk on the ground, and threw one of them at the puppy. As the chalk fell, the puppy looked around and saw the boy standing by the window. The boy was relieved and tears welled up in his eyes when the puppy saw him. The puppy wagged his tail and quickly realized he was in trouble. Without wasting a second it started running towards the main entrance and began to pull the guard's leg with his little teeth. The watchman understood that the puppy wanted to show him something and walked along with it. The puppy brought him to the place where the boy was locked. The guard looked around and saw the boy standing at the classroom window. He immediately ran and opened the door. The boy was already in tremor and there was sweat all over his face. He walked to him and ruffled his hair gently and said, "don't worry …"

The watchman shrugged to think how the puppy knew that he was in trouble.

" — What would have happened without this puppy"

"— I can't believe it, but he helped you ..."

"He's your friend ... take care of him" he said and walked away.

He shouted from a distance again .. "— Give him a good title ..."

The boy and the puppy started walking to the dormitory. The boy looked at the puppy with a smile on his face, felt him very close, no fear, no anxiety — he was normal. He bent down on one of his knees and said his first word in his mind.

"—Thank you—"

"—You saved me... You are my best friend "

He sat on the ground and began to think of what to name him.

"— Watchman uncle told me to give you the best title? Which title is best for you?" he said thinking.

" — TITLE, I think it's good." "You're the TITLE," he said with a smile. The puppy loved the name 'TITLE' and barked out of happiness.

"— TITLE is a very good name, ABHI" said someone from behind.

—The boy was shocked to hear that voice and immediately turned his head and saw the watchman standing with a torch in his hand. He wondered how the watchman knew his name, suddenly his heart started beating fast, he was scared and ran away from there.

—The watchman did not know why Abhi was afraid to speak with people — this worried him.

Night:

Abhi was lying on the bed with his left hand on his forehead. Slowly one by one students in the dormitory fell asleep quickly; but he lay awake turning his past all over his mind. Suddenly, he heard a sound; it was the TITLE barking outside. He ignored it, but TITLE continued barking. He thought if it was hungry — he slowly sneaked out of his dormitory and walked to the dining room, took a glass of milk and walked over to the puppy. He tried to feed him with milk, but he was not drinking it. TITLE was barking looking at the playground. Abhi looked at the playground but did not see anything. Suddenly, TITLE ran towards the playground. Abhi did not know what was going on and started running along with it. They both came and stopped in the playground. This was the first time Abhi has visited the ground. He was overjoyed. He realized that the puppy wanted him to play in the playground because it was his wish. He picked up the puppy with his hands and hugged him tightly. He was very happy to have a pet like him. They enjoyed playing in the ground, TITLE chased to catch him — it was the best day of his life.

— Finally Abhi's wish to play in the ground was fulfilled.

It became a daily routine for him to play in the ground every night with his puppy.

Night around 9 PM

The kids in the dormitory were asleep at the moment, but Abhi was not in his bed — he was playing in the playground with his pet, TITLE.

— At the same time, a student woke up from his bed to get some water, and walked to the dining room. On his way back to the dormitory he noticed something strange in the playground, which looked like a shadow in the dark. He thought that it was a ghost roaming; he did not know that Abhi was actually playing. The kid ran to the dormitory and told his friend about it. Slowly, the rumor spread throughout the school, and students were afraid to play on the field. They believed that a ghost was haunting the playground. Slowly the news came to the principal's notice. He ordered the school compounder to find out the mystery behind it.

Like every night Abhi was playing in the playground with his pet, TITLE. He was very happy like never before.

Suddenly, he observed someone was walking towards him — it was the compounder coming.

The compounder reached the playground and was shocked to see Abhi playing there, and thought he was the one pretending to be the ghost. He threw a tantrum at the boy 's act and slapped him on his cheeks. The puppy next to him barked at the compounder and even tried to bite him with his little teeth. The compounder angrily and forcefully pushed the puppy away with his foot. Seeing that scene, Abhi got angry at the compounder's action. He picked up some pebbles lying on the ground and threw them at the compounder. The compounder immediately squeezed the boy's hand and led him to the principal.

"— This boy is pretending to be a ghost," the compounder said. The principal did not expect Abhi to wander around the playground late at night.

"— I must follow the doctor's insistence, but this will be your last warning ..." he said and asked them to go back to the dormitory. He warned the warden of his irresponsibility in looking after the students.

— The children in the dormitory thought the boy was a ghost and were afraid to stay with him. The warden tried to persuade the children but they were not in a state to understand. He did not know what to do with the boy and took him back to the principal. The boy's story became a headache for the principal, who never had such problems with other students.

"— This guy doesn't talk but still comes up with new problems" he said in his mind.

"— Send him to the old farmhouse for some days ..." he said.

The farmhouse was barely visible from the school and dormitory. That late night, the warden took Abhi with him to the old farmhouse next to the playground and dropped him near the farmgate.

"— You have lost my reputation today. I will not let you go back to school. This is your punishment ... and you must stay here for a long time. "he warned the boy and walked away.

That night, Abhi was standing alone near the farm gate. He had no idea what was really going on with him. Tears rolled from his eyes. He sat on the ground and looked at the moon and the stars in the sky.

Morning: sounds of students playing.

Abhi was exhausted and slept on the farmhouse front gate — he woke up and realized it was morning and listened to the students playing in the school ground. He walked out; everyone in the playground was playing. He also noticed The watchman was walking towards the farmhouse; he was carrying food with him. The watchman smiled at Abhi and walked over to him. He cleared his throat and said, " I was unaware of this ... sorry."

"— Here is your breakfast." he said again and walked back to his place.

Night around 9 PM

Abhi had nothing to do except to look at the stars. His puppy was not even with him, at least if he could have spent time with him. The watchman came into the farmhouse with a glass of milk and some bread with leafy vegetables. He kept it on the table and sat next to the boy who was staring at the stars in the sky.

"— I used to do the same, looking at the stars'' he said.

"I remember, My grandmother once said that our loved ones will be seeing us from the sky — like the stars."

"— here's your dinner, I'll be back with a surprise … wait for it"

Abhi was waiting at the farm gate by the time Watchman arrived there with his surprise. He was carrying a puppy with him — it was TITLE. Abhi was very happy to see his puppy again. The watchman came to him, looked into his eyes and said in a low voice, "— I don't know if you understand me ... but keep this in mind — If you live here as an orphan ... you'll end up knowing nothing in your life, and also remember ... listen to what your heart says, run for your happiness. I hope one day you'll find the right place." He ruffled his hair and walked away smiling.

Abhi was gazing at the stars, and thinking about something.

"So … The stars are our loved ones … My parents are my loved one, they 're the stars," said Abhi in his mind. He decided to leave the place that night and follow the stars.

Night around 10 PM

Abhi began walking on the ground and reached the main lane creeping under the school fences — The puppy was with him.

He walked cautiously to the other side of the main gate and saw an unfamiliar truck stopped on the road. He slowly sneaked to it and tried to get in the truck; but he couldn't.

— On the other side, the watchman who was at the main gate noticed something near the truck — it was Abhi. Without wasting a second he rushed to him immediately, and shouted, "What are you doing here? It's not safe playing at this time".

— He held his hand and started walking towards the school, but Abhi had different ideas in his mind, he wanted to leave the place permanently. He stopped for a second, forcibly released his arms from the watchman's hand, ran back to the truck and tried to get in again. The watchman understood the boy no longer wanted to be in the orphanage, but he knew it was not safe to travel in an unknown truck. He walked over to him, picked him up and carried him back to the farmhouse.

" — Listen … you are not going anywhere … okay…" he said.

Abhi nodded his head, smiled and waved "bye" at the watchman.

Morning: At the Dining Hall

The watchman was in the dining hall to have breakfast for the boy — he sat alone in a corner. The caretaker saw the guard and walked over to him.

"— You asked me about the boy last night ... I found out something about him …" she said.

" Oh .. what do you know about him …" he asked with much curiosity.

"— The boy was introvert by nature ...

" Many times ... people knock on his house door to warn his father … Most of them were strangers ... He had never seen them before. He worried why those strangers always threatened his father …

— Those incidents would have triggered strong fears within him. This might be the reason why he was afraid to talk to strangers, she said, and walked away to continue her work.

— Watchman was sad when he heard it. He took the breakfast plate and calmly walked out of the dining hall — his eyes clearly indicated that he was thinking about the boy.

The farm door was locked before the watchman arrived with breakfast in hand.

He stopped dead for a second — the boy was nowhere to be seen. He rushed to the playground to see if he was playing with his pet; but couldn't see him there. He went back to the farmhouse and opened the door. He could not find the boy's bag. The watchman then realized that the boy had left the place.

For the first time, his eyes turned red, he gradually took a long breath and said to himself in an emotional tone, " — I don't know what will happen to you. But, I hope you will reach the right place in your life … have a bright future …"

— Tears welled up in his eyes — All he could do was pray for the boy.

Little did he know that last night was his last goodbye from the boy.