CHAPTER 7 "THE DEMON" (1)

Maria asked what it meant.

Dennis replied, "You will become a woman."

Maria questioned what it meant to become a woman, stating that she was already a woman.

Dennis hesitated for a moment and then replied, "Oh, it's nothing. You'll know what it means when you grow up."

Dennis turned her attention back to what was in front of her.

All her life she ignored everyone except for her deceased friend, Senin, but now she feel something when talking to Dennis.

Maria looked at the table next to hers and saw that someone had written the name "Demon" on it in with white pen.

She scanned the room and noticed that all the seats were occupied except for one.

This meant that one person was missing.

Despite this, Maria did not want to cause trouble, so she sat at the table with the "Demon" label.

*******

As usual, Maria went to the garden where the boys played cricket and the girls chatted or read books.

However, on this day, everyone was gathered around a group of people.

Maria walked over to see what was happening, and she saw two girls bullying a weak and fragile boy from before.

Although Maria had done nothing the last time she witnessed this, she felt compelled to act after the boy had given her the bread piece. She had been searching for him for a while now.

She walked towards the group of girls who were bullying him and punched one of them in the face. They fell to the ground.

The second girl quickly ran to help the one who had been punched and fallen. Both of them were afraid of Maria.

Everyone was afraid of Maria, not just those girls. There was a rumor that she was possessed by a witch who would kill anyone who hurt her. (My Maria is actually a pure person.)

The girls knew not to mess with Maria because she was more powerful than them. They ran away with fear in their eyes.

Maria shouted at everyone to go do their work and they all started walking away.

Maria reached out her hand to help the boy who was still sitting on the ground.

"What's your name? You didn't tell me the first time we met."

He hesitated for a moment before responding, "I have many names. Some kids call me coward or scaredy-cat."

"I mean the name the nuns gave you."

He hesitated again, remembering how the nuns used to beat him and call him a demon.

"They called me a Demon."

To my Maria:

"SHOW ME YOUR THORNS AND I WILL SHOW YOU MY HANDS WHO ARE READY TO BLEED"