Boon or Bane- A greek story

Dark hidden memories

Damini sighed as she stared out of her dormitory window. The rain was pouring, it was an unusually windy day. Damini could hear a door bang again and again, somewhere below her, probably some kid left their door open. She jumped as a clap of thunder was heard, Damini never liked the monsoon, it reminded her of her old home. Remembering her old home, made her feel everything but happy. She closed her eyes and slumped down on her bed, running her hand through her hair. It was thick, wavy and kinda dark brown, the colour of strong milk coffee. Her hair came till her thighs. Damini loved her hair. When she first came to the orphanage, she wanted a way to avoid all her thoughts, feelings and emotions, so she took immense care of her hair. It was her way of coping with the past. Damini yelped as another lighting blasted somewhere far away, she opened her eyes and stared at her room. It wasn't much, it was a small room, just big enough for a bed, a desk and a cupboard, but she knew she was very lucky to have her room. Her bed was just as big as Damini, with a floral patterned bed sheet, and matching pillows. Her desk was a wooden one with pencils and books scattered across it. And that was literally it. Damini heard tires stopping abruptly. "What the heck?" Damini whispered to herself as she looked down the window. A blue car had just stopped in front of the orphanage. It was really rare for new kids to come during such wet weather, and there is a big amount of paperwork, registration and stuff. Everyone gets to know they are getting new kids when they see the adults who ran the orphanage busy filling documents and everything. From her 5th floor room and the rain pouring down, Damini couldn't see who was getting out of the car. Were they new kids? Parents hoping to adopt a kid? Just normal adults coming to make donations? Or could it be...? No, Damini didn't want to get her hopes up. They were gone. Dead. At least according to the law. The rain was starting to slow down, it was almost drizzling. The sun hadn't come out yet, it was still a dark gloomy day. Damini instinctively reached for her pocket. She pulled out a metal ball. It was a tad smaller than a cricket ball, there were some greek letters where the seam of the ball usually is. This ball was one of the many random things her parents left her behind. In their will, they specifically asked some things to go directly to her. But the other important things, like money and house, would belong to her when she turns eighteen. Damini ran her finger over the Greek inscriptions. She did that whenever she felt uneasy. This ball reminded her of her parents, like they were just here, about to tell her a bedtime story. Damini opened a book, her way of dealing with the monsoon was to read. And slowly, she was lost in the story.

The rain had stopped, but as usual, it was still dark and gloomy. Damini got up and thought she could go outside and maybe visit Felix, an old baker down the street. He was usually always professional, but he had a soft spot for Damini. He was one of her best friends. She would always go down there when she was feeling stressed or overwhelmed or just lonely. He always gave her a free chocolate cupcake and sat there while she told him about what's going on in her life. He was a great listener. She quickly twisted her hair into a bun, grabbed her boots and headed downstairs. There was a lot of commotion on the fourth floor. New kids. Even though Damini was curious about them, she knew that at 7 pm, the gates closed and kids had to be in their dorm for dinner, the introductions would have to wait. The whole street was full of puddles. People in coats and jackets were returning home from work. Just when Damini had reached the end of the street about to take a turn towards the shop, she noticed an unusually tall man. Actually, tall was an understatement. He was about 8 feet, wearing seemingly normal clothes. A black tie with a black coat. He was staring straight at her as if expecting her to say something. Was he one of her parents' friends who recognised her? Maybe. Damini stifled a scream as she saw, he had not two but one single eye in the middle. "Oh no, not again!" She knew what was going to happen now. Her head started pounding, her feet were swaying, her eyes were slowly getting out of focus. Damini grabbed a pole of a street light next to her, steadied herself. And ran. She ran towards her home. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the one-eyed man, open his notepad and jot something down. Miss Walker at the ground floor desk opened her mouth to say something as Damini burst inside, but Damini didn't wait to hear her; she ran up the stairs and collapsed in her bed, just in time. The visions had started once more.