The Hole Of Sickness

"Behind the door 1474"

It's seven o'clock on a cold evening in a city called ITEFE.

A smell of burnt ash covers his clothes as he walks through the streets; dirt and mud are everywhere. He turns his eyes to the right to see lakes of garbage and remains, rocks, sand, and God knows what else. The area has a horrible view, and to make it even worse, the smell is unbearable.

Kosie looks to the left to see a cold structure of houses, grey walls all around with a few wooden signs for those who actually know how to read. One after another, they all have a simple, basic foundation, and while he walks down the empty street for about ten minutes, he finally stops.

He's now standing at the entrance of an old house. He checks his half-torn pocket and then pulls out a metal key.

Silence reigns here while the dusty wooden roofs of the city hang in the last sunlight of a tedious long day. It's night now, and all the neighbors have gone home as a black cloud surrounds the sky.

"These craps are everywhere; curse them," Kosie yells at the entrance ahead of him. If he were in another region, he wouldn't dare to scream like a maniac, but here in the city of insanity, it's a normal day when you get to watch gangsters having a war while policemen tell them to keep it down a bit. Madness is everywhere.

The house we're about to enter is undoubtedly the oldest building in all of ITEFE.

A heavy iron knocker is attached to the wooden door, and a green color at the corners of the footpath indicates that there hasn't been a cleanup in years. A half-broken roof with dozens of pigeon nests on it gives the same miserable impression as the other houses nearby.

Kosie knocks on the door three times, even though he has the key in his hand.

"There's no one inside, you know!" our child talks to himself as he observes the six open locks on the left side of the door—locks he wishes he had never unlocked.

"But I already did that, didn't I?" Kosie's thoughts.

After that, the dark-haired child enters and slams the door behind him while his mouth murmurs specific rubbish words.

...

Inside the house, Kosie is surrounded by four silent walls, an old mattress, a lantern, and a roof—nothing more, nothing less. Number of rooms: one room; number of doors: two doors—and that's it!

No windows, no fireplace, and a huge hole in the left corner big enough to hide a body.

Even a rat would think twice before taking this room for a living, but Kosie didn't have the luxury to choose. No, it was between this filthy house or sleeping in the streets outside, but somehow he could call this "A HOME." Maybe not in the same way he used to call his real house, where his brother Mark and Mr. Graham waited for him, but at least here he’s safe.

And while he marches around the small space, the brown floor of the room creaks at each step the boy takes.

"God save the queen," Kosie wonders, although he never understands why people say this all the time.

She wasn't the nicest person on earth, but at least in her time, life meant something—but not now, not after she's gone. Whether it was jail or death, all the people of ITEFE wish for her return or at least to know what actually happened to her.