I didn't sleep well that night.
I got up slowly and went to wash my face at the water pond, walking barefoot.
I opened an old wooden door that let out an annoying creak, and a cold breeze struck me. I looked up at the sky and whispered:
"I hate myself…"
Psychological pressure weighed heavily on my chest as I stepped outside toward the pond.
I washed my face; the wind was very cold, but I didn't care, as if I did this every day.
I wiped my face with my dirty clothes, full of holes and dangling threads.
Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name:
"Kaelen… Kaelen!"
I looked toward the source of the voice and saw an old man shouting my name angrily:
"Kaelen, are you deaf?
I've called you ten times and you didn't hear me!"
I apologized:
"Sorry, uncle, my head was hurting… what do you want from me?"
The old man said:
"I want you to buy me some bread."
I replied:
"Give me the money so I can buy it for you."
He handed me the money, his hand trembling—nothing but bone and flesh. He had grown very old.
I took the money and headed toward the bread seller, still barefoot. My foot stepped on a small stone and hurt, but I endured the pain.
I reached the seller and said:
"I want bread."
He looked at me with contempt and said:
"Do you want it for free, beggar?"
I held the back of my head and said calmly:
"I'll buy it."
I threw the money at him and said:
"Quickly."
The bread seller was shocked, his expression changing immediately, and he said:
"Alright, sir."
As if money changes people.
He gave me warm bread, light orange in color, with a pleasant smell rising from it.
I took the bread and headed back to the old man, while my head still ached.
I thought to myself:
"I don't know what's happening to me…"
I reached his house without noticing the passage of time. My thoughts were scattered.
I knocked gently, as if knocking on the door of someone dear to me.
The old man came out shouting:
"You're late!"
I held his hand and said:
"Don't be angry, your condition isn't good."
Suddenly, he began to cry, his tears falling onto my hand, and he said:
"My wife took my daughters away from me when I became bankrupt… I lived alone all these years, and I don't know how I'm still alive. If it weren't for you, I would have died of hunger… you were the one who always brought me food."
My tears fell without me noticing. I hugged him and said:
"Don't cry… maybe your daughters will return one day. Don't lose hope."
I took him inside his house, then returned to mine, thinking about his life, his wife's departure, and his severe illness.
Suddenly, the pain in my head intensified until I couldn't bear it anymore. I lay down on my bed, hoping the pain would go away.
In the morning, I got up feeling sick.
I stepped outside and looked up at the sky…
It was filled with countless threads, and the sky was a strange yellow color, as if I had lost my ability to distinguish colors.
I rushed to the pond and washed my face to see my reflection:
Messy blue hair, and blue eyes.
I raised my head, but the small threads were still floating in the sky.
I feared that I was sick—or that something else was happening to me.
Then I noticed that the old man's door was open.
I headed toward his house, calling out:
"Uncle… uncle, where are you?"
I entered the kitchen and found him lying on the floor, holding the bread I had bought for him… now cold.
I screamed in panic:
"Uncle! Wake up! Wake up!"
I placed my hand on his chest…
No pulse.
I felt a powerful shock, as if someone had struck me hard. I sat there crying for long hours, screaming only one word:
"Damn it…"