" Are you done Damien?" asked the lady who was in charge of the counter as she looked at the young man who just finished piling up the boxes of chilli paste on the counter on his left.
Damien stood up from the spot where he was crouching and then wiped his sweat on his sleeves as he nodded his head and said, " I am done, Miss Katie."
Miss Katie was the owner of the small supermarket near the train station, even though the business here was not as good as the one in the city, Damien didn't have any complaints. After all, as long as he was paid, there was no reason for him to find fault with the workplace.
" I see, if you are done then you can leave early," said Miss Katie with a smile as she rummaged under the counter and pulled a big shopping bag with a bunch of instant noodles inside it. " Your birthday gift, this time the instant noodles are two days away from getting expired, make sure to fill your stomach properly."
" Thanks a bunch, Miss Katie," Damien took the shopping bag with a grin, he who has been going to school after eating instant noodles that were expired for more than a week, this was like an unexpected windfall. " I will work even harder from tomorrow." He promised before going back to the changing room.
Damien placed the shopping bag with the instant cup noodles on the bench sitting in the centre of the changing room and changed into his year-old jacket that was torn in several places before he carefully tucked the jacket that belonged to the supermarket into the lockers and then picked up the shopping bag again.
He peered down at the several kinds of instant noodles and decided that he was going to have the extra cheesy one once he was back in his old apartment.
" I will see you tomorrow, Miss Katie," said Damien as he waved a quick goodbye to the shop owner who waved back as she rang another customer who was standing in the line. Damien breathed out causing the chilly air of December to turn into pearly mist as he shoved his free hand in his jacket, " Eighteen huh? I am so glad that I was able to make it alive this far."
He nodded remembering the hard life he has lived till now, his parents, who were good for nothings were just not lazy bags of bones, no they were extremely greedy and seemed to be seriously superstitious. They firmly believed in the nonsensical words of an idiotic master who told them that they would become richer than anyone in the city as they were blessed with a wonderful fortune.
So, after the stupid proclamation of the master, his father and mother who were already lazy to their skins turned lazy to their bones and maybe even a layer more. They stopped working and simply started buying lottery tickets and spending money on things like casinos and what not.
This went on until he turned ten, every boy who celebrated his glorious tenth birthday got a superhero robot or a remote control car, he on the other hand got a bunch of loan sharks knocking on the door of his house.
Little Damien who had no idea what was going on was thrown out of his house on his tenth birthday with a stupid letter from his parents that said —— ' Oopsie we made a mistake.'
Of course, the ten years of Damien did not comprehend the meaning of that letter, so he went to the scary-looking thug, dodged a punch with his quick agility and asked the man what it mean, only then did he find out that his parents borrowed from the loan sharks, couldn't pay back and then ran away leaving the house in the hands of the loan sharks as for their son, he was left to learn the way of the world since he was already so old.
After that it was as if his life has turned into a complete mess, Damien had to work hard by delivering milk, and newspaper, and at one point he even had to work as a toilet cleaner in a hotel. But these things were still bearable, what wasn't bearable was his parents sending gifts to him on every birthday.
Hold up wait a minute, if you are thinking that his parents suddenly grew conscious and then started treating him right. You are absolutely——-
Wrong!
The gifts that his parents sent him every year were from either loan sharks, mafia men or debtors who would come looking for him with twelve-inch knives.
" What a pitiful life, I have lived this far," said Damien as he clenched his fist and closed his eyes in anger. For eight years he has been paying the debts that his parents owed in a different part of the country, but this time it will be different. This time no matter who comes knocking on his door, he will tell him that he was not going to pay his parent's debt!
Damien looked at the sky and then shouted at the God who has made his life a shit hole. " Dear whoever it may concern, please make sure that I do not get any uninvited visitors this time!"
The people walking on the streets looked at Damien with weird gazes but he didn't pay any attention to them, he has been working all sorts of odd jobs in the past eight years and he was already used to this gaze that was directed at him every now and then.
He walked towards the old apartment building where he was renting a small apartment that had everything installed in a single room, looking at the couples walking on the snow that has freshly painted streets. As much as he hated winters, he adored their beauty of it…maybe one day he too will enjoy Christmas without any worry with someone close to him.
Damien cheered himself and took a right to where his building was, he carefully looked at the door of his apartment from the ground floor and when he saw no stranger knocking on his door like he was out to get his blood, he cheered up.
Looks like God listened to him for the first time in his life!