Shin embraced his mother so tightly while crying and trembling tremendously. He then turned to his dad and hugged both of his parents' lifeless remains.
"Dad, Mom, please come back. please... please!" Shin cried in despair.
"Oh God, why is this happening to me?" Why? P-Please… If it is a nightmare, please anyone... wake me out of it." Shin embraced them even more. He didn't know what to do; he was hoping everything was just a nightmare. The pain was unbearable for his young and fragile heart to bear.
Shin was sobbing while hugging his parents on his lap. He didn't want to let them go, and he didn't know what to do. He's merely an 11-year-old boy.
A few minutes later, Shin could smell the awful smell of gasoline, followed by the foul smoke of burning. When Shin lifted his head, the house was already on fire.
"N-N-No!" Shen panicked for a while, but the thought of his parents being burned to ashes sobers him up.
Shin ran to the door, but the door was locked from the outside, and the door knob was already scalding. He tried opening the windows, but they were also locked from the outside, and the fire was already growing. His hand scorched from the hot metal he accidentally touched, but he didn't mind it. He ran through the kitchen and checked the back door connected to the garden, but it was also locked from the outside.
Those men poured gasoline all over the house and locked the whole house so no one could escape.
Shin quickly got the toolbox her mother used for gardening and tilling the soil and opened it. He took the pickaxe and started hitting the back door to the garden with all his strength.
"Mom, Dad, I will! get! You! out of here! I will never! let you be burned here. I won't leave you, mom and dad; please hold on a little." He mumbled while continuing to hit the lock until it broke and the door was opened. He was so tired and bruised all over his small hands. But Shin never gives up.
Shin went back to his mom and dad, using all his might. He tried lifting his mom, but he is too small and weak. He can't carry his mom and dad outside. Shin pushed the coffee table aside and pulled the carpet underneath. He rolled his mom's body over the carpet and pulled her outside. "I'm sorry, mom, please hold on a little," he said to his mom, asking for forgiveness if he ever hurt her by forcefully pushing and pulling her body.
He managed to get his mom out of the burning house, placed her in the garden free from fire, and went back inside to get his dad.
Shin looked around; the curtains were already on fire. He ran as fast as he could to the room, ignoring the burning sensation he felt from the burning furniture, and took a quilt that the fire hadn't touched yet. He ran back to his dad; the fire was already inside and so close to his dad, while the roof of the house was already swallowed by the fire.
Shin coughed after inhaling smoke, but he didn't give up saving his dad from burning. He was scared he might not be able to get out alive, but he couldn't just let his dad alone while he burned to ashes.
His dad is heavier than his mom, so he struggled a lot. Shin saw the photo album that fell from the coffee table, picked it up, and then put it over his dad's body. With all his might, he pulled and kept pulling his dad's body, ignoring the searing sensation of fire and debris from the burning house brushing against his skin, until they were in a safe place.
He placed his dad beside his mom, and Shin could do nothing but watch their house burn to ashes.
"Please, God, let it be just a horrible nightmare." "Wake me up, please."
With a heavy heart, he turned to look at his dad and mom, who were lying lifeless on the ground. He lay down in the middle of his mom and dad while sobbing.
His little body was so tired, with bruises and blisters all over his skin. Shin couldn't fight the darkness that engulfed his whole consciousness. with a broken, heavy heart, a tired body, and an aching body. He slowly closed his eyes and drifted into nothingness.
The following day, Shin woke up at the hospital. His expression was blank, and he thought he had a horrible nightmare. He tried to get up, but instantly the incident last night sank into his mind.
"Mom! Dad!" Shin screamed and was about to get up but was stopped by Marius' dad, Jiang Feng.
Feng hugged him while stroking his back to comfort him. "U-Uncle, Mom... Mom and Dad—"
Shin couldn't utter the word "dead" and began sobbing again.
"Ssh, ssh, I know, don't say it, don't say it, child. I will bring you to them later, okay?" Feng said, and Shin nodded.
"Now, you have to eat; you need strength. You need to regain your energy to face your parents, okay?" Uncle Feng tried to calm him down, as he was trembling terribly. He just let the child cry his heart out until he calmed down.
"Your sister Lulu and Aunt Yu are here for you." Feng gestured, and Shin followed Feng's hand.
Aunt Yu is preparing the food, while Lulu wipes her tears as she cries along with Shin.
"Shinshin, mom brought your favorite Lotus rib soup. You have to eat, alright?" Lulu said this while hugging Shin. She brushes away the fragments of tears on Shin's face with her thumbs.
"What should I do now, sister, Lulu?" Mom and Dad... they... they—" Shin couldn't utter the words that he was about to say. "I am all alone now, sister." He spoke in his hoarse voice, and tears began to dribble down his face again.
"Shush, little Shin, we're still here. Dad, Mom, Marius, and me We're all here for you. We're family now, okay? So don't think that you are alone, okay?" She commented and hugged the boy until he stopped sobbing.
"Uncle, how did I get here?" I remember I lost consciousness after—Shin couldn't continue and lowered his head, thinking of his mom and dad. Uncle Feng holds his little hands, which were completely wrapped with bandages. His arms have first- to second-degree burns. And his voice was raspy because of the smoke he inhaled.
"You are so brave, Shin; you know that? Your mom and dad didn't get burned because of your bravery. "I'm so proud of you, my child." Feng gently caresses his hand over the bandages.
Feng begins explaining what had happened.
"After we got back home from your birthday party, Marius told me about the cars that had parked not far from your house. I also noticed them when we were driving home. There were men in black suits sipping cigarettes outside the car and looking in the direction of your house. I didn't pay much attention to it; I thought it was nothing and had nothing to do with the incident, but after an hour, Marius told me that he has a bad perception of those cars.
I tried calling your dad and mom, but I couldn't get through, so Marius and I decided to come back and check again if the cars were still there. but they're not there anymore. What we saw was a burning house.
The ambulance and firefighters arrived a few moments before us. I wanted to go in, but the police didn't allow me, so I couldn't do anything.
I didn't notice Marius had already run and sneaked into the backyard of the house. Until we all heard him screaming and followed him to the backyard... I'm sorry, Shin. If we arrived a little earlier—" Feng lowered his head.
"No, uncle, you don't have to be sorry; it's not your fault." "Where is Marius?"
"He is with Dylan right now; he was also so shocked and terrified when he saw you there. He thought that you'd gone as well. So he was very frightened.
Now eat the food before it gets cold; it's almost afternoon. "I will escort you to see your parents after you eat."
Said Feng and Shin nodded.
Shin couldn't hold the spoon because his hands were covered with bandages. Lulu fed him, and Shin just ate quietly. After the meal, his uncle Feng escorts him to the morgue.
And once again, Shin broke into a grieving cry. His uncle just let him pour out all his sorrow and agony. He just remains standing beside Shin, rubbing and patting his back from time to time until he gradually calms down a little. Feng can't help but tear up as well, seeing the pitiful child crying desperately.
The Jiang family helps Shin in everything, from taking care of Shin in the hospital to preparing the funerals and mourning rites for Warren and Katelyn since neither of them has any other relatives. Katelyn and Warren both grew up in the orphanage.
One week later, after the funeral, the two police officers came back again to interview Shin for the second time.
Shin again told the police officers about what he heard from his dad the night before and what happened at their house that night. Nevertheless, the police still didn't believe him, just like the day at the hospital when the same police officers got his statement.
The police officers insisted that it was just a common robbery spun into arson. And Shin was maybe just hallucinating, under strain, and traumatized by the incident.
Although Shin is merely 11 years old, he is not foolish enough to not understand that there's something fishy about the two police officers.
Back then at the hospital, he heard the same two officers talking about their boss.
Officer 1: Do we need to give him this drug? He's just a kid; no one will believe him anyway.
Officer 2: Chief ordered us, or do you want to end like that kid's parents as well?
Shin was just pretending to be asleep. He wanted to run away from the two officers, but he was so scared. From his peripheral vision, he saw one of the officers emptying the bottle of medicine on the bedside table and replacing it with different kinds of drugs. After that, they sat on the visitor's couch, pretending that nothing had happened until his aunt and uncle Feng came in.
Because of the lack of evidence, Shin couldn't get justice for his mom and dad. He was so disappointed, devastated, and broken. and from then on, Shin lost the confidence to trust the authority anymore. It was deeply engraved in his head how rotten the justice system of the country is.
___
Shin asked his uncle and aunt if he could visit his burned house, to be exact.
"Uncle and Auntie, I want to visit our house, can I?"
"Of course, you can, but are you sure?" "Will you be fine?" Asked Feng.
"I'm sure, uncle, I'm fine," replied Shin.
"Alright, but I will go with you," suggested Uncle Feng.
"No, uncle, I want to go alone."
"No! I forbid you to go alone; at least go with Marius or ask your sister Lulu if you are not comfortable with me." Feng insisted. He was just worried something bad might happen to the boy. He knew Shin wasn't very stable right now.
"Yes, Uncle, I'm sorry; I know you're just worried about me."
"Don't be sorry, child; take care when you get there, okay? and don't stay there too long. come back before dinner."
Marius, Shin, and Lulu went to Shin's old residence. Shin hesitated at first, but he gathered all his courage and stepped inside.
The memory of his once-happy family—a loving father and a caring mother—
Shin's eyes started to hurt; every step he made was too heavy.
Never once in his wildest imagination was that happiest place on earth for him now gone and only ashes remain. His tears started to trickle down his face and fell to the charred ground while he reminisced about those days with his mom and dad. Shin felt like he could hear every drop of his tears gravitating to the burned ground and watering the monochrome ashes.
"Shin's feet bring him to the garden of his beloved mom. The once colorful and lively garden turned into ashes. The white, red, orange, pink, and red roses were now nothing like a monochrome piece of scorched dirt.
All he could see everywhere was black and ashes. The house that burned is black, and the garden is black. Everything is black as if there are no other colors around. as if the world suddenly became pitch black in Shin's eyes.
He feels like the world is spinning. His eyes became hazy, and his head was getting heavier.
Marius and Lulu, who were standing beside him, were fast enough to catch him before he fell to the ground. Shin once again drifted into dark nothingness.
"How is he?" asked Jiang Feng upon seeing Marius closing Shin's bedroom.
"He fell asleep now, dad," replied Marius upon striding towards his dad in the living room. Shin often had nightmares and suddenly burst into crying in the middle of the night. He still couldn't forget about the incident. It was still haunting him, so Marius decided to sleep in the same room with Shin so he could at least comfort his friend.
The Jiang family adopted him, and they became Shin's family ever since his parents passed away.
Shin continued his studies, even though he is in great sorrow and occupied by nightmares every night. It didn't affect his studies, and he still managed to be on top. But something changed; Shin became quiet and cold. He's not the same Shin who always radiates warmth to others and has the prettiest and sweetest smile. Ever since his parents passed away, they never saw Shin smile again.
Shin's life continues with the same routine each passing day until graduation comes.
Before the graduation ceremony, the chairman of the company that gave them the scholarship abroad met the top five students at the school head's office.
Dylan, Riley, Luke, Marius, and Shin were sitting on the long couch at the principal's office together with their parents while waiting for the visitors.
The principal entered the room, followed by three other people.
a very beautiful, fine, and elegant woman holding hands with a good-looking, fine man. Shin couldn't understand why his heart was feeling at ease upon seeing the lady and the man smiling at him.