The alarm woke Roan up at seven in the morning , to face another day in his cursed life in this cursed world .
With a heavy head and a throbbing headache , Roan cleaned himself up , made some breakfast and listened to the radio .
The weather man going on how it will might rain in the evening ... Some plane crash in some other corner of the world ... Education reforms ... New and upcoming movies and celebrities stories .
Finishing his breakfast , Roan got ready and put on his orange jumpsuit with the neon jacket and yellow helmet .
As he walked out of his room , the room to his right also opened .
" Hey Oslo " Roan greeted the middle aged man who worked in the local petrol pump .
" Hey Roan ... You still screaming at night huh "
" Yeah ...sorry "
" no no...its alright "
As Oslo tipped his hat and bade a farewell to Roan , Roan smiled a little .
It was only thanks to Oslo being nearly deaf that he was able to live here .
If Oslo wasnt half deaf and had to suffer from Roans night outburst almost everyday , Roan would have been kicked out pretty soon .
Roan glanced at Osla and his hearing buds and felt a little thankful for Oslo and also himself .
Shaking off his weird thoughts , Roan started walking to his work just like everyother day .
Half an hour later , he reached the waste management plant of the city .
As his duty began at ten in morning, Roan climbed onto the pile of garbage and started to segregate them accordingly.
Biodegradable, non biodegradable and domestic hazardous waste .
But more importantly, what he was truly foing was scavenging in the trash for something valuable .
Well valuable to people like him not to those who threw it away but to people like Roan an old Radio was precious .
Just like that , Roan got busy at work .
This had been his life ever since he came to the city and was able to work .
After four in the evening, Roan climbed aboard the garbage truck and went garbage collecting . Everyday he watched the yellow bus and the children with phones and returned home with barely enough to keep him afloat .
Life was monotonous , unrewarding and plain ... Something Roan liked very much .
Yeah it could be better ...but Roan knew ... That it could be far worse as well ... Something he wouldnt want to live through again .
Something that changed the course of his life .
Days passed and it was starting to get cold in the evening .
So Roan started to wear a windbreaker as he ran back home after work, Ate dinner , applied ointment and hoped to not have the episode of his past in the night .
Unfortunately for him , as it got cold , the episode and trauma intensified making him look worse and worse day by day .
" Roan ..having trouble sleeping again this year ? "
One of his colleagues asked with a pitiful face .
Roan slowly nodded .
The conversation died down as no one said anything else , everyone knew what Roan had to suffer because they were the ones who found him .. or rather saved him two years ago .
So Roan was like a child of the Waste Management plant .. and Roan had nothing to compain .
" So .. do you ... Remember? "
Another person asked as everyone gave the one who asked the question a dark look but at the same time waited for Roan's answer .
Roan on the other had did not know how to respond , yes he had been saved , yes he had been treated like one of their own , yes he was cared for and yes he was living a better life .
But ... Roan had learned a very harsh leason .... Never trust anyone with your secrets .
And the proof of his graduation for learning this lesson were on his back , tingling in the cold as he sipped on the hot tea and ate the lunch that was provided by the company .
" Nothing .. the doctors said maybe i lost my memories due to .. Post Traumatic... What was it called ...? ... Well whatever it was ...due to the injuries i suffered ...i hurt my brain also ... So .. i dont remember much just flashed of pain and screaming "
Roan answered as everyone silently accepted his answer , someone quickly diverted the conversation to the new movies about to release ... Roan also joined in the conversation, although he remained silent , he loved hearing about movies and stories .
" I wish thay i could see some of these movies "
Roan muttered
" Bahh ... Roan dont fall into the trap of movies !!! Let me tell you ...none of these guys watch the movies for the story but rather they watch it for the young gals and their legs !! ..."
As the old man Gavin exposed the truth to Roan , everyones faced turned red but in between men , they were not ashamed but rather proud .
" Hahah... true true ... The gals and the ladies .. well said Gavin .. "
" hey ..have you seen ..."
As the rest of the guys got shamelessly into discussing the ladies , Roan turned towards Old Man Gavin .
Gavin had been the oldest member of the crew and was someone who looked like he had lived far too long but somehow managed to work harder than the younger crew .
" Uh ... Soo.. what should i do ? "
Roan asked Gavin .
Gavin smiled as he felt proud of Roan for not being spoiled and nodded as he answered .
" Good good atleast you still think with your head little roan ... Listen here ...these movies and stories that they all like to watch ...they are nothing but trash "
" Trash ? "
" yup ...trash they are bad ...so very bad ...its actually an insult to the true art of story writing and creators of world ... But its not their fault ... The worlds that are contained in books cannot be shown on yhe big screen ."
" books...stories ... Worlds ?"
Roan who had never ever attended school or even read a book was fascinated by the words of old man gavin .
Gavin choked as he realised whi he was talking to and started fo explain to Roan about what books were , what writing was and what the worlds contained within them entailed .
Eventually, Gavin showed him a book but Roan as an illiterate couldn't read .
Eventually, Gavin took up the role of teaching Roan how to read and write .
Days passed and winter came , it snowed for the first time and Roan started to learn with Gavin .
Gor the first time in his life , Roan felt at peace and as if the act of reading and learning something knew diverted his attention from his past . The winter passes smoothly and even peacefully for Roan .
Gavin on the other hand was surprised by Roans ability to learn and remember .
In just three months , by the time spring came Roan was able to read a whole page of a book on his own .
He was also able to write a small letter and learned to sign his name .
Eventually other also joined gavin in teaching Roan all about their world , lamguage , culture , history , people as much as they could.
Roan was like a dried by sponge that devoured and absorbed everything that was thrown at him .
Reading, writing , speaking ,even mathematics and badic level of science and history .
Roan was not only the child of the company but also the student . Everyone started to do overtime and taught Something they were good at to Roan .
By the time roan turned seventeen , Roan was fully integrated into the life of a city born child .
Not as rich but he knew more than anyone child or even some adults in the slum .