Watching the Children step of the bus , Roan smiled and grabbed the garbage bag and stuffed it into the truck .
He no longer lingered or felt harsh about his life .
He even started to dream .. and developed ambitions of a future .
And for the first time in four years he talked to his parents in the sky .
Yes , ever since his outburst on the trash mountain in the outer slums , Roan hadnt talked to his parents .
He saw stars everyday in the city as the air was cleaner but he hadnt talked to them in a long time .
Today , was different he was going to eighteen years old in a few months and be an adult .
As he climbed onto the roof of his small Rented room , he sighed and looked up .
" hey mom , hey dad ...sorry for not taking to you for so many years "
" I ... I miss you ... "
" I ... I have learnt how ro read and write , i can even do .... "
Roan takked for couple kf hours about his life , his work , his teachers , about Oslo , about Gavin , about the yellow school bus and the young chikdren , he talked about things he learned on the radio and about how vast thr world was and how small the Outer slums were .
Eventually, Roan stopped talking as a tear slid across his face as he said with a broken voice .
" I dont remember your faces anymore ... "
" I dont .. remember...your faces "
Roan felt his heart ache as he said it again and again in his heart .
Slowly the pain disappeared and was replaced with anger .
He felt angry ...angry at himself ... Angry at the world ....angry at the government who was supposed to help the outer slums ...angry at the huge companies who dumped their waste and poisons into the slums... Angry at the corrupt politicians ... Angry at life and angry at his powerlessness .
If only ... He could have known ...he would have saved them !!!
If he had THAT power ...
But he didnt !! But others did !!
Lying on the ground , he stared at the vastness of the universe , the stars , the galaxies and the universe .
Just how small and insignificant he was in the grand scheme of things and how he hated that ...how he hated that world ...not the reality was worked and shaped by gods or forces of nature ...whichever was true.
He hated the bleak existence that he was .
He wanted more , he wanted the freedome , the power ... He also wanted the power to dictate the world according to his way and will .
If only he was a god
If only he was powerfull
If only he wasnt cast into this cursed world .
If only
.....
" HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROAN !!! "
As the group of middle aged men announceed their presence to Roan , who had just ran into the shop from his home .
Roan forze as he was suddenly grabbed , pulled ans hoisted into the air .
" wait... Wait ...what are you guys ... No...no... !!! Fuckk !!! "
Roan felt warmth and love , something that he had nearly forgotten... Something that he used to have . And as memories of his oarents and their home resurfaced , a couple of tears dropped down his face .
The celebration lasted for an hour .
Finally , Roan and everyone else returned to their work and jobs .
Roan was seperating the trash into different categories, when his eyes fell onto a book , a black book that was thrown along with a bunch of waste paper and discarded cardboard .
Curious about the book , Roan grabbed it and opened it fo read it .
Unfortunately it was empty , but the paper inside was thick and handmade . something nice like this was a treasure in Roans eyes .
Tempted , Roan kept the empty book / diary for himself and got on with the rest of work , in the evening he got onto the truck and did his round of garbage collection.
Returning to company to recieve his pay , Roan was suprised when he saw the extra two hundred credits .
" Happy birthday kid "
Roan felt his heart fill up with gratitude and bowed to thank everyone .
Unfortunately for Roan , before he could run off home , Gavin grabbed him and pulled him to sit with everyone .
" Hey kid ! ..here "
Gavin handed Roan his first ever beer .
Roan looked at the bottle of beer and eventually grabbed it , he was now an adult .
Not a child anymore .
Moreover , he could now drink
He could learn to drive , get a licence, get married ....well not that he wanted to had someone ...but he could legally .
As everyone drank , Roan remembered the book he found and showed it to Gavin .
Gavin looked at the book and laughed .
" Hahahah ..Amazing Roan look even the world is sending you gifts ... This is an amazing find "
" Yeah ...i guess it is "
Roan said with not much enthusiasm.
Gavin raised his eyebrow and asked .
" why are you not happy with it ? "
" no no ..its not that ..i was...well i was thinking maybe i should take it with me but what should iy do with it ? "
" Well ofcourse you use it to write "
" write ..something . I .. i dont think i will be good at it though "
"Hey kid ...you may not realise but you are the single greatest child i have ever seen in my life ..you are talented beyond measure ."
" Me ?... talented ?? "
" Well what else idiot ...do you think it is easy to learn and write a language fluent in just a year or two ....no infact you did it in under a year ....well do you know how long normal children study in schools ? "
Roan shook his head .
" For over a decade and yet they arent half as good as you have gotten with reading and writting... Especially latter !! So you are a natural unrefined hidden gem !! ... So believe in yourself and do what ever you want in life....dont waste your life around trash ...and i mean people ... People like .." Gavins eyes flew across everyone .
" Yeah Yeah ...i know what you wanna say . But your feelings and objective truth are seperate things ... "
Gavin stopped him before he could have protested
Roan closed his mouth and stared at the book for a while and grabbed another bottle if
Of beer and gulped it down .
So he had his first beer and only after an hour was he permitted to run off to his home .