Orphic

Prologue

"Daddy, the game is on" I said as I sat on the couch with my father. My dad sat beside me "who do you think is winning, Chorong?" I laughed happily and said "daddy! We're winning!".

Both of us cheered happily as we stared at the TV and waited for the final results. We stared nervously when the other team was about to make a score. We watched patiently, the ball was going around the hoop then it missed its score. Dad and I cheered happily.

Suddenly, my mom came down the stairs hurriedly and was gasping for air. "Mom what's wrong?" I asked as I left the couch and walked towards my mom. My mom held my shoulders and stared at me in the eyes. My mom and my dad exchanged glances and nodded at each other, I didn't understand but just went with the flow.

They put me on the couch and put the TV on a channel appropriate for a 6-year-old child. I watched the TV but it was so difficult to pay attention to the TV when I could hear loud noises coming from the front yard. I heard gunshots coming from outside, it scared me so I took out a pillow and covered my ears.

The sound was like thunder to me, it scared me, I wanted to see what my parents were doing but they told me to stay put. Another gunshot was heard from me and I flinched a bit. I got tired of it and went to look out the window for my parents.

My mom was on the ground. At first, I thought she was sleeping, but then I saw blood coming out from her. "Mommy!" I yelled and a stranger looked at me. His face scared me because he was literally on fire yet he wasn't screaming in pain at all, I closed the curtains in fear. I heard shouting coming from outside.

My dad and a stranger burst in through the door and I gasped. The stranger poured something liquid around the house and my dad tried to stop him. I hid behind the couch then ran to my dad. He gasped when he saw me and the stranger pointed his gun at me.

He fired the gun but my dad covered me so I wouldn't get shot. The stranger cursed under his breath then shot the floor. Fire appeared and I screamed. "Run Chorong, and when you do, don't look back. Remember, courage will help you all the way" my dad said and I obeyed him and ran out of the house and into the forest.

"Mommy, Daddy" I muttered. I didn't know just what to do. I was frozen with fear and shock. I ran to them but the fire was getting bigger that it was spreading on the trees. The trees were growing weak and they fell in front of me.

I kept screaming as I ran away from the house, and the forest my house once was. I kept running until I ran out of breath then I fainted out of exhaustion. I woke up and found myself in an orphanage but growing up in an orphanage after watching my parents disappear wasn't good for my mind.

I missed my parents, I never found my other relatives, and the orphanage wasn't what I would call home, it's more like prison.

I kept skipping grade levels because my teachers said "Miss Park Chorong is smart and good enough to go to the next level" when I knew they didn't just want to handle me, it's painful to hear them talk about me at such a young age, especially when they're saying something that would kill me emotionally.

That's why I'm in college now but I can't leave the orphanage because I'm still under aged. I need to wait a year then I'm free from the orphanage and my annoying roommates. Living with people who don't have parents like me, are difficult to speak with because anger, angst, and sadness had taken over their bodies and they became the jerks they are now.

Don't worry dad, I'll keep my courage, I know it will help me all the way.