A/N:
I know, Tom's thoughts are very mature for an 8-year-old, but I think that Tom must have been very advanced for his age.
Enjoy ;)
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Tom Riddle has no friends.
But why?
To answer this question let us make a little trip into his past.
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"Tom?!" Alexander shouted desperately, his voice cracked and sounded rough.
With his last strength he clung to the ledge.
"Tom, please, help me. You can't do this to me! I thought that we're friends! "
Tom looked down at his so called friend and smiled.
„No, we were friends."
Suspiciously quiet he knelt down to Alexander, and held him tightly by the wrists.
He leaned to Alexanders ear and hissed.
"We were friends, then you betrayed me! I trusted you and you let me down! I would rather have no one than have you as a friend! "
Snorting derisively Tom grabbed his friends' red hat and pulled it from his head.
It was Alexanders favorite hat, he never laid it off , not even to sleep.
His friend's eyes darkened and he seemed about to say something, but Tom had had enough.
He wanted to hear nothing more, betrayal was betrayal.
It was over.
Thoughtfully, he looked at the bright rays of the sun.
What a nice weather, even the weather seemed to confirm him in his actions.
Tom slowly lifted his foot over Alexanders small hands hesitating for a moment.
"Good-bye, friend," he said, and stamped as hard as he could on his former friends hands.
Alexander screamed as he fell.
Tom snorted contemptuously.
Did Alexander seriously think that Tom would regret what he just did, if he screamed his name?
"Tom? Alexander? "
A shaky voice exclaimed suddenly .
It was Sister Sarah who came running to him, stones rolled away beneath their feet.
"What happened here?"
She was agitated and panicked.
Who could have guessed that on a small, harmless hiking trip two eight year old boys could get lost.
Tom bit his lip, looked up at her with a sad look on his face and spoke with forced halting voice.
" Alexander spotted a bird and wanted to show it to me, then we lost our way and couldn't find you miss."
At this point, Tom stopped short, momentarily overwhelmed by his emotions.
He had let Alexander take a fall...
Tom could have helped him after he slipped, but decided to take revenge on his former friend in the worst possible way.
Blinking, he shook his head, he had to pull himself together.
"Then he slipped and there," Tom pointed to the spot.
"He fell, but I couldn't pull him up. All I could catch was his hat. "
Sister Sarah went pale and a loud cry escaped her throat.
Tom looked at her and saw that she didn't know what to do.
He couldn't stand adults who showed their weakness in front of children.
Finally, she grabbed him by the hand and led him away rambling something along the lines of having to immediately return to the village.
Tom pressed the red woolly hat to his chest, his trophy.
He had conquered his emotions and for that he needed a reminder.
The rest of the day slipped past him like a dream, he hardly heard anyone.
As he reported the "accident" to the police, his heart was beating so loud that he was afraid it might expose him as a liar and a murderer.
But that didn't happen, they actually believed him.
Later that nigh Tom lay restless in his bed, he couldn't stop his melancholy thoughts and stared at the ceiling.
The first thing he did after speaking to the police, was to place the red cap in his closet, but even that didn't help.
He asked himself the same question in his head over and over.
Why did he let his to this day only friend 'fall' from that cliff?
The answer was quite simple.
Alexander had asked Tom to let him participate more in his thoughts and feelings, because according to him when people are friends they share everything with each other.
Tom had told Alexander that he could talk to snakes, that animals listen to him.
He had even shown him his secret collection, things that he had stolen from the other children or the director of the orphanage and even other people.
Contrary to his expectations, however, Alexander became angry, called him an idiot and threatened that he would tell on Tom.
Alexander had even dared to push him.
That had been too much.
Tom hadn't gone too far when he pushed and kicked Alexander until he was blinded by tears, stumbled and fell down the steep slope.
No, Tom was sure that his action was justified.
Tom thoughtfully crossed his arms on the bedspread , then swung his legs over the edge of the bed and ran hastily to the window.
There he put his bare hands on the cool window glass. The glass cracked all over.
There was nothing worse than betrayal
So how could you avoid betrayal?
You couldn't trust anyone.
Trust no one, only yourself
Alone, yes, it's better that way.
The expectations of yourself were easy to meet and you wouldn't end up disappointed.
Tom smiled victoriously.
Yes, this train of thought reassured him.
Tom lay down on his bed, and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
The ghostly hand-prints remained visible on the window glass until morning.