The fire was raging. The surrounding forest was illuminated by the red glow, trees and shrubbery set ablaze. The fiery light came into stark contrast with the surrounding dark forest shrouded in moonlight, the silvery overlay dominated by the red glow. Within the center of the inferno lay a boy, scorch marks riddling his body. He had a pained expression on his face, sweat covering his body.
The boy had only a sliver of consciousness remaining, but this too was rapidly dispersing. The boy listened to the crackling fire as his consciousness faded. As he entered a state of slumber, he heard a hurried voice sound nearby, followed by footsteps rushing towards him.
His consciousness finally faded completely.
When he woke up, as he opened his eyes, he saw a simple wooden ceiling. Turning his head to survey the rest of the room, he suddenly felt a sharp pain running down his neck, forcing him once more into a state of stillness. Staring at the ceiling the boy recounted the happenings before he fell unconscious. Shards of memories came flooding into his mind. Scenes of a raging inferno, followed by the excruciating burning sensation and the smell of burning flesh. Finally he remembered the voice he heard before he entered a state of comatose.
‘It seems I was saved.’
The boy had a contemplative expression for a moment before finally closing his eyes once more. After a short while he heard the door open, followed by light footsteps nearing his bed and eventually coming to a stop by his side.
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As he gazed over to the side, he saw what looked to be a middle aged woman, bearing a mature manner. She had brown hair with streaks of grey sporadically intermingled at the side of her temples. Her delicate face and kind eyes suggested she was quite the beauty in her earlier days.
“Can you speak, child?”said the woman in a soft and gentle voice.
“Yes.”the boy said in a faint voice, seemingly struggling to utter the sounds.
“Good. Do you have a name, child?”
The boy paused for a minute, a deep frown on his face as he seemingly struggled to remember his name, before finally replying with a pained expression while looking the woman in the eye, “Sin.”
“Sin? Quite an odd name to give to a child. Do you remember where you came from, SIn?” the woman asked as she patiently stood by the side.
Thinking back, the boy felt a jolt of pain as he tried to recollect what happened before the fire, shaking his head with a regretful look on his face.
The woman nodded saying to the boy, “Very well. I will take my leave. Rest well, your injuries were critical, burns covering most of you body. I managed to treat your injuries in time, preventing any lasting damage but you should still take time to recover fully.”
As the boy watched the woman turn towards the door he suddenly blurted out in a weak voice, “Please wait. May I know your name?”
The woman halted her footsteps before turning and giving the boy a kind smile, “You can call me Mother Morri.”
Sin watched Mother Morri leave the room with a look of gratitude plastered on his face, his sincere gaze halting on the door for a while longer before he closed his eyes once more.
‘Mother Morri, huh.’, thought the boy.