"What ! What do you mean you can't search for his parents?" Diego says disappointed, he is speaking with an SDA member who just doesn't seem to care about the situation.
"Listen, I get what you're trying to do, but currently we have bigger issues. We can't take this kid in as we aren't completely sure if he was abandoned. For all we know you could of kidnapped him if they did return, it's about time, and patients which we sadly don't have." The man said as he kept on reading a different document.
"What do you mean? You definitely heard of reports of children of farmers being abandoned due to financial issues. There are records of those cases, and this kid is one of them, he has no place to stay." Diego tries to plea as he doesn't want to take Lucas somewhere else.
"Listen to me sir, I get what you're trying to do, and it's understandable. Sure I'll take it as he was abandoned and you want to help him out, but the problem is that finding people like those are impossible. They are the type to just leave everything behind as they have nothing to return to." He said to Diego as he wraps the document.
"Listen, all I can tell you at this moment is to leave him in an orphanage. I can tell that you're young, and probably have not reason to support a child if you adopt him. The orphanage will accept him, they will care for him, and probably have him find a new family there. It's a great move to make if I was in your shoes." He said again.
"Oh, well then thank you, and sorry for wasting your time." Diego said as he smiled at the SDA member, and walked out of the building. He then drops his smile, how could he not have at least cared a bit to help a child?
He knows they can definitely help him out, but he can't just force them to do it. He looks up, and spots Lucas sitting down in a bench eating an apple.
Lucas looks up and waves at Diego with a smile, Diego does the same. "Well kid, I have some news for you, I'll take you to a place we're abandoned kids stay until they find a new family. I'm glad you still have a chance to have a mostly normal childhood." he says as he sits next to Lucas.
Lucas frowns, "I'm not an abandoned child, and I'm not going there with other kids that are abandoned." Lucas refuses to look at Diego.
"Well sorry I have no other choice, I don't think I'm capable of caring for a kid. You need to be somewhere safe, and a place where you are treated great." Diego says and he understands he is a child so he isn't going to easily accept that he was abandoned even if he did acknowledge it.
"I don't want you to abandon me either, I was starting to like you a bit." Lucas says, and he looks at Diego again, "I thought if I was…my parents had struggled, you would take me in until they returned."
Diego feels a bit bad, but he can't look after Lucas, he just can't, "Listen, you should be glad you will find a new family…probably. You need to smile Lucas, it's a way to show others that you are approachable."
Diego then pats Lucas's head, "Listen Lucas, I want you to be strong alright, good things only happen to good people."
"Well then does that mean my parents are going to have bad luck? If they abandoned me of course." Lucas asks.
"Well yeah they did abandon you so they will most likely die or get sick." Diego says very calmly, "That's how the world works Lucas, it's not pretty, but we have to deal with it."
———-
Diego and Lucas are walking, and Lucas is holding onto his hand. They are in an orphanage, and he takes him inside. Diego knows that this is the best option.
"Thank you for at least helping me." Lucas says as Diego walks away not looking back. Lucas was then brought inside the orphanage by a caretaker. She gave him a warm smile which made him smile.
"Hey, so when will I find my new family if I do get one?" Lucas asks the lady.
"Hopefully soon enough, I just need you to be patient dear." The caretaker said, but she ain't looking at Lucas at all. He takes a wild guess that she isn't too confident, and must be lying.
What is it with adults lying to children, and especially to him? Why do they like to lie to kids or is it something that they are supposed to do for fun?
Lucas is brought to a big room where the other children are in. They are all smiling, and playing with each other, "Now then, go and greet them as they will be your family until you get adopted." The caretaker said.
Lucas walks up to a corner and sits down, and watches all the other kids play. He smiles, and wonders who will be his first friend.
What will his new family look like if he did get adopted? Wait! He doesn't need a new family, his family is still there he just needs them. They are his real parents, and no one can replace them.
A kid approaches Lucas ,"Hey, you are new! Do you want to play with me?" He asks Lucas, and Lucas nods happily.
This place seems very nice in here, and a lady appears, "Listen everyone, I want you all to play nicely with the new kid." She said with a happy and warm smile.
All of them welcome Lucas, and he can't believe how nice they all are. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, although he doesn't want to be considered an abandoned child.
….
It's the middle of the night, and Lucas is laying down on his new bed, it's right in the middle of the row. The other kids are sleeping while Lucas is looking at the ceiling, it's dark and he isn't smiling.
The kids are all nice to him especially that pretty lady. For some reason it feels like he hasn't felt like this even with his parents. They were hard workers so they didn't have a lot of time to spend it with him.
The times they did spend with him felt very special, but today he had the same exact feeling. Was this a bad thing? Or was it a good one? Did Diego tell him the truth or did he lie?
Lucas looks around himself ,and he sees the other kids sleeping, they are just like him. They don't have parents, but they are happy so he should also be happy. Lucas then closes his eyes, "Thank you world for giving me a place to have fun with other kids. The only thing I don't understand is I'm not a bad person, so why am I in a bad position? I was told that only bad things happen to bad people, do I deserve to be punished?"
It's the next morning, and Lucas is eating with the other kids. "Hey you look sad." One of the girls said, she was sitting next to Lucas, and she couldn't help but stare.
"Huh? Oh, I don't know what your talking about." Lucas says.
"I just find it weird because every new kid we had cries, but you didn't. You do seem sad, but you're smiling. It's like you got over with it already by playing with us." She says.
"Oh well I'm not sad at all, I think it's because I meet someone who told me the truth already. I did cry, but he was very nice to me so I was able to calm down." Lucas says as he continues to eat.
"Oh you're a very lucky person, I cried for a week before I began to smile again. That man must been kind, but why didn't he adopt you if he was so good?" She asks.
"Well he said he couldn't take care of kids which made me feel sad, but he is trying to keep me safe as he said he wasn't prepared." Lucas says.
"That's a bit sad but I'm glad that you look just fine, but how did this happen to you?" The girl asked.
"Well my parents abandoned me, but I still believe they will return to me. I'm just going to stay here for a while. I just want to believe they still love me." Lucas says.
The girl loses her smile, and she leans forwards while grabbing his hand, "Hey, you're too close to me, and what's wrong with you? The only girl that can get this close to me is my mom when she gives me a kiss before bed." Lucas says as he tries to back a way.
"If you continue to think like that, you will only experience disappointments. Listen, I'm only telling you this because I'm trying to help you out." She said.
Lucas is just confused by this whole interaction as she leans away from him. Lucas watches as she stands up, and leaves. He then he looks down at his food.
Then a boy who seems to be twelve approaches Lucas, "Don't be too worried about what she said, she was also abandoned by her family. It's been a year since then, but she seems to be the one who understands your situation more than anyone else."
"I do believe that they will return, they love me a lot, and they can't just leave me like that." Lucas says as he looks at him.
"Listen I get it, you're trying to ignore the truth, and you don't want to accept it. No one will blame you for not accepting it this quickly. Pain takes time to heal, and you shouldn't be pressured to forget to quickly." They boy says.
"My name is Chris, and most of these other kids never knew their parents. Most of them don't even know how they look like anymore. I'm tell you this because I want to be nice, but let's be realistic, they would never return back." Chris said.
"Yeah I understand, I just want to believe in something that will make me feel happy." Lucas says.
"Oh yeah that's alright then, I'm sorry if I sounded a bit too harsh." Chris then leaves Lucas alone.
Why can't he believe in what he wants to believe? All he wants to do is to get back to his parents, but everyone is telling him to give up and forget about them.
After a few hours Lucas is now outside with a few others playing with a ball. "So how do I get over this? I want to be as happy as the rest of you all." Lucas asked as he looked at the ball.
"I just learned to forget, and distract myself. I do activities that are fun, and well I just appreciate what I have now." A boy said.
Lucas seems to like that response, they begin to play together. One thing that Lucas can't help, but do is stare outside, "How long does it take to get adopted?" Lucas asks.
The boys look at each other and one said, "We dont know, it just happens randomly, but we will when it's our turn." One of them said.
It's been a few hours, and Lucas is sitting near a window, he asks himself if he will get adopted. "I need to get over the fact that my parents don't love me, I just can't force myself to." Lucas says as he thinks hard.
Chris approaches Lucas and sits down next to him. "I get it, you're trying you best, and it's alright to feel that way. I'm sorry if I made you think to much. You're new here, and I want to look after you." Christ says.
"I've been here for years waiting to get adopted, but I don't think I'll ever be adopted. I decided to take the role of the older brother around here, I want to comfort everyone who is here."
"I'm glad that you're trying to help me out, and I'm not mad at you. I hope you get adopted soon Chris, you seem like a good person." Lucas says.
"Oh it's alright, I don't want to be adopted before others, I can still wait as I'm already used to it. I sure do hope that the man returns, and takes you in with him, he seems genuine. He looks like a person you should look up to, and I want you to live a happy life. I want to stay as when I grow up I want to work at this orphanage." Chris says as he stands up, "No one will stay a kid forever, I want you to appreciate your childhood as much as you can."