"Fighting My Own Fate"

A quiet, simple boy is out there right now, doing daily wage labor in the city — trying to pull his parents out of debt, trying to give them a better life, trying to chase his own dreams, trying to change his own fate. He's fighting his own destiny with everything he's got. Now you're probably wondering — who is this? Who am I even talking about? Hold on, let me tell you. I'm talking about Reyan. The same Reyan who hated his own poverty since childhood — but loved his parents and sister just as fiercely. From the moment he was born into this world, people started picking on him, because even as a baby, he'd just sit there quietly, finger in his mouth, watching everyone. His mom used to tell him, "You're quiet and innocent now, but you were even more quiet and innocent than this when you were little." As he got older, it only got worse. Some called him "shy," others called him "the silent one" — because he barely spoke to anyone. Whenever he met someone new, it took him a while to open up. Reyan had a good heart, but people never really understood that. To them, he just seemed... off. They'd say it right to his face — "He just stays quiet, he's shy, he doesn't talk" — whatever crossed their minds, they'd say it without thinking twice. He was sick of it. When he moved from 4th grade to 5th grade, his love for studying grew a lot. He went to school every single day — it was about a kilometer from his village, and he'd walk there with his friends. He was getting sharper, smarter with his studies — but poverty had other plans. Right as he moved into 5th grade, the friends who lived near him also moved up — but to a different school, in a city 21 kilometers away from the village, where they stayed in a hostel. Reyan was left completely alone. He still had his cousin — his uncle's daughter — in his class, along with a few girls from the village, but among the boys, he was the only one left behind. After two or three months, he managed to make a couple of friends — kids from the same village who came to study there. Things were going fine, everything seemed to be falling into place — but fate had other ideas. The next year, when it was time for him to move to 6th grade, his friends who lived nearby and stayed at the hostel told him all about it — free breakfast, fruits, milk, all the food you could want, and so much fun, doing this, doing that. Hearing all this, his interest started growing. He wanted to live at that hostel with them — his childhood friends were there, there were so many perks, and on top of that, he was still young enough that his mind naturally wandered toward the excitement of it all. Talk started at home too, about sending him to the hostel with his friends. He was thrilled. And the other kids from his village who were also moving to 5th grade — their families started talking about enrolling them too. So the two who were already there, plus five more joining — that made seven of them altogether. When summer break ended and school was about to start again, Reyan and his six friends all headed off together to study at the hostel. Two of the boys with them had already spent a year there, so they knew the place and the city inside out. They started explaining everything — "This is the ward," "The bathroom's over here," "You can wash your clothes here" — filling them in on everything. It was the first day for Reyan and the other four newcomers, and they were thrilled, completely fascinated by everything around them. Their first night passed, morning came. All seven of them woke up bright and early — while the seniors, who'd already been living there, were just about to wake up. Counting everyone, there were about 20-21 boys at that hostel, and one woman who worked there, cooking meals for all of them. So they were up early — but their mischief started early too. Their fun and games kicked off right away. The seniors woke up and started yelling at Reyan's two friends — the ones who'd already spent a year there — "You two know better! Waking up early with these new kids, messing around, playing games — you ruined our sleep!" Well, morning had come regardless — the seven of them showered, got ready, ate breakfast, and headed off to school. Among the seven, Reyan and his two friends who already attended that school were in 6th grade, so they went to a different classroom. The other four went to a separate 5th-grade classroom. It was the first day of school for Reyan and his friends. He felt a little strange, because before coming to the hostel, he genuinely believed, "I'm so smart, who could possibly be smarter than me here?" But once he arrived, he realized he was nothing compared to the other students. The teacher called him up in front of the classroom and said, "Who's the new student? Stand up." Reyan stood, along with two or three other new students in the class. They introduced themselves. And just like that, the first day of school wrapped up nicely. The seven of them headed back to the hostel, dropped their bags, and went straight to the school field to play. Since they were all from the village, they had that mischievous, rowdy energy — the same way they used to goof around back home. Days passed like this. Some nights, one of them would cry, missing their mom and dad; another would miss the village. Reyan started feeling it too — "Where have we ended up? Where's that freedom we had back in the village, and where's this place that feels like a prison?" It felt like they'd been dropped into an entirely different world. As the days went on, they slowly started bonding with the older seniors. Bit by bit, the warden's true colors started showing too — if they woke up even a little late, she'd hit them with a stick; if they didn't study at night, same thing — the stick came out. Some time later, the warden announced they needed to form groups for distributing food — pick a partner. A boy chose Reyan as his partner; the other six paired up among themselves. After school, in the evenings, they had to cook and take turns fetching water too. Little by little, it all became routine. And then, of course, their mischief kicked back into gear. Sometimes after school let out, they'd head to the pond across from the school — chasing pigs, pulling stunts, climbing on top of each other. As soon as the hostel warden found out they were pulling stunts like that at the pond, she turned into a kid herself with them — blasting music on the home theater, saying, "Alright, now dance!" And of course, that was all the invitation they needed — climbing on top of each other again, showing off their "talents." See, their hostel was tucked into a maze of narrow streets — surrounded by houses on every side, front, back, everywhere. The neighbors started noticing them too, joking around and laughing with them. By now, they'd fully blended in with everyone around them. Then one day, something happened. Reyan, along with two friends — one named Marcus and the other named Alex — three of the seven headed into the city to hang out. That's when they spotted some toys thrown out beneath a window on the outside wall of someone's house. But what they didn't know was that behind that same house, along the back wall — 15 to 16 stray dogs sat there, eyes locked on all three of them...