Untitled; Chapter Two

Topo was working on his fifteenth bucket of water, carrying them back and forth from the creek to the fire. By this time, his first bucket was done filtering and a bunch of very tired orphan boys were slurping the water down. He heard stomping footsteps and saw a couple of boys out of the corner of his eye kneel by the creek and drink from it. One stood up and said to him, "Hey water boy!" Topo turned to him. He saw a swift movement of the boy's arm and the next thing he knew, there was a stinging like no other in Topo's face and eyes. In much pain, he dropped the bucket and covered his eyes and face and shouted. He could barely hear the boys' laughing at him.

He heard more footsteps and felt a hand on his shoulder. A man was saying, "Topo! Topo, are you alright? What happened-" The man stopped and then sighed. He lead Topo away from the creek. He heard more voices, some girls, some boys, but a woman's voice stood out, "What happened Mr. Kurring?" The man, Mr. Kurring explained, "That boy, Alfa, hit Topo in the face with an uncooled Foco Gourd." A Foco Gourd was a fruit that hung from a Volcan tree. The gourd was extremely hot and orphans would sit the gourd in Silver Creek until it had cooled and threw it at each other, where they were like bags of water. Alfa, though, had not let it cool in Silver Creek. Topo heard orphans saying, "Ooo." and "Ouch, that had to hurt."

Mr. Kurring sat Topo down on a chair with a cool, squishy substance which Mr. Kurring poured on Topo's face. "This is Hielo Liquid, from the Hielo Plant. It's a substance in the plant which heals burns. There are no visible burns to your face, although it is red and will remain that way for about thirty minutes. Sit here with your eyes and mouth shut and I'll come back for you in a little while." A long time passed and finally Mr. Kurring came and wiped the substance from Topo's face. As soon as he finished Topo saw many orphans running to the back of the orphanage, shouting, "A new comer! A new comer!" Mr. Kurring and Topo ran to the well in the back of the orphanage, eager to see the new orphan that had arrived.
*****
After what seemed like an hour, hard rock smash beneath him.He at first saw light, then felt himself pass out, he thought it was. He heard voices and forced his eyes to open. He was looking up and saw a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. "Holy-" he said aloud, his voice hoarse and barely a whisper. He sat up, with much pain and effort. He stared at the light and faces began to form. He heard someone shout, "Lower the crate! Lower the crate!" A figure moved and something big and square appeared in the light. It slowly began to get bigger and bigger. He then realised it wasn't getting bigger; it was getting closer.

It finally reached him and it was a box. He simply stared at it, not knowing what to do. "Get in!" He heard someone from above say. He groggily climbed in and heard someone yell, "Crank it up, Mince!" The crate began to lift up towards the light. Eventually he came to the top and many gathered around him, pulling him out of the crate. They pulled him to his feet, where he felt grimy dirt beneath his bare feet. The crowd of children in grungy, white clothes parted and a man came through with a boy behind him. The boy's face was a bit red and he had dirty blonde hair and eyes that looked like they used to be a pretty blue color. The man spoke, "I'm Mr. Kurring. Do you know your name?" He thought it was a stupid question until he began to think it over, and realised he didn't. "Bloody hell." He whispered. A girl with short, red hair said with an Australian accent, "This one's from England!"

The man touched him on his shoulder, "Come with me. I'll tell you about where you are." The man took him away and explained that the boy had fallen from somewhere and into the Well of the Abandoned, where he then ended up here, at the Arana Valle Orphanage. Legend says a boy fell into the well and later met others who fell in. They started a civilization and as more children came through and the boy and others grew older, they made it into an orphanage. "You'll live here and in a few days, when we come to know you better, we'll take you to Mr. Regalare. He's an italian man who hears from the other children the characteristic that stands out from you the most. Take this boy, for example." He pointed to the red faced boy. "He was very shy and quiet when he came here, so Mr. Regalare called him Topo, Italian for mouse."

He listened to the man ramble on about their customs and such and the man promised he would learn more from the Noche Fire celebration later on that night.