King of Locusts | ✔

Chapter 6

Roughly a year had passed since Lunan's arrival at Higgins' Orphanage, and as the months came and went, so too did his hopes for adoption. During one of his monthly meetings with Mary, they discussed his future at the orphanage and what he could realistically expect concerning his prospects.

"Although you're eleven years old," she said, "There's still a decent chance a loving family will welcome you to their home."

That day had yet to come. Believing in his caretaker's words, Lunan held onto the hope of an expedient adoption until four more months had passed, marking his sixth month without meeting anyone. One day when browsing online, Lunan wanted to confirm the veracity of Mary's claim, and was dismayed by her deception.

She knew that Lunan had already passed the upper limits of peak adoption age. The chance of getting adopted decreased sharply after age ten, when the kids looked less fresh faced and their eyes were more hardened. Every day for Lunan between his tenth and eleventh birthday was a steady countdown to the gates of freedom and opportunity closing until he turned eighteen. Fortunately, for Lunan, about a month later, potential adopters visited the orphanage. As the new year came into fruition, the symbolic time encouraged people to consider adoption.

Although if they really cared, thought Lunan, they wouldn't wait until it was fashionably acceptable to start looking.

In spite of Lunan's cynicism, he wasn't one to balk at opportunities. He figured he had some things going for him, recalling the many times women would stop him and his mother in the supermarket to fawn over his enchanting, mismatched eyes. Indeed, the child garnered much attention from visitors. Lunan endeavored to make a good impression, but like his efforts to make friends, they were in vain.

For the remainder of his eleventh year, he watched with heartbreak as every potential adoption fell apart. There were two groups of people that took interest in him. The first were the ones that commodified him, seeing Lunan with a sense of amazement, but never looking beyond his appearance. Although Lunan wasn't fond of these people, his desperation pushed him, and it still hurt when they inevitably rejected him because his background clashed with their desired aesthetic.

The second group's rejection cut deeper because he actually wanted them to take him home. Those families were genuine in their interest and many of them visited Lunan on a frequent basis; one of those families was even kind enough to take him out for ice cream on multiple occasions. The most recent of this kind to turn him down was an elderly couple suffering from empty nest syndrome. By the time Mary shed the unfortunate news, it was the fifth ideal family that passed him over. Lunan had no outward reaction, although his heart clenched painfully when she shared the news. In spite of his regret, his curiosity persisted.

"Did they say why they're not interested anymore?" he asked.

'Why does no one want me?,' is what he wanted to say.

Mary huffed. "It's a bunch of nonsense. They said something about having bad dreams about the adoption. They even visited a psychic who told them the dreams were bad omens. I can't believe people are still so superstitious these days."

"Yeah," is all Lunan could force out. After Mary departed with more kind words, Lunan processed the full weight of what she said.

He immediately thought of Heather. Who was he to call on spirits and order them around, to drive someone to their emotional breaking point no matter how much they hurt him? Lunan didn't believe in karmic justice, but it certainly seemed like the universe was punishing him for his decision. If this was the consequence for hurting Heather, no matter how much he felt she deserved it, he would bear it as stoically as he could manage.