"Do you want to play a game with me?"
Pan, who was in a daze, couldn't believe his eyes - the "big man" he had always wanted to get close to but didn't dare to get close to, Peter Ritchie, was actually standing in front of him at this moment.
Although he was carrying the light from the fire barrel, Pan could still see the smile with neat teeth on his face.
"Huh?" Peter tilted his head, "You can't speak?"
Pan quickly shook his head: "But... yes, I can talk!"
Because I was a little excited, my voice was a little strangely high-pitched.
Pan cleared his throat and stood up - he was thin and short.
"I can talk," the ugly child in front of him turned red, "I also want to play games with you..."
As if because of inferiority, his voice lowered.
In the distance, Peter Barry's friends all turned their heads and looked this way. They knew what Peter was like and wanted to imitate him, so they restrained themselves from making noises or laughing.
Hearing the other party's answer, Peter smiled even more clearly: "Okay. Let's play a game now."
Seeing Peter's signal, Pan stood up obediently.
Peter took a few steps to the side, pointed at his shadow that fell at Pan's feet and said, "This game is called shadow stepping.
"If you can step on my shadow, you can join our conversation." The young boy raised his eyebrows, "Want to give it a try?"
Pan lowered his head, seemingly still hesitating, and suddenly stepped towards Peter's shadow.
The boy took a step aside, just in time to avoid Pan's feet wearing old leather shoes.
"Wow, undeclared war. Okay."
In order to step on Peter Barry's shadow and join everyone's conversation, Pan began to try to step on Peter's shadow one step after another.
The shy child suddenly seemed alive.
Seeing this scene, some of the friends watching from a distance also had smiles on their faces.
Pan stepped on him one after another, but Peter kept dodging nimbly.
His shadow is like a nimble deer, always able to evade the hunter's tracking.
Until Pan was panting from exhaustion and holding on to his knees, he failed to step on the other party's shadow.
He raised his head, his dirty little face full of frustration.
And Peter Barry was still smiling.
Pan thought Peter was making fun of him, turned around and wanted to leave, but heard Peter say "ouch".
He looked down and saw that his leaving footsteps happened to step on Peter's shadow.
He turned around in surprise and saw the face with a "helpless" smile: "It seems that we can only let you join us."
After saying that, he took Pan and walked towards the fire barrel.
As if in a dream, Pan squeezed in next to a group of children who looked older than him.
By the light of the fire barrel, everyone could clearly see the face of the child who had been hiding far away.
After seeing Pan's appearance clearly, Mike Downs finally understood why the adults in the downtown area were alienating this child.
It can be said that Pan is a bit ugly, even a bit strange.
He has dark brown curly hair, and the distance between his eyes is wider than that of ordinary people.
The shape of the pupils is also very strange, like the eyes of a goat.
But at this moment, he had a smile on his face, slightly diluting some of the abnormalities in his facial features...
"Okay, according to the rules, you have to introduce yourself." Peter sat back in his seat, holding his hands on his thighs and said easily.
Under everyone's gaze, this shy child did not dare to make eye contact with anyone. He just lowered his head and spoke in a low voice: "I don't remember..."
"What did you say?" Foley put his hands over his ears.
"I said I don't remember..." Pan looked like he was about to run away, but still said in a slightly louder voice, "I only remember that my name is Pan."
Peter looked at the child with some curiosity: "Don't remember? Have you lost your memory?"
"Amnesia..." Pan raised his head, as if he only dared to look at Peter, "Probably he has amnesia."
"You don't even remember your parents' names?"
Pan shook his head vigorously...
After this question and answer, everyone gradually came to know Pan’s current situation——
He has lost a lot of memories inexplicably. Now he lives alone in a house with no adults to take care of him. He relies on the help of his neighbors and goes to the streets to sell newspapers and collect scraps...
After hearing Pan's life experience, all the children fell silent.
Some of them have always felt aggrieved about their origins, but at this moment they had to admit that the ugly child in front of them was in a much worse situation than them.
At least, they can still have a full meal now.
But Pan was always hungry and satisfied after every meal.
As he continued to ask questions, Pan gradually got rid of his initial shyness and was able to express himself more freely.
At the end, his words made everyone look at him sympathetically.
For some reason, the fire seemed to dim around him at that moment. Pan lowered his head and said with some depression: "Actually, everything is nothing...cold, hunger or darkness, these can all be endured...
"What I fear most is actually loneliness."
"Like a dark night that never dawns,
"This night seems to have lasted a long time..."
As if revealing the hidden fear in everyone's heart, the children sitting by the fire fell silent.
"So..." Peter broke the silence, "That's why you are sitting far away and want to join us?"
Pan nodded.
Peter's tone was more relaxed, as if he wanted to ease the overly depressed atmosphere: "Then, you are welcome to join."
Pan seemed a little disbelieving. He sat up straight, his eyes sparkling: "I, can I really play with you?"
Seeing Peter nod, the smallest child jumped up and cheered uncoordinatedly.
Almost everyone laughed, except for Mike Downes, who didn't have a smile on his face.
He quietly stared at Pan's face that was flushed with excitement...
I don't know why, but Mike doesn't like Pan.
It's not because of his weird appearance, he just has an indescribable feeling of disgust...
However, Peter said he was welcome to join, and Mike could only remain silent and accept it.
He respected Peter's opinion. He decided to try to accept this somewhat strange child in the days to come.
It is precisely for this reason that Mike pays special attention to Pan - he often secretly observes this child with a tragic life experience.
After paying more attention, Mike first confirmed that Pan had not lied about his life experience and living conditions.
In addition, he would often see Pan alone in a daze.
Sometimes facing a wall, sometimes facing a deserted alley, sometimes standing in the corridor going home.
Occasionally, when he is in a daze, he will have a very frightened expression on his face...
These strange behaviors led Mike to speculate that Pan had indeed suffered from terrible amnesia.
Because they often acted together and because of Pan's several positive performances, he finally got Peter's cookies and joined their core group.
Since it was confirmed that Pan had not concealed or lied about his situation, although the disgust did not subside, Mike still acquiesced to this arrangement.
On his first night after joining the core group, Pan was taken to their "secret base" for a routine "ritual."
After gently ascending to the rooftop, everyone received a candle.
Holding lit candles in their hands, they followed Peter towards an abandoned empty room on the rooftop.
At that time, a crescent moon hung in the sky, night cats were calling in the corridor, and the sound of drunkards singing floated in the evening breeze.
In the flickering candlelight, Pan opened his eyes wide, feeling extremely novel about what he was going to see next.
