One night, the rain started pouring down the whole town without any notice. The sky hadn't shown any signs of a struggle with the dark puff's of clouds.

The wind wildly shook the branches and slowly picked up the clutter on the ground and tossed it a few distance away. Within minutes thunder shook the walls and hard bullets of rain started pelting on the window.

"Are you awake?" A tiny voice said from the below bunk. The room was eerily dark. The sharp jet of lightning bounced off the walls.

'Yeah" Nia said as another thunder rolled over. She tightly clutched the soft blanket just below her chin. There was scurry of movement below and a moment of silence until a head peaked through.

"Why aren't you sleeping, Mara?" Nia asked, her eyes still focused on the ceiling. Despite the clean bed sheets and a good meal they were provided with for the first time in their life, sleep didn't come to them this time with ease.
How could she revel in all the comfort when the other kids didn't have the same? Guilt seeped into her conscious. How could she leave everyone with whom she grew up with so easily?

"I could ask you the same" Mara retorted "Can i ask you something?" Mara had been so focused on getting out of the orphanage and the poor living conditions she was in that she hadn't realised that she have nowhere else to go now.

A sigh escaped her lips "Do i have a choice?"

"Not really" Mara gave a sheepish grin. Nia pulled the blanket over her head and mumbled a small "Ask away"

"What's our plan? What happens after we graduate from here? We don't have anywhere else to go" Mara asked worry coaxing her each word.

"Don't worry about it. We will figure something out" Nia said. Being the eldest one among the three of her friends she naturally adapted the sense of being a parent figure. Nia was a pillar, tall and strong. Sometimes Mara was under the impression that Nia had settled the weight of  the world on her tiny shoulders. Life works in mysterious ways. Sometimes they you lend a shoulder and sometimes they remove the rug from underneath when you least expect it.

"But-" Mara stopped mid sentence. Distant yet loud ringing of a bell rang through the school. Once, twice , thrice. Nia couldn't understand the madness unfolding right before her eyes.