This is the story of the hyperactive sandwich-monster

This story is about a boy.
One of our trolls.
He is 7 years old and lives in Langa with his mother.

Chapter I: The accident
A few years back this kid was in a car.
The car was in an accident. He lost his eye sight in one of his eyes. Ever since, his non-functional eye is half-closed and he squints with the other one.

Chapter II: The abuse
The mother.
Alcohol. Floods of it.
She is a slave under it. Under the influence she tends to neglect and even totally forget about the existence of her son.
The neighbor.
He is an old man, 81 to be precise. He walks by to check things up.
Lingering. Observing.
Rape.
Report to the police.
Nothing happens. Noone reacts. Noone bothers.
Still around the corner. Watching the little child play.
Still there. Just waiting...

Chapter III: The hunger

During our last excursion we noticed something odd in the cafeteria.
Something terrifying really.
Chock.
All the kids arrived (soaked from the heavy rain outside) to have breakfast in the morning. They each got a sandwich and a mug of juice. Everyone was talking, cheering, laughing and eating.
Everyone except one.
He did not speak. He did not have time to grin. He did not see the people around him. He did not eat.
He devoured. He could not get the sandwich down fast enough. The way you only throw yourself over food if you have not had any. In a long time.
He grabbed all the leftovers from the kids around him and inhaled them without breathing.
He was starving.

Chapter IV: The hyperactiveness
This kid cannot stand still. He constantly runs around, hitting his playmates, yelling for no reason.
He is a real mess.
Out of control.
One can perceive he is broken. A complete wreck on the inside, doing anything not to let the memories catch up with him. The things he has seen, heard and felt.
Panic. Forget. Suppress. Destroy. Eradicate. Run. Panic.

Chapter V: The calm 
A movie was playing in our "cinema room". Everyone was quiet, enchanted.
He did not watch the movie. Instead, he was turned the other way, glancing at me in silence.
I sat on the floor in the corner, with two trolls in my lap.
After a while he closed in on me. Slowly.
Suddenly he sat next to me and without a word he took my hand.
Closer.
He put his little head against my arm and held me so hard.
In that instant he calmed down. Almost like a collapse of pure peace.
He did not move an inch, all he did was breathe in the dark.
Safe.
A moment of serenity.
Just hold me.

His story. A piece of it.

He always smiles when he arrives.
Every single time.