Coalesce – Aarushi Shetty

Alfred beams at him with pride. Peter has come a long way since he adopted him from an orphanage five years ago. He taught him reading and writing, playing chess and painting. The boy became his ward.

The boy nods whilst leaving the room, leafing through the pages of the book. He smiles at Alfred’s generosity. The days in the orphanage were bad but he remembers very little from then. As a boy he was made to clean machines in a textile factory whilst they were still running. It’s truly a miracle that the boy survived the machines without losing a single finger. He doesn’t remember much of those days.  He does remember being hungry for long hours and fatigued by the time he went to bed. He stopped to stare at the door to his bedroom for a couple of moments. “Did I even have a bed in the orphanage?” he whispers to himself struggling to remember, then shrugs his shoulders and enters the room. He started looking at the pictures of the new structures being built in London whilst sitting on the single bed in his room.

An hour later Alfred receives a letter from his parents, which he reads whilst having breakfast. He has few memories of his father who travelled for the better part of his life. They were embarrassed of him because of his infection by polio. When he was admitted to The Royal Society of Bio-Mechanical Augmentation, his parents fled from England and settled in India to avoid any association with him. His defective limb was replaced with a mechanical one. As he reads the letter, he ignores all the words of endearment and well-wishes from them. He opens a second envelope which has a cheque for his living expenses, he smiles.

At about ten in the morning, a Valet is brushing Alfred’s coat as he sees himself in a mirror. His handlebar moustache is groomed well, his hair is brushed. The artificial leg is left naked to avoid any damage to the clockwork from the fabric, the trouser reaches his knee instead. The Valet places a silk top-hat on his head, hands him a wooden cane with a copper handle and he is ready for the appointment with the doctor.

“Peter!” Alfred makes his way towards the main entrance to the manor. Peter runs towards him holding a cap in his hand. He is wearing stout trousers with a shirt which has a stiff rounded collar accompanied by a tie. Over the shirt he is wearing a vest and a jacket. Alfred smiles when he sees that his old clothes are a perfect fit for the boy. He watches Peter’s legs as they move in a synchronised fashion, they look strong. He then looks at his synthetic one as he thinks to himself, would he ever be that strong? Peter stops in front of him and smiles.

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