Liam sat on the cracked stone steps of the orphanage courtyard, his legs swinging back and forth as he watched the morning sun wash over the other children. They were lined up neatly, hair combed, faces scrubbed, clothes straightened—waiting for the visiting families who came every few weeks to “browse.” That was the word the caretakers used. Browse. As if children were items on a shelf.
Liam hugged his stuffed cloth rabbit tighter. It was old, one eye missing, but it was the first thing he had been given when he arrived at the orphanage at age two—before he understood what the word abandoned meant. The caretakers said it so often he now felt it stuck to him like a label.
“Don’t bother standing there,” one of the older boys, Niko, muttered as he passed. “No one picks you.”
The other children snickered. Liam didn’t argue. He simply adjusted his bright smile, the smile he practiced in front of the cracked bathroom mirror every morning. Maybe, just maybe, today would be the day.
A couple approached the children. The woman bent down, gently holding the hands of a small girl named Mina. Mina’s eyes sparkled, her cheeks pink with excitement. Liam watched silently, wishing—just once—that someone would hold his hand like that.
The couple examined Mina’s papers. They took a few steps away, talking softly, before returning to lift her into their arms. Mina squealed with joy, her laughter echoing through the yard as she waved at the children she was leaving behind.
Liam waved back, smile trembling but determined. He always tried to be happy for the ones who were chosen.
“You’re pretending again,” whispered Jonah, another boy. “You’re sad. We can see it.”
Liam kept smiling. “It’s okay. I’m happy for Mina.”
“You’re lying,” Jonah said bluntly. “Your parents left you. Nobody wants someone that even their own parents didn’t want.”
The words shot through Liam, sharp but familiar. Heard too many times to ignore, but too painful to ever get used to. He lowered his gaze, hugging the rabbit so tightly the seams stretched.
A caretaker, Miss Karla, walked by and ruffled Jonah’s hair. “Stop bothering him. Some children don’t understand their situation yet,” she said, giving Liam a pointed look. “He still thinks someone will come for him.”
Liam’s stomach dropped. Why did adults always say things like that around him? As if he was the foolish one for hoping.
The rest of the day passed quietly. Liam swept floors, folded sheets, and helped the younger children with their shoes. He tried to be useful. Useful children, he believed, were easier to love.
At night, he sat by the small window in the dormitory, knees pulled to his chest. Outside, the moon glowed softly, almost kindly, as if whispering to him that somewhere out there, someone was looking for him. Not because they had to. But because they loved him.
Maybe his parents hadn’t abandoned him. Maybe something happened. Maybe they were searching but couldn’t find him yet.
But then he remembered the words of the caretakers: “Face the truth. If someone wanted you, they would’ve come.”
A tear slipped down his cheek. He quickly wiped it away before anyone noticed.
Still… the moon felt like a promise.
Liam wasn’t sure what the future held. But he made a quiet wish before closing his eyes—
“Please… let me matter to someone.”
He didn’t know it yet, but his life was about to change. Someone was coming.
Someone who would take him away.
But not for the reasons he hoped.
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