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Chapter 2:
A few months later, Winston hasn't gotten used to the odd quarantine his parents are imposing on him. No matter how much he tried to just sleep in the dark, spacious room, it brought him the same terror every month.
"You don't look well; you got thinner too," Roan commented.
Roan, his friend, was three years younger than him, but they got along very well. They first met when he and his girlfriend saved him from getting bullied just because he was an orphan. They became close afterwards and occasionally hang out.
The two of them met on the street on their way home, and they decided to play in the arcade for a moment.
"Really?" he bluntly responded, while focusing on shooting down the zombies on the screen.
"Is there a problem at school? Are you getting bullied?" Roan asked worriedly.
Winston stopped playing and laughed at what Roan said.
"Bullied? Me? Who would dare to bully me, Roan?" he said, as there was no way other kids could bully him. He is pretty large and taller than average teenagers, and he plays taekwondo.
"Then what happened? You can tell me if there's something bothering you."
"Hmmm..."
Winston had to think for a moment before he could respond to his friend.
He said, "I actually, I mean, my parents locked me up in a dark, empty room at night and then they would free me the next morning. They do it every month without fail. I just can't get used to it."
"Huh? I thought orphanages only did that kind of disciplining. Oh, normal parents do it too," Roan said, nodding his head as if Winston's words were quite normal, but it gave Winston a little bit of relief that his parents weren't doing any strange things at all. He was glad that other kids were experiencing the same thing, even if it was like torture.
"You too?"
"Yes! Is it your first time experiencing it? I was so scared on my first time too.. the darkness.. The empty space.. the extreme silence makes me..,"
"Sleepless and nauseous!"
"Sleepless and nauseous!"
Winston's expression brightens as soon as they say the same thing in chorus. He felt relieved that he had found someone with whom he could talk about the isolation he was experiencing.
However, the things they thought were the same aren't similar at all.
Toto was referring to the disciplining room for misbehaving children at the orphanage. It's a room for the children to repent, and the room is pretty normal, unlike in Randell's isolation room with thick walls. The two of them didn't realize the difference between the rooms. Also, the purpose of isolation is far different.
"So it was just a room to carve children to be good?" Randell asked again after he heard Toto's story about the dark room at the orphanage.
"Yes, it was the sisters always told us. You don't have to worry much. I was literally scared of that room for the first time, but soon realized it was just an empty room and nothing else was there. There's nothing to fear. Just sleep, and things will be over soon."
"How can you even sleep in that kind of room? I can't, no matter how hard I try."
"Just think of other things to distract you. Focus a little on the dark room. The more you think about your situation, the more you can't sleep. Ahh! The new girl in the orphanage told me she chanted nursery rhymes to make herself sleep easily! I tried it once, and it is very effective!"
"Really?"
Toto slightly lightened that afternoon, Randell, who had a heavy heart from experiencing the dark room up.
Gulp!
He gulped his own saliva once he was back in front of the prison-like room again.
"See you tomorrow, son," his mother said as she escorted him inside.
Bang!
The loud sound from the closing of the heavy door is always the last sound Randell can hear clearly whenever he goes inside.
"I can sleep today!" he told himself while he thought about Toto's advice.
He lied down on the bed and tightly closed his eyes.
"Nursery rhyme..." he mumbled as he started to choose a children's song in his head.
hmmm hmmmm hmmmm
He began by humming the song, and soon his tightly closed eyes relaxed.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
He continued to sing the song slowly and softly, until the supposed fun rhythm of the song turned gloomy.
The tune does not matter as he continues to sing the song until he realizes the nursery rhyme was somewhat effective.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall.
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.
Even though he keeps repeating the same song lyrics, the song is making him forget everything around him and he feels like sleep can finally visit him.