New Life

"Argh..."

The boy groaned and held his head that was in pain, he grudgingly opened his eyes that seemed difficult to and looked around. He saw himself lying on an old bed in a small old room with few things inside.

"Where the hell am I this time around?" he frustratingly asked the air, "So, despite the misfortunes I had in my previous reincarnations I still ended up in a shabby place like this? this is heavens playing soccer with my destiny....."

The boy got up still mumbling some incoherent words to himself and walked around the room in search of anything and when unfortunately he didn't find anything useful, he sighed and left the house.

Standing outside the door of his shabby one-room he looked around his environment and he could see were trees and birds.

"Seriously? Seriously! this is where my final reincarnation took me to? how did I end up living in a bush like this?" the boy cursed out venting his anger on the innocent trees and birds. "Where to go from here?" 

Without getting an answer from anywhere, the boy sighed and faced west, he decided to go in that direction and see where it would take him to.

***

After walking for a complete one hour, the boys walks into a village filled with people, the place seemed to be a market.

 The people were all going up and down dealing with their business. From time to time people would stop what they were doing and cast the unhealthy-looking boy a glance then shake their heads in pity and go back to what they are doing. 

The young boy kept mumbling under his breath cursing the heavens for toiling with his destiny and cursing people that wouldn't stop feeling pity for him. He kept walking with no direction until someone called him from the left side.

"Kid, come over here!" The middle-aged man called to the boy. The boy after contemplating for a while decided to go meet the man and know why he was calling him.

"You called me?" he asked upon getting to the man.

"Yes, boy, I did. What's yah name?" the man asked bringing out a seat for the boy?

The boy tried to remember his name but nothing was coming forth in his brain, he sighed and decided to ask the man for a name. "Sir, I'm an orphan and it happens that I do not have a name."

"Ah! it's alright, I have a name for you but I don't know if you'll like it," the man said to the boy.

The boy seeing how happy the man looked when talking about the name didn't know what to say but in the end, he agreed. "Any name is fine sir, as long as it doesn't belong to some animal."

The man laughed at the boy's words for a while and when the laugh had come down, he wiped away the tears in his eyes with the end of his clothes. "I wouldn't dare give you such a name, I'll call you Gavin, how does it sound?" the man asked excitedly. 

'Gavin?...'

"Sounds cool, I like it....."

"Haha, I know you would like it," the man said happily, his happiness was like that of a little birthday girl. "Come inside my Inn, you need to eat," the man wore his apron and walked inside the building, Gavin had wanted to refute but before he could say a word, the man had already gone inside, sighing deeply he had no choice but to go in as well.

"Here, have a seat while I go get the food," the man pointed to one of the chairs and left Gavin who kept looking around the place. One of his observations was that there was not a single customer in the man's Inn, Nevertheless, he took a seat on one of the chairs and waited for the man.

"Here you go," the man said while carrying a full tray of food, Gavin saw this and widened his eyes in surprise. He was truly hungry but didn't expect the man to bring so much of the food.

"Gavin, why aren't you eating? don't you like it?" asked the man in disappointment. It was more than fifty seconds that he had placed the food on the table but Gavin wasn't responding by eating. 

Gavin, in his part, was lost in his thoughts while still staring at the tray of food, 'This man looks nice to me but his niceness is giving me creeps, might take long before I learn to trust him'

"Gavin? Gavin!.." the man called with a worried look.

"Yes...."

"What is the issue? don't you like it?" the man asked still worried.

"No sir, I was lost in thoughts but I do like the food, Thank you," Gavin replied and began to eat. He looked at the man and saw his now smiling face which still gave him a creepy feeling.

****

This is your room the next one is mine, the kitchen is over there and the bathroom over there. You'll be staying here with me for as long as you want." 

The man after Gavin had finished eating closed his Inn and took him to his home which was not too far from the market. A small building with a dwarf gate, the house looked old but it was neatly kept and organised.

"But sir, how do you know that I need a place to stay and why are you been so nice to me?" Gavin finally asked. He couldn't keep it in again, the creepy feelings were eating deeper into his body that he no longer felt himself.

"You know, I was waiting for that question and finally you asked which is good," said the man causing Gavin to be confused. The man saw the confused look on the boy's face and let out a light chuckle before he began to talk again. "It is normal you ask a question like that considering the way I'm being nice to you. It's been thirty years since I lost my family to some monsters on one of our journeys since then I've been living alone with no one around to help me or keep me company. I have spent years in this village but have never come across a child that piqued my interest the way you did, with you by my side I'm sure to spend my old years in peace of mind, hope you won't leave?" 

The sudden question shocked Gavin and he didn't know what to say to the man.

Seeing the boy's hesitation, the man let out a wry chuckle, "It's okay kid, I won't force you to stay. You can go whenever you want alright?"

Gavin felt better after hearing what the man said but at the same time didn't feel happy too.