**Diary Entry 4th June, 2024**
*”Were you the man who left me at the orphanage?”* I asked the stranger, spotting the same birthmark on his chest as mine.
*”Right, lads, time for me to go!”* I shouted, jumping onto the moving trains step. My mates waved from the platform, one of them trying to get in a last word. I grinned.
Three years had passed since I returned from the army. In that time, Id landed a job, started university through distance learning. But just packing up and leaving for another city? That was a first.
My friends and I shared a historythe care home. Orphans as kids, now adults with dreams, plans, our own paths.
Annie and Pete had married, taken out a mortgage, and were expecting. I was chuffed for them, a little enviousthe good kindbecause I wanted that too. But life had other plans.
From my earliest days at the home, Id wondered: *Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here?*
Memories were foggy, like fragments of a dream, but deep down, I held onto a warmthsomething good from before. The only clue? A man had brought me. Well-dressed, in his thirties.
Old Nora, the cleaner who hadnt retired yet, told me about him.
*”I was sharper back then,”* shed say. *”Saw him under the streetlamp, holding a little boys hand. Serious, talking to the lad like he was grown. Thengone. Quick as a flash.”*
Shed know him if she saw him again. *”Nose like a hawks beak. No car, so he was local. Didnt even glove the boys hands.”*
I remembered none of it. But over the years, I reckoned he mustve been my father. My mother? A mystery.
Still, Id arrived at the home well-kept, dressed neat. Only one thing stood outa large, pale birthmark stretching across my chest. At first, they thought it a burn. Later, doctors called it rare, hereditary.
*”What, Nora, you want me checking strangers chests at the beach now?”* Id joke.
But shed just sigh. To me, she was family. After I aged out, she took me in. *”Stay with me till you get proper digs. No squatting in rented holes.”*
Id held back tearsI was a man now. But how could I forget running to her storeroom after a beating, sobbing into her lap?
Id always fought back, even against older lads. Shed stroke my hair and say, *”Youre good, honestbut life wont be kind for it.”*
Took years to understand.
Annie had been at the home since birth. Pete came later, when I was eleven. Scrawny, tall me; quiet, fragile him. His parents had diedfake vodka. At first, he kept to himself.
Then one day bound us three togethernot by blood, but something truer.
Annie was bullied. Ginger, small, shyperfect prey. That day, the older kids were vicious. I stepped in. Ten minutes later, I was on the ground, shielding my face. Annie swung her satchel like a sword.
Suddenlysilence. Pete pulled me up.
*”Whyd you jump in? Cant even throw a punch!”*
*”Just watch her get battered?”*
Pete thought, then offered his hand. *”Youre alright. Shake on it?”*
From then, we were brothers.
Annie stared at me, starstruck. I smirked. *”Close your mouthyoull catch flies.”*
Pete laughed. *”Listen, kid, youre under my wing now. Tell anyone who bothers you.”*
He trained me proper after that. Boring at firstId ratherve readbut Pete knew how to push. Soon, my gym marks shot up, muscles hardened, girls noticed.
Pete left the home first. Annie cried. He hugged her. *”Ill be back. Never lied to you, have I?”*
He did returnoncethen joined the army. Came back in uniform, flowers in hand, to find Annie packing.
*”Im here for you. Couldnt stand it without you.”*
Shed blossomed. When she turned, Pete dropped the bouquet. *”Blimey. Youre a vision. Fancy being my wife?”*
She grinned. *”Alright. Youre not bad yourself.”*
After service, Pete was posted where I was headed now. Id visit them, meet their kidId be godfather, no question.
Id splurged on first class this time. Needed rest before workI was a steeplejack now. Good pay, no overtime, time for studies and mates.
As I settled in, shouting erupted outside. Some bloke demanding a compartment cleared. I ignored ittill a womans voice, trembling like Noras, cut through.
Peeking out, I saw a terrified attendant. *”Some toff,”* she whispered. *”Elderly woman knocked his tea over. Now hes acting like shes committed murder.”*
The man roared. *”Get out, you old crone! Stinking up the place!”*
I stepped forward. *”Ease off. Shes paid her fare same as you.”*
*”Know who I am? One call, and youre off this train!”*
*”Dont care who you are. Jaws break the sametoff or not.”*
He froze. I turned to the woman. *”Come with me. Take my compartment.”*
Tears welled in her eyesgratitude. The attendant watched, impressed. Back in her compartment, I tossed my bag down, unbuttoned my shirt. The man paled.
*”Whats that on your chest?”*
*”Birthmark. Not contagious.”*
*”Christ”*
He sank onto the seat, fumbling with his own buttons. Beneaththe same mark.
*”You left me at the orphanage.”*
*”Yes. I was a coward. Your mother, Marina She came to me, dying. Begged me to take you. But my wife was due homeI panicked. Took you there, then we moved. Years later, Marina found me. Treatment workedshed lived, searched for you. I told her you were dead.”*
*”Where is she now?”*
*”Care home. Had a stroke two years back. In your city.”*
I said nothing, stepped out. The attendantKatiehad heard everything. *”You can rest with me if you like.”*
I called in sick, and Katie came with me. Too scared to go alone.
*”Marina admitted post-stroke two years ago?”*
*”Yes. Marina Phillips. Lovely woman. Always said she had no oneson was dead. You?”*
I shrugged. *”Maybe her son. If its really her.”*
The woman in the wheelchair looked up from knitting. Smiled. The nurse gasped.
*”Youre the spitting image!”*
Marina dropped her yarn. *”I always knew you were alive. Felt it.”*
Two years on. Marinas rehab, paid for by me, worked. She reads to our son now, while Katiemy wifeprepares dinner. Tonight, we learned shes pregnant again
Lifes full of turns youd never believetill they happen. Funny how fate ties loose ends when you least expect. Makes you wonder what else is waiting just around the corner.
