Hide's 100-word story for May 11, 2025

Hide wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on May 11, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

They call it an orphanage, but we knew better. The pale people came to “adopt” us, and my friends left with them one by one. At first we believed them, that we’d be taken to new homes and fed and loved. But then they didn’t answer any of our letters. And little boxes started coming back, the same size as Pradeep and Ankit and Lili. Fatima dared me to touch one, so I poked it. The next day my finger turned black and fell off. Part of me is relieved, though. Maybe now they won’t want to take me too.

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