He curled his legs up, allowing them to hit his chin as he buried his face in his knees. It was one afternoon when Maria was alive that she brought up the curse of Merror Hill. His back was pressed against the door and he could feel her on the other side. This was their way of touching. She started off by asking,

     “Do you know the curse of Merror Hill?”

     He didn't know what Merror Hill was. It sounded like a foreign object. But then again, everything sounded foreign to him as if he was a toddler learning about the world around him. 

    Though his world wasn’t expansive like everyone else’s. It was a box with a bed, a nightstand, empty shelves that were now filled with colorful spines, a wardrobe, a metal box and another door that lead to the bathroom. Everything was bolted down to the floorboards so that nothing would move. The curtains in front of the only window were the only thing that moved effortlessly by themselves. Yet they covered the outside from him, and him from the outside. That was his world.

     “What is that?” he questioned, “Merror Hill?”

     “It’s what your mansion is sitting on right now. It’s this beautiful hill that carried the Celestials grand houses. They’re trees everywhere and on the top of the hill you can see the entire city!” she described passionately, “It was one of the reasons why I wanted to work here. But before then my grandfather tried to keep me away from this place by telling me about the curse.”

    He knew what a grandfather was. He read about them in the books she had been bringing him every day. They were normally elder like folk and are the father of your parents. Sometimes they were old, cranky, kind, and perplexing. 

     They had gray or white hair and wrinkles on their skin that showed people their age. He dreamed several times if he had a grandfather or a grandmother, the mother of your parents, but couldn’t imagine his own parents having parents. His Mother and Father were too estranged.

     "But since I got here, it doesn’t seem like the curse is true. My grandfather said that the curse is about murder. Whoever dares defy The Great Sun by murdering one another; within their family, a monster will be a born. However, that isn’t all. The Human or Celestial that they have killed will torment those who have committed the crime.”

He swallowed. He’s never heard anything so bizarre before that wasn’t inside a story.

     “Isn't that cool?” she laughed and he nodded his head.

     “But it isn't really true…is it?” he questioned, feeling tightness in his chest.

     “Of course not! I’ve worked here the last couple of months and I haven’t seen anything strange. I’ve even asked Mrs. Robbins and she’s been a House Servant of the Evergreens' for fifteen years now! It's just a fairytale.”

That sentenced was carved into his mind as the voice on the other side of the buckling door roared, “I hate you!”

     “I wish you were dead!” the voice continued to holler.

He lifted up his head and glanced at the door. The books rattled back and forth with each thrust.

     “Its just a fairytale…huh.” He muttered, allowing his head to fall back onto his knees.