Once upon a time... is what I'd like to call it, yet the world is still evolving. The current technical improvement is not that of the past, and it will not be that of the future for a long time.

The universe began expanding at a rapid rate when the 'Big Bang' singularity occurred 13.8 billion years ago, marking the start of the "Age of Universe." Our universe is still expanding now and will continue to do so in the future. Time, space, and matter were created as a result, confined by energy. We do not know what existed before the Big Bang. However, the annihilation caused by it is the beginning of our wondrous creation.

Limitless lights as energy spread across the cosmos, causing destruction, creating life, and countless miracles to occur again and again. Energy is reformed, laws are enacted, and life is restrained. To an ordinary human whose average lifetime does not surpass a hundred years, this may appear to be something vast, out of our perception, but we continue to unearth those yet incredible mysteries to learn about the universe, ourselves, life, and the beginning and the end.

When life first appeared on Earth 3.7 billion years ago, it couldn't have been much more than a jelly paste for us now. It battled, trying to adapt and survive with only one brain cell, but it perished in the end. New life, which was more than just peanut butter, sought to emerge once again, but it perished in the end. The cycle continued until the heart beat, limbs developed, and brain matter took its first form. Life took on many forms and shapes depending on the ecosystem in which they needed to live. Predators appeared as though they were prey to something else. A life cycle in which everything is codependent on each other, either indirectly or by necessity, was formed.

They progress farther, as life requires expansion. Their physiologies shifted to prioritise comfort above survival. Everyone had their armoury of weapons in the middle of this turbulent transition. Some utilised them to hunt the weak, while others used them to avoid being hunted. Offence and defence were the norms. However, the defenders cannot continue to protect indefinitely, nor should they dare to offend the powerful. Another development began, this time with something as little as a seed, but depending on what we grew it with, it can grow into a tree that can survive a gust of wind. It was the human brain that did it.

We are considerably more flexible than other organisms, not because of our core survival instincts, but because of the information and intellect we possess to live and adapt. Humans may be feeble compared to most other living creatures, but our armoury of weapons is not based on physical prowess, but on our intellect.

When we first developed fire, a spark of inspiration dawned on us, and we began thinking from then on… which led to our modern civilization.

We living beings have many restraints, and the planet has many constraints that we cannot grasp. We humans can push past our boundaries with hard work, support, and a little luck. But time is the most formidable barrier of all.

Time can be a fascinating concept to contemplate. It may move at the rate of a turtle or at the rate of a billionth of a second. At one moment, it may appear as little as the wristwatch we wear, yet at another, it may appear as a big black abyss in which we are stuck. If we consider time to be a continuous stream of a river, we are nothing more than a small fish swimming along with the current. We are not strong enough to swim in the opposite direction or fast enough to swim past it. The only thing we can do is alter and adapt to the river flow and swim till we can't anymore.

We don't know where the river begins or ends, and we can't survive if we walk outside the stream. It's just a question of perception. One can fulfil his aim of being the fastest runner in the world, but he cannot win against the world's restraints, which include age and the effects of time. He will mature at some point, and his aim of being the fastest will be nothing more than a mote of dust that he dissolves into.

A guy may claim to be the strongest, the quickest, or the tallest, but none of this counts in the end. His path of hard work or brilliance must end at some point.

Even if humans have progressed with each period toward a more cultured and sophisticated state, perhaps we are still lagging... by a long shot at that. People still battle for power in this world, where bits and bytes govern everything. Slums persist, and the poor continue to suffer. World's hunger has never been eradicated. It is not only an impediment to our present progress, but it has also caused us to become stagnant.

We've come a long way, and although it's more than enough to get by, it's not enough. We will face a crisis in the future that cannot be handled with the resources we currently have. We are greedy, and that is what propels us forward, but it is not enough. Instead of spending our time on trivial matters, we should aim for greater knowledge and new experiences. We must labour as if our lives depended on it. From a distance, we appear to be united, but are we? No, I don't believe so.

I am a six-year-old boy… Yes; I am a child.

"Axel, pass me those papers over there," a lady yelled out to me.

Yes, I am a kid. But a wise one, at least for my age.

I strolled over to the side of a table at the far end of the room, taking a tiny chair I was sitting on with me. I ascended the chair and placed it in front of the table. While standing on my toes, I pushed myself onto the table.

Thud. The force I used, pushed the chair back. I ignored that and collected the colourful bundle of papers from top to bottom and gazed down from the table.

I couldn't get down using the chair since it was already out of reach. I took a deep breath while tightening my hold on the bundle of papers in my palm. After releasing my breath, I jumped into the air, pushing my feet against the table. Time seemed to slow down as I revelled in my superman moment of bliss. Petronus, our cat, was staring at me with half-closed eyes...not with much interest, but with curiosity.

Time flowed again in the next second as I dropped to the floor, rolling on my back to cushion the force of the fall.

When I looked at the papers, my nails practically dug into them as I tightened my grip. Petronus yawned deeply as he closed his eyes completely. From the outside, the long moment I believed I lasted in the air was an instant.

"Here you go, ma'am," I said, handing Cora the documents I was holding. She, along with Elle and Ava, works as an orphanage helper.

Cora is the oldest of the three. For her age, she is wise, caring, and fearless. She was raised in an orphanage as a child after her parents abandoned her in front of the hospital where she was born. Police sought to locate her using CCTV footage but ultimately failed. She was eventually handed to our orphanage and has been here ever since.

Elle and Ava are identical twins. Their mother died while giving birth to them, and their father was a douche and an alcoholic.

He is a douche not because he is an alcoholic, but because he is a fucking douche. I don't want to openly curse at someone. If madam Madison catches me, I'm toast. She can lecture for hours on end without breaking a sweat. Her perseverance is too much for my eardrums.

I have the impression that blood is seeping from them...

...or am I having a hallucination? When I think about madam Madison taking me into the room at the end of the second-floor corridor and closing the door behind me... I get shivers. In my mind, whenever I see that torture room, I imagine "welcome to hell" scrawled on it.

It's terrifying!

To get to the point, that fucking cretin of a father... For a six-year-old, I have a larger vocabulary than Ava; I think... is a drug addict as well. He's previously been to jail three times. I am much more of an adult when I think about it.

Elle and Ava were placed in an orphanage after their guardian was declared incapable of parenting. He requires counselling himself, so how can he care for his developing children in his state of chaos? He wasn't able to. As a result, they were both transferred here. However, because Elle and Ava are not legal adults, still now, he still has guardian authority over them.

He pays them visits to the orphanage from time to time to ask for money for seeing his beloved daughters. Every time I see his face or watch Ava and Elle suffer, I want to kick him up in the street, but... Axel, control your rage, control... breathe in, breathe out. Consider Madam Madison's gluttonous comments... nope, not helpful at all.

"Why don't you take half of them and give the other half to Elle, Axel?" Cora stated in a calm voice.

I didn't pay attention to them before, but they appear to be posters or... pamphlets? I know how to read, but I can't comprehend everything.

But I'm still a smart kid... for my age, that is.

"I know I'm the most dependable person around here, Cora, but you don't have to force me to do all the hard labour around here. You know I'm more of a sitting and working type of person, right?" I shook my head, pushing my chest forward.

"Is that correct, my beloved Axel? I didn't realise you'd grown into a man... When exactly did that happen? ... and don't forget, it's not that you are the most dependable 'MAN,' but you are the only youngster who has a lot of time to spare around here," she said with a sly smirk.

That I am aware of. So, what's the difference? I am the most dependable man... or a kid. Whatever it is, I am dependable. That's all that matters.

"I'll leave you to it, Cora," I remarked as I turned to go.

"Don't forget about these." Cora drew me in by my shirt collar, my face turned towards her.

She handed me a half-bundle of papers. I assumed I could avoid it. Physical labour is my least favourite activity. I simply want to go to my room.

" -and don't call me Cora, young man. I'm much older than you," she explained.

"If I can't call someone by their given name, should I call them whatever comes to mind JULIET?" I joked.

"Don't act clever, Axel," she whispered as she twisted my right ear.

"You said I was a kid, and kids are jolly and dumb, not clever, right, J.U.L.I.E.T?" With a sly grin on my face, I asked.

She sighed, then replied, "I'll deal with you later. Take these to Elle for the time being. R.O.M.E.O., it's getting late." Her lips curled into a grin.