“Were you the man who left me at the orphanage doorstep?” Roman asked the stranger, spotting the same birthmark on his chest.
“Alright, lads, time for me to go!” Roman shouted, leaping onto the step of the moving train. From the platform, his friends waved, some shouting last-minute words. He smiled.
Three years had passed since he returned from the army. In that time, hed found work and enrolled in university for distance learning. But thisjust packing up and leaving for another citywas a first.
His friends shared a common historythe orphanage. As children, theyd been without parents. Now, they were grown, with dreams and plans of their own.
Annie and Pete had married, taken out a mortgage, and were expecting a child. Roman was genuinely happy for them, though he envied them just a littlethe good kind of envy, because he wanted the same. But his path had been different.
From his earliest days in care, hed wondered: Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was he here?
His memories were blurred, like fragments of a dream, but deep down, he clung to a warm feeling that something good had once been. The only thing hed learned was that a man had brought him therewell-dressed, around thirty.
Old Nora, the cleaner who hadnt yet retired back then, had told him.
“I was younger then, eyes sharp as a hawk,” shed said. “I looked out the window and saw him under the streetlight, holding a little boys hand. The lad couldnt have been more than three.”
“He spoke to him seriously, like he was grown. Then the doorbell rangand off he dashed. I ran after him, but he was quickvanished like a ghost.”
Shed recognize him in an instant. He had a distinctive noselong and sharp, like something out of a painting. No car nearby, so he mustve been local. And he hadnt even put gloves on the child.
Roman, of course, remembered none of it. But over the years, hed concluded it was likely his father. What had happened to his mother remained a mystery.
Still, hed been brought in neatly dressed and well-kept. The only thing that unsettled the staff was the large, pale birthmark stretching across his chest to his neck.
At first, they thought it was a burn, but doctors confirmed it was a rare type of birthmark. Nora said such things often ran in families.
“Alright, Nora, you want me to walk around beaches checking everyones birthmarks now?” Roman had joked.
But shed only sighed. To him, shed become family. After he aged out, she took him in:
“Stay with me till you get proper housing. No need to drift between rented rooms.”
Back then, hed held back tearshe was a man now. But how could he forget the times hed come to her storeroom after a beating and cried in her lap?
Hed always stood up for others, even against older kids. Shed stroke his head and say:
“Youre a good lad, Roman. Honest to a fault. But life wont be easy for you. Not at all.”
He hadnt understood then. It took years for those words to sink in.
Annie had been in care since birth. Pete arrived later, when Roman was elevena scrawny, quiet boy after a tragedy: his parents had died from counterfeit vodka. At first, Pete kept to himself.
But one day, something happened that bound the three of them togethernot by blood, but something stronger.
Annie was bulliedsmall, ginger, shy, an easy target. That day, the older kids were especially cruel. Roman couldnt stand by. He fought back, but it was ten against one. Soon, he was on the ground, shielding his face. Annie swung her satchel like a sword, screaming.
Then, suddenlysilence. The taunts, the punchesgone. Someone pulled Roman up. Pete stood there.
“Whyd you jump in? You cant even throw a proper punch!”
“Was I supposed to just watch?”
Pete thought for a second, then held out his hand.
“Youre alright. Truce?”
From that moment, they were inseparable.
Annie stared at Roman like hed hung the moon. He covered her mouth.
“Close that, or youll catch flies.”
Pete laughed.
“Listen, kidif anyone bothers you, come to me. Tell em youre under my wing now.”
After that, Pete trained Roman relentlessly. At first, it was tedioushed rather have read a book. But Pete knew how to motivate him.
Soon, Roman thrived. His gym grades shot up, muscles hardened, and girls started glancing his way.
Pete was the first to leave care. Annie cried, but he hugged her.
“Dont. Ill come back. Havent I always kept my word?”
He did returnoncebefore enlisting. When he came back in uniform, Annie was packing. He walked in with flowers, stunned by how shed grown.
“Blimey. Youre a vision. Fancy being my wife?”
She grinned.
“Maybe. Youre not bad yourself.”
After the army, Pete was stationed in the city Roman was now heading to. Hed visit themespecially once their baby came. Hed be godfather, no question.
Roman settled into his first-class compartmentno skimping this time. He needed rest before work tomorrowhe was a construction rigger now. Good pay, no overtime, time for studies and friends.
As he lay down, shouting erupted outside. A man demanded someone vacate a compartment immediately.
Roman ignored ituntil a familiar, tearful voice chimed in. Like Noras. He peered out.
A trembling young conductor stood by the next door.
“Whats happening?”
“Some big shot,” she whispered. “An old woman bumped his teaspilled on his shirt. Now hes carrying on like shes committed treason.”
The man roared:
“Get out, you old hag! Youre stinking up the place!”
Roman stepped forward.
“Ease off. Shes elderly. Paid her fare same as you.”
“You know who I am? One call, and youre off this train!”
“Dont care who you are. Jaws break the sameyours included.”
The man froze. Roman helped the old woman up.
“Come with me. Take my compartment.”
She wept gratefully. The conductor watched, impressed. Roman grabbed his bag, unbuttoned his shirt. The man paled.
“Whats that on your chest?”
Roman shrugged.
“Birthmark. Had it since day one.”
“My God…”
The man shakily undid his own shirt. Beneath itan identical mark.
“Were you the man who left me at the orphanage?”
“Yes. I was a coward. Forgive me. I was married. Your mother, Marina… came to me. Said she was dying. Begged me to take you in.”
“But my wife was due home. I panicked… Left you there and moved away. Years later, Marina found me. Shed survived, searched for you. I… told her you were dead.”
“Where is she now?”
“After a stroke, she went into a care home. About two years ago. In your city.”
Roman said nothing. He stepped out, approached the conductor.
“I heard everything,” she murmured. “Rest in my cabin if you like.”
“Thanks. And… I think I know which home he meant.”
He called in sick. The conductorCatherinewent with him. He was grateful; going alone wouldve been too much.
“Marina… was admitted after a stroke two years back?”
“Thats her. Marina Pavlovna. Lovely woman. Always said she had no oneson was dead. And you?”
Roman shrugged.
“Maybe her son. If its really her.”
“Go on in.”
The woman in the wheelchair looked up from her knitting. Smiled. The nurse gasped:
“Youre the spitting image!”
Marina dropped her yarn.
“I always knew you were alive. I felt it.”
Two years passed. Marina recovered, thanks to Roman paying for rehab. She read fairy tales to her grandson now, while Catherinehis wifeprepared dinner. Today, shed learned she was pregnant again…
Some stories seem too wild to be true. But life has a way of surprising us. What do you think? Share your thoughts below.
