Growing Up Nowhere

By Gabriel More

Growing Up Nowhere is a fictional religiously inspired story about a young man by the name of Daniel who grew up in a very unusual orphanage located nowhere. His twin sister Martha left the orphanage more than a year ago, as all of the children from the orphanage do at some point, never to return. Daniel spent the last year getting ready to follow in her footsteps under the guidance of Michael, his mentor and the closest thing to a father he has ever had. He does not know exactly where he needs to go or what he will find there, but he knows that the journey will provide all the answers he has been looking for his entire life: who he really is, what happened to his parents, why he was forced to grow up in that unusual place in the middle of nowhere, and finally, what is the meaning of a life. This novel is a story of faith, family, time, mistakes, and most of all forgiveness. It gives a voice to those who do not have it and tries to provide an insight into the other side of an important debate; the one on abortion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gabriel More
• Release date: Feb 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463328668

Gabriel More

Gabriel More is a pen name of a Croatian writer, translator of the English language, and professor of philosophy. He was born on May 7, 1990 in Croatia, where he still lives. Together with his wife, he started his own company under the name Beleriand in which he mostly does translation work and hopes to branch out into publishing with time. Inspired by C.S. Lewis and similar religiously motivated authors the author decided to write Growing Up Nowhere, his first novel with a fictional story and a religiously motivated message.

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Growing Up Nowhere

By Gabriel More

Copyright 2020 Branimir Kurmaić

Cover art copyright 2020 Beleriand

Published by Beleriand at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Afterword

About Gabriel More

Connect with Gabriel More

Chapter One

Birthday

Daniel sat in the garden watching the sunset. Even though he knew there was nothing out of the ordinary about it, this sunset seemed somehow different from the others. Fiery red, orange, and yellowish tones painted the clouds that stretched all the way to the horizon, just like they usually do. It was a magnificent and yet a perfectly common sight. The colors were the same as always, but it all felt somehow different. It was something else. He finally felt like the time was coming. He has spent a long time trying to understand what it was exactly that he had to do to become ready, but he never really figured it out. He turned his face away from the towering cliff overlooking the ocean and looked at the monastery. The colors of the sunset were everywhere; on the walls of the monastery, the church tower, the faces of children playing in the garden. There were so many of them. At least fifty children, innocent smiles on their faces, ran around playing hide and seek, jumping over the hedges that the nuns carefully shaped every day with their shears. He looked at them with a feeling of nostalgia for a simpler time. Not so long ago, he was one of the children running around the garden. Now, it was all so different. He was different. The monastery is the only home he ever knew, he never left it in over twenty years he has spent there, but he has never felt like this before. He never had a feeling something was missing, he was always so happy. But not anymore. He was ready.

These feelings that were consuming him didn’t arrive overnight. He had been feeling like this for weeks, perhaps even months. He knew he was changing in some way and that change felt sudden and strange. Questioning everything he ever knew became an obsession. The fact that he was an orphan never bothered him that much, at least not on the outside, because of all the wonderful people that took care of him ever since he was a baby. Especially father Michael. The two of them spent hours upon hours talking about the world, God, all of life. He was the closest thing to a father he ever knew. Michael’s gentle heart and wise mind eased the pain that always lingered somewhere deep beneath the surface. Besides, he wasn’t alone in his pain. All the children that came through the orphanage went through a similar path in their lives. They were a family, in every meaning of the word, but Daniel knew it was all just temporary. They all did. From time to time, father Michael, or one of the other monks, would take one of them away and they would never come back. Daniel asked Michael about it on several occasions, but he just said in a calming manner that his time will come when he’s ready, just like everyone else’s. Beth, his friend, left a couple of years ago when she was only fifteen, and Gary, one of the kids that were much older than him while he was growing up, left when he turned twenty-seven. It did not seem like there was a specific rule about age and being ready to leave the orphanage. Michael even told him that not everyone becomes ready at the same age, but they all get there sooner or later.

Daniel turned around and looked at the sunset one more time. For the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why the sight made him so sad. A single tear, red as the waves rolling in the glory of the setting sun, fell down his cheek. While he was wiping it with his sleeve, Michael came and sat on the bench next to him.

I never get tired of this, said Michael in a cheery voice. I have sat here so many times and my heart still marvels at the sunset.

Yes, I agree, answered Daniel with a gloomy look on his face. He was looking at his hands while he was playing with his fingers, matching his index fingers with his thumbs.

Is something bothering you? asked Michael without removing his gaze from the setting sun.

If I didn’t know you better, I might actually think you were genuinely puzzled about my mood. I know you know pretty much all the things running around my mind right now answered Daniel teasing him. There’s not much point in you still talking to me like that. I know you too well. I know this whole place too well, continued Daniel while squinting at Michael because of the sun.

Michael smiled at his remark and said: I agree, you are too old for that. I know. Look at it as a force of habit. Even though you may have grown out of the need for such tactics, many of these kids still have it, and I talk to them every single day. They need it. After saying that, he made a short break and then continued in a much more somber tone.

But yes, you are correct. You know this place all too well. It’s the only thing you’ve ever known.

Daniel just sat there in silence. After about a minute of staring at the sea, mustering some courage to talk, he continued: It’s been over a year since she left. I miss her.

I know, I can see it in your face every day. You haven’t been the same since she left.

Has she… found what she was looking for? asked Daniel carefully. His question was sincere, but the fear of what he would find after leaving the monastery was a part of the reason why he was afraid to ask it.

Yes, answered Michael before taking a deep breath. It was not easy, but in the end she found everything she was looking for, and then some.

Daniel lowered his gaze to his hands again and Michael turned toward him. He loved that young man with his whole heart. He watched him grow up, taught him so many things, played with him, cared for him. But the time has come. He knew it all too well, but the love he had for the boy made it difficult to do what he knew he had to. He