Summary Of Poor Souls By Noel Cirujano

Poor Souls by Noel Cirujano
In a small town in Pisa Italy, January 1961, the snow had barely seized from falling and I and other orphans were gathered near a large dining table in a convent.
Gianna, the nun, tried to break the silence by asking us what we wanted to be when we grow up.
Petra, sitting by the corner shouted. "I want to be a mafia boss, build my own empire with blackjack and hookers!"
Gianna called her out and said, "You know, that's an inappropriate thing to say for a kid at your age."
She's really odd, I thought to myself. They all are. It has only been five months since I got here and I have never gotten used to any of these people.
Each passing day, I ask why I ended up in a place where walls are filled with the sound of

And I never had to worry about a thing because everything was fine. The son of a once infamous Mafioso had resorted to begging. People looked at me, with utter disgust, they knew that I was the devil's son.
Nighttime is the only moment I could get some food. I would scavenge some leftovers, usually vegetables that were thrown due to their unappealing looks. But regardless of how they look, they all tasted the same.
I had my fill of dumpster food and was exhausted, I rested my back against the wall as I was getting ready to sleep. I felt a tap on my shoulder and as I looked on my side I saw a fine looking lady, wearing a hood over her head. Her face was bright and she looked at me with kind eyes.
“Felipe, what would you want to be when you grow up?” Gianna asked for the second time and I was disturbed from my recurring daydream. I just shrugged my shoulders. “Come on now, there must be something you want to do at the very least,” she insisted.
I ended up shrugging my shoulders some more. She did not try to pry into my life any longer, and we continued on to have our dinner. Our meal was only what the convent could afford, beans and potatoes with little slices of

Looking at the window she uttered softly, “Well if you must know, she's headed for the Volterra Lunatic Asylum. Now, that you know I demand you to leave me now and go to your place.”
Tears went down my cheeks as I ran to my room. I was restless and could not stop for a minute. I cannot stop thinking about how fast it all happened.
At that moment, I decided to leave the convent and follow Petra. Though I knew I may not be thinking straight I felt it was the only right thing to do. I have barely known her but something tells me I have to follow her. If they can do that to one of us then they can do it to others too, even to me.
That night I sneaked out through the back door with all my things inside my bag. I am uncertain of what might happen along the way but that was my best option.
I spent the following days walking, living like the beggar that I was before. I asked people for directions and when I finally reached the place, I spent the night in the cold weather outside the asylum. I was too worried about Petra to think about being