Long ago in days of old, there was no cool place on the surface of
Mother Earth where a man or beast could rest during the hot day, or
where moss could grow. There was no shadow that fell and followed
behind the things that stood and moved on Mother Earth, nor behind
the gods and high on Mount Olympus. The suns light shone everywhere
on Earths surface, regardless of his position in the sky.
Kind Hermes saw this and felt pity
for the men and beasts, especially the weary travelers, merchants,
and shepherds. He had to help them. He flew like the wind to the suns
evening palace in the far West on his winged sandals. When
Hermes arrived, he asked Helios,
" Could you let there be
some darkness on various small places of Mother Earth, so weary men
and beasts could rest during the day? "
The sun considered the gods request but answered,
" Don't men and beasts
rest during the night? Besides, I like my radiance to be all over
the earth. No, I do not accept your request."
Hermes was disappointed but still
hopeful. He decided to ask Apollo, his friend and the god of light
and music, to help him. He flew away to his home on Mount Olympus
and soon found Apollo playing on his lyre in the courtyard of the
palace of the gods. When he finished his tune, Hermes asked for help
in his kind cause.
Apollo answered,
" I would certainly help you, for you are my dear friend and
I would help men and beasts, but Helios is also my friend and it would
be a shame if I broke my friendship with him. I advise you to use
your cleverness and wit, but find out what Zeus thinks first."
Hermes went to the glorious throne
room of the gods, and mighty Zeus sat on his golden throne among all
the Olympian gods. In private, he asked Zeus for help and advice.
The magnificent king of the gods said,
" I do support your cause. However, I can't have a fight between
the gods. That would have terrible results. Maybe though, you could
use that clever head of yours. I bet you'll think of something."
So Hermes took the advice of Zeus
and Apollo and thought quietly sitting against one of the huge pillars.
Soon an idea came to him. He leapt into the air and flew far to the
West and soon came to the entrance of the dark underworld. He knew
this way very well since countless times he had led dead spirits there.
He went down through the gate and Hades three-headed watchdogs let
him pass. Then, he crept down through the underworld to Hades throne
room where many jewels glittered in the dark. Hermes acted as though
he was leading a soul to the underworld to be judged.
This was so usual that Hades absentmindedly
told Hermes,
" Please put the person in the waiting area. He, or she, will
be judged with the others later."
He had failed to notice that there
was no soul behind Hermes at all. After he led the soul into the waiting
area, Hermes crept back to the throne room, and when Hades wasnt looking,
caught some darkness in his cape. He said goodbye to Hades and in
a flash, flew out of the throne room, past the watchdogs and past
the gate of the underworld.
Hermes flew into the east and soared
higher and higher until he was at the top and center of the sky. Then
he opened his cape. The darkness flew all over Earth like ink, which
annoyed her. As soon as he realized what was happening, Helios, in
fury and to help Mother Earth, shone brighter than he ever had before.
But he still could not drown out all the darkness. Exhausted, he gave
up.
Helios did not shine everywhere anymore.
There was a small amount of darkness, or shadow on the side of everything
from a mountain to a bug. Now beasts and men, especially travelers,
merchants, and shepherds, could rest in the cool shade of a tree when
they were tired. Moss could grow on the surface of Earth more easily,
too. The shadows followed behind all that moved and took the shape
of whatever they were following. There were even shadows on high Mount
Olympus, and the gods liked and appreciated them. Both Helios and
Mother Earth got used to the shadows. They were happy that living
things enjoyed them. Hermes was very glad his plan worked and that
everyone enjoyed the shadows. They are here to this day.
_______________
UNTITLED
chapter1
Jamie sat up in her old, rotten bed, reading Jacob Have I Loved. It
was her favorite book ever. But, it was the only book she had ever
read. Jamie lived with her mom in a two roomed shack. One was the
bedroom, and the other was a sitting room which she read to her mom
in. Wendy, Jamie’s mother, grew up in poverty. She did not know
how to read since her mom and dad abandoned her at her old apartment.
Wendy would sit up in her parents bed waiting for them to come home
from the grocery store. About two weeks after Jane and Don had left
( Wendy’s parents), someone had called the cops because of a
loud ruckus. Wendy was playing Debbie Gibson, her mom’s favorite
singer. When the cops came by, Wendy was lying on her back with her
head up as she laid on her mom and dad’s bed. The police came
in and found her there. They brought her to a homeless shelter. She
didn’t know any one there and was absolutely scared. She was
only eight at the time, and was to shy to even talk to the men who
brought her to the shelter.
Wendy got used to living at the shelter. It was warm and cozy, and
the food was good, too. She made one friend, named John. He was nice
and friendly. He even proposed to her, which she said yes to. A month
after they were married, John signed up to defend their freedom. John
left for war, and never came back. Wendy was mortified after his six
months was over and didn’t come back to the shelter. She wasn’t
only scared for her husband, but scared for the baby they were supposed
to have, too. If her child grew up without a father, that would be
absolutely difficult, considering she would have to find a home and
feed the poor child if there would be a reason she had to leave. Being
fatherless from the beginning of childhood would be horrifying also.
But Wendy was thankful that her baby would have a home. But that all
changed.
Wendy was three days away from her due date when a horrifying fire
was started next door in a public library. The fire spread to the
shelter and burned everything down, killing fifty people. Wendy had
escaped the deadly fire and started going into labor early. Wendy
was lucky enough to have a man nearby just happened to be a doctor.
Wendy gave birth to Jamie John Clyde, giving her baby girls middle
name her fathers name. As unlucky as she seemed to get, the doctor
was kind enough to give her a shack about a mile away from his home
which he owned. But the doctor died of an aneurism a year after Wendy
and her daughter moved into the shack. So the shack was left to his
mean old wife, who took the shack away from them and kicked them out
on the streets again.
All Wendy wanted was a home for her and her daughter. In the cold,
Wendy looked every where for a home. After two exhausting hours, she
came across another shack that had the name, JOHNATHAN JAMES CLYDE
II, written on it. Johnathan James Clyde II just happened to be Jamie’s
grandfather. So the shack belonged to her, because in the mail box,
there was a note that read:
To whom it may concern,
If you are reading this, I’ have probably past my soul to the
lord by
now. This shack is to be passed down only to either Vivian Lane Clyde,
George Donald Clyde, or Johnathan James Clyde the third. Any of their
children, or children’s children, rightfully onus this shack.
Signed,
Jonathan James Clyde II
Although his hand writing was uneven, they still were thankful it
was in there.
( A nearby man read it for them since none of them could read at the
time.) So it was the beginning of a new life.
chapter 2
Ten years later, the lucky baby girl Jamie John Clyde, sat up on her
bed reading Jacob Have I Loved, with her eyes glued to page fifteen.
Jamie had taught herself how to read since she couldn’t afford
to go to school. Jamie had found two soggy writing books on the front
porch and she had no idea where they had come from. She read them
and practiced the sounds of what the letters had said. Wendy didn’t
have enough money when she was a girl to go to school either, so she
couldn’t teach her own daughter how to read or write. But now
Jamie was teaching her mom how to read by reading to her everyday
in the sitting room.
“ That letter makes an ‘eeeeeeeee’ sound, mommy. And
that letter makes an ‘uuuuuu’ sound. Say that mommy, say
that.” Ever day Wendy heard something to that effect. Jamie stood
up in front of the dusty mirror that daddy had left behind for her.
“I’m never going to see my full reflection,” Jamie
said to herself. She walked into the sitting room where her mom was
looking over the writing books Jamie had found on the porch. “Momma,
are you ready to start reading?”, Jamie asked her mother in a
gentle voice as light as a bird’s feather. Wendy looked up from
her book and smiled with a look of confidence on her face. “Just
one minute, honey. I’m almost done reviewing this book”,
Wendy said and looked back down at the book. “Mondayoo,”
Wendy struggled out of her mouth. “Is that right, sweetie? Mondayoo?”,
Jamie’s mother asked. “It’s actually Mondaya, not yoo,
a,” Jamie corrected. “Oh, Mondaya”, Wendy said. She
looked back down at the book and studied a little bit longer. “O.k.,
honey. I’m ready.” Jamie sat beside her mom and held the
one side of the book while her mom held the other. “The c-cat
sat on th-the m-mat az ita loo-looked at th-the mo---”, Wendy
hesitated for a moment.
“- mowase.” Wendy looked up with a big grin on her face.
“ I did it, baby, I did it!”, Wendy exclaimed with a satisfying
smile. “Oh, I’m so glad you found those books on our porch,”
she said hugging her.
chapter 3
A week after Wendy learned to read, she started to become weak and
ill. “Momma, do you want to lie down?”, Jamie would ask
every five minutes. “No, baby”, would always be the answer.
Wendy started to turn pale and grew weaker by the second. On a gloomy
Thursday in October, Wendy looked at Jamie and said, “Baby, get
me some water. I have dry bread in the left cabinet. Or maybe it’s
the right. I don’t know. Which one points to the back door?”,
Wendy asked. “The left, momma.” “Then it’s in
the left cabinet.”
Jamie followed her mother’s orders, and came back with a glass
of water and two pieces of dry bread. “ Thank you, baby. Get
yourself some dinner and come sing Debbie Gibson to me.” Jamie
got up and took a half piece of bread from the cabinet, saving some
for her mom. Stroking her head, she began to sing. Wendy closed her
eyes and sighed. When Jamie was finished, she said, “That was
lovely baby, thank you.” Jamie pulled her mom off the beat up,
old sofa and pulled her to the bedroom. She helped Wendy into bed
and tucked both of them in. Jamie then fell into a peaceful sleep.
chapter 4
The next morning, Jamie woke up with her mother sitting on the bed
reading out of her books. “Good morning, Jamie. I got up early
to look for some cold meat in the richer peoples cooler. They are
letting us take some now. I made a fire in the back yard to cook it
for you! Isn’t it great!? We get to have meat now!” Wendy
was very exited about having new meat to eat without having to kill
it or steal it on their own. Jamie and Wendy got up and went outside.
The both took a leg of chicken from a stick over the fire ( Wendy
wanted to be creative) and started chowing down on the fresh meat
the neighbors let them have.
After they were done eating, Wendy and Jamie read out of Jacob Have
I Loved for a little while. Jamie got up and went outside. She played
around with some sticks for a little while. She then heard her mom
calling out her name. She got up and went inside.
“Honey, we need to talk,” Wendy said as Jamie came in. “Yes,
momma?” Jamie asked, sitting down. “I need to go into town
to find a job. Now that I know how to read, I can fill out a job application.”
Wendy looked half pleased, half sad. “Now I need you to stay
here a while as I’m in town o.k.?” Wendy asked. Jamie didn’t
look to happy. “Are you going to abandon me?”, she asked
with an uncertain expression on her face. “Of course not, baby!”,
Wendy said. “First of all, I love you more than anything in the
world! Second, I know what it fees like being abandoned, and I don’t
like it. Neither would you.” Jamie didn’t look satisfied
enough. “Look, baby. It may take me a few days to get there and
back on foot. I’m ill and I could actually run ten years ago,
but I can’t put a lot of effort into it anymore. So don’t
think I’ve abandoned you if I’m not back in ten minutes,
o.k.?” Jamie looked at her like she was still going to abandon
her even after she had just said all those nice things. “Promise
on all of our new cold meat and dry bread and water out of the well.?”,
Jamie said. “And reading lessons,” Jamie said quickly before
Wendy could make an exception. “So you promise, momma? Promise
with all your heart and hope?”, Jamie asked. “I promise
with even more, baby girl. Even more.” She gave Jamie a big wet
kiss on the cheek. Jamie grabbed some chicken and water. She put it
in a piece of cloth and tied it up. She gave it to Wendy as she walked
out of the door. “Bye, Mommy. I love you. Be safe, o.k.?”,
yelled out Jamie. “O.k. honey. I love you, too. Bye sweetie.”
Wendy left with a wave and started down the rocky road in Wisconsin.
Jamie waved a went back inside.
chapter 5
Jamie walked inside and picked up Jacob Have I Loved. She sat on the
beat up blue coach her grand daddy left behind for her. As Jamie was
reading, she started thinking of all the bad things that could happen
to her mommy. ‘What if she gets hit by a car?’ she thought
to herself. ‘ What if she decides to hitchhike and the driver
is drunk and runs off the road, swerving their heads around and around,
breaking bones and spraining ankles. Then how will mommy get back
to me? What if the driver doesn’t have a phone for her to call
the police station and ends up dieing? Then I would be an orphan with
no food or anything. Or what if she breaks her promise and does abandon
me? And never comes back? But, but…’ She decided not to
think about the bad things that might happen to her mom, it was giving
her a headache.
Jamie went outside to get some meat for her supper. She came back
inside with the sloppy meat in one hand, a glass of water in the other.
She walked to the sofa and began to eat. After she was done, she walked
back into her room and began to read. Life was hard enough for her,
so why did she have to stay home alone for a few days, waiting for
her mom who probably abandoned her by now, leaving nothing but hard
memories? This is what she was thinking of. She didn’t want to
be alone. Alone. All alone. By herself. Probably forever. She couldn’t
help but think about the terrible life ahead of her. The cops probably
were going to take her to a homeless shelter. She would meet her new
husband who would probably die in war. Leaving her and the baby looking
for a place to stay after the shelter burns down. Finding a doctors
shack until he dies of an aneurism and his evil wife kicks them out.
Then they find an old shack that coincidently was left behind for
her baby. Living her mother’s life. Then Jamie started feeling
bad for Wendy. She’s been through so much, why would she want
to start her life off like the life her own mother and father started
off for her? Jamie started to cry in the blanket that she and her
mom used as a pillow. Suddenly, a knock came from the door. That was
strange, because they never got visitors. ’Maybe momma came home,’
Jamie thought. She ran to the door and swung it open. And there in
the doorway stood a soldier holding two sets of flowers in his hands.
And on his name tag, it said,
‘CLYDE’.
chapter 6
“Is Wendy Clyde here?”, the soldier asked Jamie. “No,
she walked into town to find a job. Just out of curiosity, are you
Johnathan Clyde?”, Jamie asked as politely and subtle as she
could. “As a matter of fact, I am. How did you know my name?”,
the man asked. “Well sir, my momma used to tell me stories of
a brave soldier who went off to war, leaving his homeless shelter
and pregnant wife behind, so he can protect them, and come home to
smiling, warm faces. I thought that man might be you, dad.”,
Jamie said with a smile. “Are you -”, he started with a
stutter. Jamie embraced her father with a warm, welcoming smile and
hug. She sat him down on the sofa so quickly, she almost dragged him
over.
“I’m Jamie Johnathan Clyde. Daughter of Wendy Elizabeth
Clyde and Johnathan James Clyde. Grew up in this house. And is now
talking to her long lost daddy. Now it’s your turn.”, Jamie
said so quickly it almost sounded like, ‘IJaieJoClieDoterOvWeyEibetClieAnJonanJamClieGrUInThiHouAnIzNowTainToHrLonLOsDaee.’
He had to take in a lot of information. He finally said, “ Hello,
my name is Johnathan James Clyde III, son of Johnathan James Clyde
II and Fiona Lace Clyde. I grew up in Massachutes ,and is now talking
to my long lost daughter that I never knew existed up until now”.
They played this game for about thirty minutes, giggling and being
as happy as sunshine gleaming around Jesus’s face.
chapter 7
Wendy came home earlier than they had expected. She had pranced in
the house with her eyes closed and a smile on her face. “I got
the job!”, she yelled. “Mommy, look what I found!”,
Jamie yelled back. Wendy looked at the two of them sitting on the
coach together and saw the man she still loved with her heart as pure
as gold. “John!”, she yelled. They all hugged and cried.
Laughed and smiled. They were a family now for the first time in ten
years. If you want to know, Jamie, Wendy and John all moved into a
bigger house. They renewed their vows to each other and had another
baby, Christian Elizabeth Clyde. Life was much easier for the family.
And as you know, they lived happily ever after. --
ANONYMOUS
Orphan Girl
By Laina
The two biggest changes of my life; that’s what this story is
about. My name is
Masha Lokena. I’m twelve years old, but when the story is taking
place, I’m still
eleven.
It started in January, when an incurable disease had been
spreading rapidly throughout Russia. It was a really, I mean really
cold afternoon, and I was lying draped over my bed, watching
television, and eating some pickles dipped in buttermilk, which is
my
favorite snack.
When I had been laying there and stuffing my face with my sour
snack for over an hour, I decided it was probably time to get up.
After turning off the TV, I found that our big house was dead silent,
with the exception of a pair of slow, heavy footsteps, unlike those
of
my parents. I got up cautiously, rubbing my left shoulder; something
I’ve always done when I’m nervous. I padded quietly out
of my
bedroom to see who this mysterious person was, and since my
bedroom was on the second story of our house, I peered over the
railing by the stairs, and discovered our family doctor pacing below
me.
“Masha,” he said in a sad tone as he looked up at me,
“There you are. I hate to be the one to tell you this, but,
well, come
down here for a minute.” I stamped down the stairs, anxious
for any
news the doctor had for me, even if it was bad. “I’m sorry
Masha,
but both of your parents have come down with a disease I know
nothing about, as I said, I hate to tell you this, I know that it
can’t be cured, and they’re dying unbelievably quickly.”
“How come no one informed me sooner?” I asked bitterly
as
tears of devastation filled my brown eyes, “I’ve been here
all day.”
“I searched for you, but I just discovered their illness not
half
an hour ago.”
“Can I even see them?” I sobbed, my tears openly flowing
now, “Can I even say goodbye?”
“I don’t have words to tell you how sorry I am, but no,”
the
doctor explained, and I could see by the expression on his face that
he
was almost as sad as I was. He had known our family for a long time.
“I have equipment that can protect me from illnesses, but for
you the
effects would be fatal.”
“No!” I screamed desperately, “It’s a lie, and
I won’t believe
it!” Instantly after saying what I did I was sorry I said it.
It must
have sounded rude. If it was, the doctor didn’t say so. But
I still
couldn’t believe it.
“I’m so sorry Masha,” he informed me for the third
time. “I
tried. I really tried to save them.” It was then that I realized
the
truth. My parents, my best friends, my only living relations in the
world were dying. It was then that I realized where I would be forced
to go. As you probably knew already orphans are children with no
parents, and also probably knew that orphans usually live in a cold,
damp, inhospitable place called an orphanage.
Suddenly I felt a wild urge to run. My tears instantly stopped,
I turned on my heels and pounded up the stairs as if I were running
away from my troubles, away from an orphanage, and away from
death. When I reached my room I slammed the door behind me and
threw myself on the chair by my desk. I sat there for hours, staring
blankly out the frosty window in stony silence, thinking about stories
I
had read when I was much younger. They were stories in which
everyone was happy, and nothing ever went wrong. That was the way
my life had seemed before the terrible day when my parents deceased
and I became Masha Lokena, orphan girl.
The very next day after my parents left the Earth I was taken
to live in one of the poorest orphanages in Russia. I was rubbing
my
left shoulder so furiously that anyone who saw me would have thought
I
was crazy. I sat stiffly in the backseat of the doctors’
fancy black car, and finally the terrible moment arrived when it
pulled sedately
into the driveway of the dismal orphanage where I would be living
in misery
until I was 15 years old, then I would be on my own, outcast with
nothing, into the dark world all alone.
The doctor tapped lightly on the metal door, and I was
surprised that such a timid knock could echo so long or loud as that
one did. Only a few seconds later the heavy metal door swung open,
revealing a tall, pinched looking woman with a very fake smile pasted
on her face. This can’t be good, I thought, disappointed, as
I stared
up at her with a grin just as unrealistic and glued on as hers was.
“Hello Masha,” the strange woman sneered in a voice
equally fake to her smile. She sounded a though she was just learning
to speak our native language, which was of course, Russian.
“Welcome to Orphanage Vladimir. I am Ms. Roska, the overseer.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” I informed her out
of politeness,
as I would rather have said “It’s very awful to meet you,
and I’d
rather live anywhere but here.” At the same time I thought
Overseer? Why would an orphanage have an overseer?
“Yes, yes, very well, bring your possessions in here,”
she
instructed briskly, as the doctor hurried to his precious car without
so much as saying goodbye. I glanced back at him one last time,
wishing with all my heart I could escape from Ms. Roska as he had.
I was forced in the large door, and as soon as it was shut, she
snatched my elaborate suitcase from my thin pale hands. She took
one greedy look at it, and began to cackle nastily, rocking back
and
forth on the heels of the hideous black shoes as she did so. “Your
fortune is mine! Another rich orphan brats’ fortune all mine!”
More
evil tittering was heard at this point.
“What are you talking about?” I felt more comfortable
screaming at Ms. Roska now that she was threatening me. “My
parents didn’t leave a fortune, so I don’t get a cent of
it and neither do
you!”
“That’s what you think, you wretched orphan girl,”
the
overseer glared down at me in a way that terrified me out of my wits.
“I know your tricks. You will stay here until I get your fortune,
if it’s
the last thing I do, you liar!”
I again found my senses and was about to prepare
myself to throw a distressing fit when another woman, raging with
fury, entered the dark, metal, room. Fortunately for me,
this woman was angry for another reason.
“Overseer, what do you think your doing?!” the woman
screamed, her eyes flaming. “You are employed here to help the
children learn their lessons and do the chores!”
Ms. Roska turned pale and muttered something in German as
she back out of the room sheepishly. The other woman turned on me
with a look of deep pity, and she changed from being full of anger
and
rage to completely harmless and gentle. “Oh, you must be Masha
Lokena,” she laid her cold hand on my shoulder, which was shivering
rapidly from my encounter with Ms. Roska. “I’m sorry about
her,
and I wish I could have her out of my employ, but…”
“Who are you?” I interrupted rudely, not wanting to waste
time on details, then realizing what she had to say might be important.
“Why does Ms. Roska have to work here?”
“I’m the headmistress, and my name you don’t need
to know;
none of the children do. The overseer, Ms. Roska has
threatened to rob me if I don’t keep her under the roof of my
orphanage.” Here the headmistress sighed deeply, “Come
on, I’ll
show you to the girls’ dormitory.”
I followed her silently up the cold hollow stairs to a narrow
hallway, with a door at both ends, the headmistress babbling the
whole way, and I would explain to you what she said, but she was
trying to cram so much information into my head, that I’d forgotten
everything she told me by the time we reached the top. I looked at
the
two doors curiously, both exactly the same, wondering which would
be the one I would be living behind for the next four years.
The headmistress led me to the door on the right, and swung it
open, revealing a room with whitewashed walls, only one small
window in the corner, and six long rows of hard looking cots all
perfectly lined up with one thin faded blanket folded neatly at the
end.
I stared at the dormitory in silence for a few minutes with the
headmistress staring at me out of the corner of her eye the entire
time, seeing how shocked I was at the living quarters of Orphanage
Vladimir.
“You’ll need to unpack your things now, then come downstairs
for school,” the headmistress instructed, “You can keep
anything
valuable to you under your cot.”
This puzzled me completely. “What about my clothes? I don’t
see anywhere to put them.”
“There’s a pile of clothing in the corner with the window,
you’ll put your things there and find something to wear tomorrow.”
“But there are already clothes in that pile,” I said,
feeling a bit
nervous at the concept of sharing my clothes and not having any of
my
own. I began rubbing my left shoulder again. “That means I won’t
have any clothes anymore.”
“You’ll just have to make do with it,” the headmistress
said
coldly, as she clomped away on her high-heeled boots.
I sighed dismally and began to unpack my things, taking a minute
to remember each of my clothes, all of them purchased by my
parents. I didn’t know why I was feeling attached to them, but
maybe
it was just the memory of my house, my parents, and my life before
they died,
very different from my life after.
As I entered the schoolroom, I was mortified to see who the
teacher was. A tall pinched looking woman, with a fake smile on her
face, by the name of Ms. Roska, was sitting stiffly behind the crude
desk made for a teacher.
She glared at me from behind what she called her desk, though
for all I knew it was hers, and she didn’t look away or blink
until I had
taken a desk in the back of the dingy room and cautiously let my
arms
close around the books inside it, the start of a horrible month at
Orphanage Vladimir.
I hardly have words to describe how terrible the orphanage
was, even though I tried to be grateful. I wasn’t used to the
treatment
I received there. What we got for our meal, only one a day, was cold
oatmeal, and let me tell you, more than once I tried to throw it
away;
it was better to have nothing at all. I didn’t make any friends,
as we
weren’t allowed to talk to anyone but Ms. Roska and the
headmistress, who stalked the halls of the orphans’ school all
day and
into the late night, flashing her shiny eyes, continuously searching
for someone
to do even the slightest thing out of the ordinary, just so she could
punish
them. I was very wrong to think she was a kind and compassionate
person
when I first met her. My clothes grew worn and tattered from so
much wear by the other girls and myself. The worst part of all was
in
the dark night, all the children were laying woodenly on their cots,
tossing and turning, sleepless, weeping quietly, longing for their
parents, brothers, and sisters with all their hearts. I can include
myself in this, yes, I wept with them, freezing under my small blanket,
no girls slept more than a few hours any night, and we all looked
ready to faint in the morning. I felt horrible for the other orphans,
the boys also.
I knew they didn’t get much sleep either. We were punished severely
for trudging down the dismal halls too slowly.
One morning I was feeling especially discouraged with myself.
I had always been a straight A student before I came to live in
Orphanage Vladimir, but now I was so exhausted I could barely hold
my head up, let alone get good grades in my new school. I shuffled
down the stony halls to the schoolroom as quickly as I could to avoid
being punished. I pushed open the rusty door to find chaos within.
I
was shocked to hear everyone talking at once, and Ms. Roska
nowhere to be seen. I walked up to the group nearest me and asked
what everyone was so excited.
“America!” Two small boys named Sergei and Ivan jumped
up
and down wildly. I was still confused. The only thing I knew about
America was that it was made up of something called the fifty states,
but I didn’t know why.
“What,” I inquired, frowning thoughtfully, “What
about
America?”
A twelve-year-old girl named Anastasia explained some of it to
me. “The headmistress says some of us are going to be chosen
to go
to America, but I don’t know why.”
“Why are we going?” I asked, turning my attention to Marina,
Julia and Anya, hoping one of them would know.
“I think we’ll be staying with a family in America for
a month,”
Marina told me, “You’re chosen, you know it?”
I was very unsure of the idea of going to America until I found
out why. “If our family likes us enough, they can adopt us,
then we
won’t be orphans anymore!” A six-year-old named Luda leaped
in the
air in her happiness.
Now that I knew why we were going to America I was sure I
wanted to go. The idea of being adopted was new to me, and I didn’t
know if I could love adopted parents as much as my birth ones, but
I
was determined. “When do we go?” I was so full of questions
I
felt like exploding, but I held myself together and only asked a
few.
“Soon,” added Anya,, “The headmistress said to pack
our
things together now, instead of having our lessons. She told us right
before you came in.”
I zoomed out the heavy door, following the girls ahead of me
until we reached our dormitory, which I found to be much more
cheerful with the chattering of the girls. I slowly, carefully laid
my
possessions in my delicate suitcase as I thought with a new happiness
in my heart that I hadn’t felt in what seemed to be a very long
time.
The overwhelming day when we would depart our Russia to
America had finally arrived! I was so nervous and excited my left
shoulder even began to get a bit of a rash on it from rubbing it
so
furiously. We all shuffled out of Orphanage Vladimir, maybe seeing
it
for the last time, but as far as I know none of the orphans cared
much
at all. From our orphanage, we had a total of thirty-seven children,
and thirty-seven children had to fit in a grimy bus already packed
with
other orphans in the American program. We were beginning to think
the old bus couldn’t hold any more people than it already had,
when
we stopped and many poor waifs silently filed onto the bus, cramming
it as full as it possibly could get.
When the packed bus finally arrived at the airport terminal and
it’s door
creaked open busy sights and booming noises flowed inside as every
orphan
tried to shove their way out. I stumbled down the rickety steps with
everyone
else and watched in utter disgust as the bus wheezed away. So much
for leaving
the orphanage. I wandered around for a few minutes, gazing at the
swirling
crowds of Russian citizens and foreigners. Wait a minute, where were
the
orphans who were with me? I knew the best thing to do when someone
was lost
was to stay put, but I also knew that in a big group like mine, I
wouldn’t be
missed. I searched frantically for a familiar face, and more than
once I skidded
into a passing stranger in my hurry.
After looking unsuccessfully for the other parentless children for
hours I
struggled not to panic as I squinted at a far off plane, realizing
my mistake. We
were dropped off by the bus driver in the wrong terminal, and I hadn’t
been
informed in time. That plane leaving to America was missing someone:
me. It
was the last plane leaving that day a Russian holiday was taking
place, and the
staff wanted a break for the rest of that terrible afternoon, and
for the rest of an
awful night to come. I must have fainted or lost my senses for a
moment because
the next thing I knew the airport was dead silent and completely
empty.
I was petrified. All alone, in a Russian international airport,
my only
chance for a new life in America gone. I fled to a more private corner
of the
deserted airport and wept until I had no tears left. I sat on the
rough floor
dismally trying to push the thought of staying in Russia for the
rest of my life out
of my head. My dark hair hung limply over my brown eyes and clung
to my
tear-stained face. I thought of how I must look, if anyone were to
see me. A
small, pale girl, with a pointy face streaked with tears of devastation,
slumped in
a corner of an airport. I sat there all night, not sleeping, and
trying not to feel
jealous of the other waifs, now happily enjoying a new family in
America.
I alerted myself to the world at the sound of clanking keys squeaking
in a
lock. I glanced around the enormous room. Where would I hide? A fast
food
restaurant was nearest, so I zipped under the countertop and ducked
to keep
myself hidden until the crowds came streaming in, which was almost
immediately afterward. I rubbed my left shoulder reassuringly while
I got ready
to spring from my hiding spot. I had to think fast in order to come
up with a
plan in which I could escape successfully without getting crushed
by the
stampede of shoes that clicked by.
I leapt from behind the counter at just the right moment to make
anyone [she will be sending the rest sooon!]
