Orphan

I sat on the sidewalk in my dirty white singlet top and oversized wet jeans, it was a freezing winter night and I had nowhere to go, the wind swept through my auburn hair making my teeth chatter vigorously, I needed warmth but I had nowhere to get it, with desperation I ran quickly in my torn flats to the Osiris Library.  I walked across the tar road and into the smell of old books and new carpet, the librarian looked at me, she was obviously puzzled because the library happened to be closing in a few minutes, but I really didn’t care it was warm and that’s all I needed. The library was piled with rows and rows of books stacked alphabetically, it went on and on but finally I reached my destination a small closed off corner opposite to the blazing orange fire, I huddled closer to the fire absorbing its heat, my skin tingled with anticipation as I rubbed my hands together, it didn’t take long before my body was pulsing with warm blood. My eyes swept from side to side as the librarian walked past me, I was well hidden, hopefully she would leave without noticing me, I knew it was safe when I finally heard the large wooden door slam, It was just me in a warm library surrounded by darkness...

After another ten minutes I stood up to explore my surroundings, my eyes took a little while to adjust but I was now fully aware of what was happening, I walked slowly through the rows when I noticed the small children’s corner, I tip toed quietly around the corner and snuggled up to a small blanket that was sitting on the my little pony couch. I sat down on the small couch and pulled the blanket over my bare knees, a small book was sitting on the play table, I picked it up curiously, I never really experienced an education, I couldn’t read or write and sometimes I had trouble speaking, I flicked through the pages staring at small pictures of baby ducks and swans, the baby swan looked sad in most of the pictures but in the last two pages he looked happy, fulfilled, I thought to myself I wish I could feel something like that...

 It wasn’t long before a rush of sleepiness swept over me, I had no bed so I improvised the kiddie couch seemed like the best place to sleep so I laid my head down into the corner and burrowed into the small baby pink blanket, my eyes closed and I started slip into a deep slumber.

I awoke to rattles and clanks, the librarian must have arrived a short time ago, I sat up and stretched my long arms, my actions stopped when a small shadow appeared over my head, “Miss? Miss?  Are you alright? Can you hear me?” the person asked, I remained silent and just stared at the stranger, her hair was curled into a sleek braid and her face was well rounded, she ran frantically over to the librarian and pointed to me, great... I thought, the strange lady bent down and pulled me up still asking questions, “Miss can you hear me? Where do you live? Do you have anyone I can contact?” she rambled on and on while I just stood there with a blank look on my face, the grey haired librarian whispered something into the strange women’s ear and then faced me, speaking wisely “Miss can you please tell me where you live?” I frowned at them and decided to answer this one question, I stuttered the word nervously, “no...”

Both ladies stared at me with curiosity, “Miss?” the librarian stuttered, “can you at least tell me you name?” I didn’t know how to respond to that question though, through my whole 15 years of life I had never had a name it was as if I was a “thing” no one talked to me and this was the first time anyone had ever really took a good look at me, I stared at my feet with an absent mind, the librarian and the lady both whispered to each other and finally spoke together, “we are going to call you Gracie....”

Gracie I thought, I mean it was a nice name but it reminded me of a movie I had seen in a store before, what was it called again? A... Anni... ANNIE! That’s the one, the preview TV was playing it and she herself was an orphan only she liked tomorrow while I hated it, I wish I was invisible no one would notice me, I would be just fine. I stood up from the children’s couch and faced the two women, they both offered their hands to me and I shook them unknowingly, the only reason I knew how to do this was because of my observations on our large community, I always saw business men and women shaking hands, along with doctors, science people and just humans in general.

“So Gracie, can you tell us why you are here?” the women with the braided hair asked, I decided to tell them one thing, I wasn’t usually one for words but I felt like these two people may help me get a home, “I..I.. I don’t have a home..” I stuttered out nervously, I looked down at my grubby hands, they were shaking intensely, “well Gracie I think we should call the orphanage or the foster home to find out a tad more about you before we decide where you are going,” the librarian called before walking down to the telephone on her wooden desk, along with the strange women.

 
I paced through the rows of books tempted to just flee from this mess but I wanted somewhere to sleep tonight so I continued walking, I heard distant mutters from the librarian and by the sound of it she wasn’t pleased. It wasn’t long before the librarian came back with a broad smile on her face, she pulled me next to her speaking as she walked, “Gracie we have just been on the phone and the foster carers have organised an urgent meeting for you, in other words parents are coming to interview you,” I gasped at the last sentence the librarian said, I was going to have to talk to strange parents? Well my chance of getting adopted went from 50% to nil.

We arrived at the Adoption centre 30 minutes after leaving the library, Pauline the librarian had offered to drive me considering I had no other way of transport. I hid behind Pauline as she explained to the office man who I was, he leaned to the left and smiled as he saw me blush an embarrassing red, despite the fact I was nervous I shuffled along into the green interview room. Pauline forced me to sit in the white wooden chair before whispering in my ear, “good luck Gracie, be nice and try to talk to the parents,” and then I fare welled the only lady that had ever cared for me, “goodbye...” I whimpered under my breath.

The first parents arrived shortly after Pauline left, they questioned me, I replied in the best way possible, they smiled, I shook their hands and they walked away, this happened three or four times only with different parents, I fiddled with my fingernails before turning to see the next parents, the women was beautiful, she wore a sleek summer dress with flower patterns, a pair of small yellow wedges and her light hazel hair was tied back in a smooth bun, while the man wore a white button up shirt, a pair of clean black denim jeans and rough black spiked hair, they were the best looking parents I had ever seen! I smiled brightly at the parents and attempted to talk to them, “hi I’m Gracie, I am here to interview you,” Oh crap I said it wrong; they are interviewing me not the other way round! “It’s nice to meet you Gracie,” the women said before sitting in front of me, “I am Lauren and this is my fiancée Dane,” “Hi Dane,” I called, “Nice to meet you Gracie,” “you too,” I muttered, “now on with the questions?” I asked.

It took an hour to finish the interview, the parents seemed really interested in my life and insisted on me to explain it all unfortunately I don’t really have anything special in my life, the best memory I had was when I got a free hug from a strange man, apparently he was doing an operation over the internet to get 10,000 hugs and I got one, it was the best memory I had and that’s pretty pathetic if you ask me, but these 2 people seemed interested in me and that’s all I wanted to have someone to fuss over me in the morning, to have boy troubles and have someone to talk, to sit down and eat all night while watching your favourite movie with the ones you love, that’s all I ever wanted, to have that bond...

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

I was left in the green room while the office man talked to Lauren and Dane, I picked at my long nails until the door finally swung open, the officer walked up to me and cocked his head to face me and said...

“Congratulations Gracie, you are now the adopted daughter of Lauren and Dane Walker...” I sprung from my seat happily, hugging the officer, it felt really awkward considering he was like a 70 year old, I had never really experienced feelings like this before, I had a spring in my step and I felt as if I were glowing, it felt like it was all a dream, I was now someone’s daughter, I belonged to someone, they loved me for me.....

I followed Lauren and Dane out into the reception room, we signed multiple sheets of papers and then we were free to go. I trudged out into the spring rain and began to walk down the street, “Gracie?” Dane called, “where are you going?” I looked at him with an absent face, “ummmm I don’t exactly know, where do I go?” I stuttered, “This way my new daughter,” Lauren said gesturing to a large black car, “WOW! Really?” I shouted, these parents were awesome, “What sort of car is it?” “I’ll answer that,” Dane barged in, “it’s a 2011 Hummer, one of the best cars in the USA,” I hopped into the large car, it was so roomy, leather seats, a big electronic stereo and best of all an air conditioner, I could get used to this, I thought before buckling myself in...

We sped onto the highway and listened to some easy listening music, I was nervous about where I was going to be living. We turned off of the highway and drove down a long scenic path, I stared at the horses, deer, swans and ponds behind the fence, they were magical, it was like I was day dreaming, but only it was real, this was happening, I was getting a home...

I hopped out of the car and observed my surroundings, I gaped at the large house in front of my eyes, it was enormous, fit for the king or queen, something was up, why would two normal people live such a luxurious life? I stared at the house, it features a large water feature, a creamy white paint, a dark brown roof and at least 100 acres of land, it was like heaven, heaven I’m in heaven, I thought to myself before running up to my new parents. I stood in the doorway and took in my surroundings, the floor was a warm brown and the walls were painted a skilful whitish blue, I took my first step into the house and my mother Lauren whispered, “Welcome home...”