- Xirino's short story;;
Iris woke up groggily, sitting up on her bed. She let out a small groan and twisted her back to the left, stretching it. The beds provided weren't the best, but it was enough that she got to sleep in one at all. The deer yawned and got out of bed, her hooves making quiet clopping noises as she walked on the hard floor. She passed the other sleeping children and looked at them fondly. Majority of them were a lot younger than her, save for the boy wolf her age. Iris stopped in front of her little sister's bed, gently touching her nose to the younger deer's face. "Good morning, Kailey," she spoke softly. "It's time to get up. Remember what today is?"
Kailey woke up with a giant smile on her face. "Yes, I do remember!" she yell-whispered excitedly. Iris smiled just as eagerly as her and trotted to the bathroom. Glancing at the clock as the pair went, 6:46 am smiled back at her. In 14 minutes, they'd meet their new parents. The two sisters had heard the news last week. Each day since then, they couldn't help but flounce around in excitement. Some of the other kids were happy for them, but most were jealous. Especially Kade, the wolf her age. In truth, Iris knew that Kade sort of had a crush on her. Even only being 13 years old, she was perceptive. But Kade was too problematic. He always picked fights and didn't like her getting close to any other boys, even if they were a good few years younger than her.
The deer both brushed their teeth and combed each other's hair with their brushes in their mouth's. Both of them couldn't stop smiling. A few minutes later, the two practically galloped to the headmaster's office. It was 7:00 on the dot. Knocking her hoof on the door, Iris gave her sister a hopeful look.
The headmaster opened the door and smiled warmly at the sisters. "Come in, girls." she gushed. A pair of elk sat in the small chairs, looking nervous and excited. The woman teared up at the sight of them. "Ah, she's lovely!" the mother gushed. The two sisters smiled for but a moment before realizing. They looked at one another. "She's?" Iris thought, suddenly nervous. The headmaster frowned and coughed. Iris glanced at the man who had a proud rack of antlers. "Yes, we'll have Kailey." he said finally, beaming with admiration.
"Erm, if I may, the sisters go together if possible," she said, looking anxious as she sat down at her desk. Iris's heart had jumped into her throat. "Ah, but these are the only ungulates here. And we can only afford one. Two children is simply too much," the woman said flippantly as if she was choosing a pastry at the store. Tears pricked Iris' eyes. She turned to Kailey, who was already bawling. "No, no!" she shouted. "I'm not going if Iris isn't!"
Both of the elk rolled their eyes. [color=#800bf]"Dear, don't you want a Mommy and a Daddy? A real one? You can visit your sister sometimes, we promise."[/color] the woman said, smiling. Kailey cried even more, shaking her head. Iris' lip quivered and she sucked in a deep breath, making a quick and final decision. "Hey, Kailey, it's okay! You can still come see me. You deserve a Mom and Dad." Iris wrapped her head around Kailey's in a warm, comforting hug. "Be strong! You don't need to be here anymore. Both of our new parents will become best friends so we'll see one another all the time, I swear!" she said, sounding excited. But she was sobbing inside.
An hour later, Kailey walked out of the orphanage, trying her best not to look too happy for Iris' sake. She did look sad, but the happiness of having real parents outweighed it. "Bye, Iris! I'll come see you soon! I love you!" she shouted outside. Iris smiled from the doorway, the headmaster resting her paw on her shoulder. "I'm sorry dear. That was a very brave thing for you to do." she said softly, sounding sad. Iris sniffled in response.
Months had gone by, and at first, Kailey showed up often! But after a year, her visits became less and less. And soon enough, after two years, her parents had gotten sick of taking her. Years went by and she wrote Kailey every week. However, one day, the letters stopped coming. It wasn't until four weeks of the letters stopped coming by that Iris knew why. Her parents had forgotten to pick Kailey up at school one day. Kailey had walked into the street mistakenly, thinking her parents were waiting on the opposite side. She'd been hit by a horse pulling a carriage.