Adopt virtual pets at Chicken Smoothie!{The Orphan}
Adopt virtual pets at Chicken Smoothie!{The Artist}
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I was so excited, it was my first day helping out at the orphanage. I had just decided, I would come and help the children with activities. Put some of my art talent to good use. I didn't want money or anything like that, that was null. I just wanted to see their beautiful smiles, the children and their grins as they color and paint. Their eyes lighting up at all of the gorgeous colors. The hues of blue, the shades of purple. All color in one little box. To one little boy, it meant the world. I had promised myself and my parents that I wouldn't get attached to any children. I broke that promise. That little boy was special, his eyes burned with creativity, and his step was playful and bouncy as if he was on the moon. And I must admit, we both grew attached, to the point he felt like my son. He scribbled with his crayons and brought up all of his lovely pictures, showing them to me with delight in his eyes.
I couldn't help but smile. One day he spoke up and said, "Mo- Miss, can you help me color?" His face flushing all shades of red. It broke my heart, I wish I could be his mother, watch movies, eat dinner, play games, and all other family activities. We used to sit in the big window down the hall, watching the snow fall. He hugged me, and would play with my scarf, I always wrapped my coat around him. Every night I left, he hugged me good bye and I could see in his eyes, he wanted me to stay. Not for a day, a week, or even a year. He wanted me to stay forever, To protect him, and take him away from the cold, hard floors, and the stone grey walls.He wanted me to save him from his troubles, and from the parent less cobweb filled halls of the orphanage. He never had anyone.
I came one day, and saw something that made my heart drop. Oh I know it's wrong, I know I shouldn't be upset. I saw a woman and a man signing papers, and I saw that little boy, Joshua, next to them. The worst thing was, tears were streaming down his face and when he saw me, he ran to me, wrapping his arms around me, "Take me home with y-you. Please miss, please." He sniffled, refusing to release me. I smiled gently, my broken heart spread across my eyes, as I heard him say Miss. He never called me by name, always Miss, it was his version of mother. "I c-can't." Tears streaming from by sad eyes, as the new parents came, looking concerned and slightly upset. Trying to get him to come. He ripped away from them, "Traitor!" he shouted then sprinted out the door into the harsh cold. Everybody rushed after him, the new parents, the person helping them, and me. But when we got out there he had disappeared into the freezing night and though we called and chased him, we couldn't find him. I searched for hours, even after everyone quit, I dug through the snow, my fingertips blue, and my lips purple. Before I collapsed in the snow, I barely had strength to get up but did, I slumped back to my house, going into a restless night of what I wouldn't even call sleep. That word, traitor, it burned into my enter core. It enraged me, it depressed me. I threw things, I shouted, I sat down, I cried. A constant wave of rage and depression as if I couldn't decide.
~1 year Later~ It was after that year, I got a phone call. It was from a hospital, they said a child wanted me. I thought it was a kid from the orphanage. I never would have guessed it was Joshua. I rushed to the hospital, in the emergency room, I saw him, I saw my boy. Rushing to his bed and looking into the face I hadn't seen in a year.He was pale, and slightly blue. He shivered, and chills ran up my spine, he was soaking wet. He had hypothermia, and a slight case of Pneumonia. They said he had asked for miss and they had searched for my number. That broke me, I sat in a chair and cried, waiting for him to wake up, waiting for his reassuring smile to tell me he was okay. Then his eyes fluttered open and I got the reassuring smile as he weakly looked toward me and said the single word, "Miss?"
He stayed in the hospital for another week, going through ups and downs. Sometimes they thought he would die over night. Those are the nights I would stay awake, holding his small hand and whispering to him, "Son, please live." I went ahead and signed all of the adoption papers, whispering to him all the good news. How now, he could call me mother and how I would protect him. They told me to go home for one night and when I came up to the hospital doors. I saw Joshua running up to me, and I opened my arms wide. I wrapped him in a tight hug and we sobbed , staying like that for a good hour. Finally I took him home , and we lived as mother and son.
I was finally able to wrap him in my arms.
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I retold the story, to a nurse who had asked. She nods and smiles down at Joshua in his hospital bed before leaving the room.
Once again I held his hand and whisper for him to live.