WHISPERS TRILOGY

THE WEIRD NEW WORLD

She was alive, so was her sister. They were the last of the Cruz family; saved by something that looked like her. She wasn't sure what it was, she wasn't sure why it saved her, she wasn't sure where it took her... or WHEN. She staggered up, the effects of the explosion still made her legs feel wobbly. She had absolutely no idea of what she was supposed to do, so she approached a young couple and burst into tears.

"Whoa there, what's wrong little one? Are you lost?" asked the lady. She was beautiful, but she wore evening gloves of some sort and a ridiculous attire she had seen in the old indies movies. "I lost my mommy and daddy. They are... they're..." She cried even more, unable to say the words. Lily backed her up, crying as well. "Oh no. Sugar, I think she lost her parents to the war," said the lady. Her accent was strong, just like in the old Indies movies.

"Well shoot, why don' we take her to one o' them orphan homes, ey? We can't possibly raise a child in this crisis even if we had our own. What about two of 'em then?" said the man. Like most of all the others, he had a bowler hat, a large coat and excessively baggy trousers. Who WERE these people? "Oh alright, Sugar. Come here little girlie, let me help you with that baby. We'll take you somewhere where they're going to take care of you, raise you, feed you..."

Sheila stopped listening as she followed the young couple. The woman just wasn't shutting up; but that was not the reason she kept quiet. Horrible, terrible images were replaying in her mind. Dale being stabbed right in front of her, the fleeting glimpse of her mother sprawled on the floor with a large shard of glass in her chest, the house exploding with her father still inside, the Belledame... in general.

"What's your name, girlie?" asked the lady. Sheila did not respond immediately, all the thinking and trauma made her get a migraine. "Sheila. I'm Sheila." "Sheila, where might you be from—" "Don' ask silly questions now Peg. You don' wanna stir up any bad memories now, do you?" said the man. Peg, as she was now known, then went on talking as they led her to heaven knows where.

Heaven... she hoped that was where her family was. The thought that they were not on earth made her feel like crying again.

"Here we are Sheila. Just follow us this way and we'll have you put into the system, is that okay with you pumpkin?" Sheila didn't even know what they were talking about, but they seemed like a nice couple. She knew what bad was like. No one would ever be that bad.

Peg and Marc (the man) explained to the nun at the orphanage how they found Sheila. The orphanage was called 'Little Angels' Grove.' The nun took Sheila in after realizing it was pointless to try persuading the couple to take the two children in themselves. Sheila and Lily were now officially orphans. Officially.