Ember. It means fire. Ember was never safe. Even before she was born she was coverted. Hunted. She's the last of her kind. Once there were many. Once there were four. Four families. One for each element. Air. Water. Earth. Fire. Every other family e...
There Ember stayed. In the Orphanage her mother died getting her to. Ember was oblivious to this. The eleven year old girl with vivid red hair, that resembled fire itself. Her eyes as dark as coal.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She stared out the window, looking at the children below. Laughing as their parents hovered protectively around, preparing to catch them if they fall. Ember thought of the life she often invisioned. Replacing the image of the children playing with herself and her own parents around her. The image of her parents were fragments of her imagination alone. She'd never seen a picture of either and the old women who had been working that night when Ember arrived died of a heart attack. Ember saw it happened as she had been coming down for a glass of water that night.
The next person to take charge of the Orphanage was nowhere near as nice as she had been. He was a cruel middle aged man who punished the children severly if they dared put one toe out of line. Ember was popular with the other children at the Orphanage. Especially with the younger ones. When they would accidentally drop or knock a glass, Ember would take the blame so the younger ones could be spared a beating. Ember was one of the oldest orphanes there and believed it her responsibility to protect the younger ones. They were family after all. The only family each other had.
The elderly women who had been with Embers mother that night, Mrs Quin, had made the Orphanage feel more like a home then what it was now. The Orphanage now felt like a prison that the orphans were born into. Mrs Quin used to go out of her way for each and every orphan.
On their birthdays she'd throw them a party and use her own money to get at least one present as well as give them some handmade gifts.
Many at the Orphanage used to not want to leave. They didn't feel like orphans when she was in charge, they felt like they were her children. It was tragic day of Ember's life when she died and Mr Reynolds took over. They had never seen him before but he soon got rid off the other attendants at the Orphanage, the only one that remained was the cook, Mrs Smith. The staff that replaced the old ones were cold and cruel compared to the kind and generous staff that used to look after them.
Because of Mr Reynolds regime of terror many orphans now longed to be adopted but less and less people were. The cheery atmosphere that used to invite potential parents was now cold and tense. The orphans hated the days were it rained, meaning the day had to be spent inside with the crippling fear that Mr Reynolds inspired. Even Ember was afraid of him, she just didn't let the fear control her.
The best days were those spent outside. The older kids would take all the younger ones to the park that was just round the corner from the Orphanage. It was the only place where the constant fear they had would melt away in the comfort of the sun and they could joke and laugh freely. This was not one of those days. The rain fell, not heavily but even then they weren't allowed outside. If they got mud or water on the floor then they would be beaten.
