Unforgettable

Chapter One

Chapter One

Sitting outside on the old wooden swing set in the small yard at Mary's Orphanage, I watched as the sun rose into the dark blue sky. I come out here everyday because its the only quiet alone time I can get around here.

All of the kids here really like me, but I don't know why. But for you to know why I'm so confused, you have to know who I am. Right?

Well, my name is Rosemary Michelle, but I don't have a last name yet... My first two are fancy, though, right? I like them... My mom gave them to me before I got sick when I was really little. Mary told me that the doctors said that I would never be able to hear again. She said that that was why mommy brought me here. I don't mind, though. Mary loves me like a mommy should!

Mary told me that really important people are coming today... I wonder who they are! She's making me get all dressed up for them after lunch time. I'm going to wear a tu-tu! I don't know which one yet, though... Maybe the purple one! Or blue to match my eyes. Mary says that my eyes are very pretty, she tells me every day! She says that they're so pretty because the color of my skin makes them pop! My skin is kind of dark, like an Indian girl's!! My favorite thing about myself is my eyes just because Mary says she likes them a lot.

"Rose!" I saw Bree, another girl here, waving for my attention from the door. She knows I'm out here; usually she joins me and pushes me on the swings. She's 13 years old! Bree is like my older sister, but she has long blonde hair and brown eyes... So never mind, not really.

"What, Bree?" I called back, looking at her waving me over. I hopped up from where I was sitting and ran over to her.

"I need you to get ready for today, okay? the very important people are coming sooner than expected." I saw her lips move.

"Oh. Okay!" I exclaimed and skipped off to my room to put on a black shirt and my purple tu-tu.

--

The very important people came while I was still eating breakfast. All the other kids had already eaten, but I took a lot of time deciding what I was going to wear. When I got to my room, I decided that I didn't really like the purple tu-tu and wanted the blue one. When I put that one on it felt all scratchy so I put the purple one back on. When I was gonna leave the room I found my pink tu-tu and put that on.

I came downstairs and to the table in the green one.

The whole house was filled with stomping feet that I couldn't hear, but I could feel. I felt the vibrations through the table that I was sitting at, and knew that some kids were playing their music very loud because I could hear the thumping of the drumming sounds that come out of their stereos. Sometimes I wish that I could hear again, because everyone else can and they probably think that I'm really weird because I can't. But most of the time I love being deaf because I'm different.

Normal is boring.

Anyways, back to the very important people. They came when I was just finishing the rest of my bacon - I knew because I felt the vibrations of the huge gong that Miss Mary keeps in the living room to signal all the kids to come downstairs.

The vibrations from the gong are different from the ones from the music and the running because they seem to run smoothly away from the gong and through the entire house. I feel them in my hands and my feet, which are bare because if I wear shoes, I can't feel the vibrations of someone walking behind me. And I can get scared easy. Witch is not very good because since I can't hear, I do get scared a lot.

Bree came to get me again. Thinking that I didn't hear the got. Well, actually she knows I didn't hear the gong, but I don't think that she knows that I can feel the vibrations from it.

'The people are hear, now, it's time to come with me' she signed.

Yes. I know sigh language. Yes, my best friend / sister who is six years older than me knows sign language. Yes, Mary knows sign language.

'What about my plate?' I signed back.

'Take care of it after, you have to come now, all the other kids are here already.' She told me - she was talking while she was signing I could see - her lips were moving as well as her hands. I nodded and followed her.

I couldn't see over the other kids because I was too short, so I pushed past them to the front, not hearing their protests. When I got to the front I saw five boys smiling at all is kids - the smiles were forced, I could see - and they looked oddly familiar...