Have Faith

Chapter 2: Saving a Stranger

I dragged the refrigerator box out of the alley, but as soon as I got a whiff, I realized that it needed to be cleaned, and lying in the sun wasn't going to help anything. So, I brought it to the pond in the park. I sunk it into the water and watched it float around for a while. Then I took it out and brought it to the synagogue.

The synagogue turned out to be very close to somebody's house, with only a narrow gap in between. I managed to squeeze my box in, with just enough space for me to reposition the box if I needed to. My stomach growled, but I had no money. I made sure my box was well hidden so that the owner of the house wouldn't find it if he came looking. It was around eleven o' clock at night, which was way too late for a seven-year-old to be awake, so I settled in and fell asleep.

Running. I was running. I didn't know what I was running from (or towards). I was in a cornfield, running past the corn, pushing it away from my face as I ran. I was absolutely terrified.

"Ahh!" I screamed and jolted out of the dream. I was breathing heavily, as if I was really out of breath from running for so long. Then, I looked around.

Why was I on the ground? Eww, it smelled like fish! Where was my bed? Where was Abby? Then I remembered. I started to choke back tears as I remembered my lost friend.

"Please Lord," I prayed. "Please make sure she's okay."

I tentatively peered out from the flaps on the box into the outside world.

It was morning, although there was no sun today. It was grey and bleak. The sky was reflecting my feelings back at me.

Snap out of it, I told myself. I thought about the horrible life I was leading before this. Do you want to go back to that? I asked myself.

Just then, I heard screaming and laughing coming from the yard of my new neighbor.

I ran to the corner of their house and peeked around slowly.  The sight that met my eyes was wonderful.  It was the very thing I had always wanted in the orphanage - family.  A father was pushing his healthy little girl on a homemade swing made out of a spare tire.  It was hanging on a low branch of a tree.  The girl was a blonde, and her hair came down to her waist.  It was brushed to perfection, not a strand out of place.  She looked around the same age as me, and her eyes were a pretty blue color, like the ocean.  Quite a contrast to me, with my dirty rags, ribs sticking out, and shoulder-length hair that I hadn't cared about in years.  The last time I looked in a mirror willingly was when a girl dared me to play Bloody Mary, back at the orphanage.

She was laughing as her father, who was around thirty, with golden hair and sparkling eyes, pushed her swing higher and higher.

"Higher, Daddy, higher!" She called, grinning ear to ear.

"You bet, sweetheart!" replied the father, pushing the swing higher.  They were both laughing so hard, they couldn't hear the ominous cracking sound from above them.

I acted on instinct.  It was probably because of all the years of watching kids being bullied by other kids, and standing in the way of a punch.  I had pretty quick reflexes.  I am also pretty strong for my age.  I ran as fast as I could, jumped the fence, bolted over to the father and daughter, who were very much confused, and grabbed the girl off the swing,  just as the tree's branch came crashing down.

"T-t-thanks!" stuttered the girl in my arms, who must have been at least my weight, if not more.

"You're welcome," I answered, setting her on her feet.  The father rushed over to her.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" he asked his daughter, with concern in his voice and eyes.  The girl nodded, and his face flooded with relief.  I couldn't help but despair for a brief moment that no one had ever worried about me that way.

The father turned to me.  "Thank you," he said.  "You saved my little girl's life.  How can I ever repay you?"

"You're welcome," I repeated. "And there's really no need, it was no problem."

The father looked me up and down.  "Do you have a mom?"

I shook my head.

"How about a dad?"

"No. I was raised in an orphanage."

"I don't recall an orphanage ever being so close to our house that one of the orphans had a chance to see what just happened."

"No, I escaped from an orphanage and came here." As soon as I said it, I cursed myself.  I didn't know this man!  He would report me for sure!  Stupid, stupid, stupid!  "Please don't turn me in!" I begged him.  "It's awful there.  Can that be my favor?"

The father looked me in the eyes and told me the best news I would probably ever hear.  "I'll do even better."  He looked at his daughter.  "Claire, how would you like a sister?"