Alaya

Chapter 1

I was walking on the crunching leaves that had covered the path in the forest. I listened carefully to what surrounded me. I listened to the swaying trees, my footsteps, and the singing birds. I was going to the lake that lied in the middle of the forest. There were always myths that the lake was enchanted, but I never believed in them. I was going there to see my friend, Alaya. She and I were best friends pretty much ever since I moved to the house that lied in front of the forest about three years ago.

    Alaya was homeless, but I often let her come into my house to eat, sleep, and wash up. Her mother and father were once found dead in a car accident. Alaya was soon taken to an orphanage, where she later ran away from. She ran away because the foster parents were abusive and neglected the children there and she couldn’t take the pain anymore.

    Even though Alaya had been through so much, she was still the kindest and strongest person I have ever met.

    When I reached the lake, I saw Alaya sitting in her favorite tree. She always sat there. Unlike me, she believed the lake was enchanted. Everyday she would come to the lake just to hope for things. She mainly hoped for her parents to come back. She would also hope to be rich someday so she wouldn’t starve, be cold, or be dirty.

    “Alaya!” I yelled to her. I think I snapped her out of a thought because she jumped a little after  I yelled her name.

    She smiled and waved to me in response.

    I walked over to the tree that she was sitting in and looked in front of me. The view was gorgeous. The lake was sparkling in the sun light. The trees colored the horizon yellow, red, orange, with bits of green. Above us, were birds flying around in the blue sky. It was very peaceful.

    “What are you thinking about?” I asked Alaya.

    “Life,” she began, “A different life, though. A life filled with peace, love, and happiness.”

    I didn’t know what to say after that. My life was so different from hers. I had a family. I had love. I also had happiness. To me, life was amazing and great. I couldn’t even imagine how she felt.

    “Are you gonna come up here?” she asked as she scooted over and pat her hand on the space next to her.

    “Sure, I guess.” I replied.

    I began climbing. I grabbed the branch that was close to me and pulled myself on top of it. I then raised my foot to the branch that as next to me and pulled myself to that one. Finally, I climbed over next to Alaya. I looked at her. I knew she was going to say something else.

“Kayla?” she asked.

“Yes?” i replied

“Do you think that I will ever get a family? Do you think that maybe one day I might get someone who loves me and takes care of me?”

I thought about it for a moment. Then, I said, “ Of course. Plus, you have me. I will always try to take care of you. You are my best friend. I wouldn’t let anything bad happen to you.” I said as I hugged her.

“Ya. Thanks. I am so thankful to have a wonderful friend like you.” she smiled back.

After a while, we got down from the tree. Alaya picked up a pebble that was on the ground and threw it into the lake. She always did this. It was for good luck to her. I smiled as she did it. After she was done, we headed to my house.

“Mom! Alaya is here!” I yelled.

“Okay!” she yelled back.

I walked in the kitchen to get Alaya and I a drink and a snack. I then gave Alaya her snack and we both sat in the living room to watch t.v.. I looked at her. She stuffed the food in her mouth.

    “You are really hungry, aren’t you?” I chuckled.

    “Yeah.” she nodded as she laughed a little.

    My mom soon walked into the room. She looked at Alaya, who was sitting next to me, and smiled at her. Alaya smiled back. Then, my mom gestured her hands to me to come to her. I got up and walked into the kitchen, which is where my mom was.

    “So, your father and I have been talking for a while.” she paused.

    “And? What have you guys been talking about?” I asked her, waiting for her to get to the point.

    “Well, we were thinking about being foster parents.” she smiled.

    “Really?” I smiled back. If my parents were going to be foster parents, Alaya could get the proper care she needed!

    My mom nodded. She then told me that she and my dad agreed to start off as Alaya’s foster parents. I was so excited.

    “Can I tell her? She would be so excited!” I jumped up and down.

    My mom nodded her head “yes.”

    I walked over to Alaya, who had just finished her snack.

    She looked at me and began talking. “I am going to the lake. I’m done with my food and I want to sleep by the lake tonight.”

    “Actually, you don’t have to.” I began. “My mom and dad are foster parents now. They wanted the first child to take care of to be you.”

    She looked at me in shock. I couldn’t tell if she was excited or not. Her mouth was open and her eyes looked at me and didn’t look away. She stared at me for about fifteen seconds when she finally responded. “I don’t know. What if they are like the other people? What if they start to hate me? What if they neglect me? I can’t go through that again, Kay.” tears began to flood in her eyes.

    My mom walked over to Alaya. She both of her hands on top of her shoulders and wiped her tears away. “Alaya. I promise you. We will take good care of you. Nothing bad will happen, okay.” she said with a warm smile. Alaya nodded back in response and then hugged my mom.