The Orphaned

The Day Things Changed

As James looked outside of his window, he saw a grey toyota pull up outside of the orphanage and the drivers door opened. A tall, blonde haired man stepped out, the kind you see in fairytales. He rounded the car to the passenger seat and opened the door to reveal a woman, mid 30's, with long brown hair and glasses. She looked similar to the librarian that came to the orphanage to deliver new books to the children once a week. As the couple started walking hand in hand to the front of the orphanage, James heard the familiar voice of Sister Mary, the orphanage's keeper.

"Thank you for coming in, was there something we could help you with? " Sister Mary said, smiling as she greeted the guests.

"We were looking to adopt a child." Timothy explained, joyfulness in his voice.

Sister Mary ecstatically said, "You came to the right place, we have several children that are in need of a good home. Let's go to my office and see if we can help you fulfill your destiny of parenthood." and led the couple inside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We saw a boy named James on your website and we think he is exactly what we are looking for." Natalie said

"James just got adopted yesterday, I'm so sorry. Was there another child you were looking at? They're all great children and were just born into the wrong family".

Timothy, Natalie's Husband, interrupted. "That's highly unfortunate, we were really hoping to give James a good life. Natalie and I have been trying to have a baby, and found out she's not able to carry. James looked to be exactly the type of kid that we could provide a good life for"

"I'm so sorry to hear that. The lord has plans for everybody. We have plenty of other children here, did you two need some time to think about it?" Sister Mary asked.

Natalie, a tear starting to flow down her face, started speaking. "I think we need time to think about it. We'll need to discuss"

"Absolutely, please let me know if you have any questions or once you decide." Sister Mary voiced, handing the couple her business card and standing up to exit the room, the couple following behind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
James sat on the edge of his narrow bed, the locket clutched tightly in his hand, the only remembrance of his family. It was a simple locket-silver and small with an intricate keyhole etched into its surface, yearning to be opened. The orphanage had been James's home since he could remember, and Sister Mary, with her kind eyes and gentle smile, had been like a mother to him. James didn't know anything about his past, but he heard whispers in the hallway.

"The Queen's son" they'd say. "He's special. Protected"

James didn't feel special, he felt like the opposite. All the other orphans James grew up with had been adopted, but not James. Twelve years old, with blonde unruly hair and a silver locket. The boy that nobody wanted. James felt out of place... lost.

The door to the small room opened, and Sister Mary stepped in. James hopped up in excitement, his smile grinning from side to side, hoping that today was the day, the day he'd be adopted. But instead of excitement, Sister Mary just shook her head. The grin quickly turned into a frown.

"Sister Mary, why doesn't anybody want me"? James asked

"I'm sorry, kiddo. Your time will come." Sister Mary placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

James threw the locket that was clutched in his hand and started to sob. "Nobody wants me. Not even my parents, they just threw me out like trash. Only thing I got to remember them is that stupid locket. What's a locket going to do for me, huh?"