The Silence

Chapter 1

Addison
~~~
"Addison" Miss Josephine calls from her seat across from mine as we sit at a dinner table surrounded by twelve other girls ranging from 3-12. I'm the oldest at seventeen.

"Addison!" she repeats a tad louder. I snap out of my day dream to look at her.

"Yes Miss?" I reply.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit distracted today. Is everything alright?" She inquires.

"Yes ma'am. I'm fine. Just tired I suppose." she doesn't respond and instead reprimands one of the other girls, Tatiana, for using her skirt as a napkin. All thirteen of us girls are orphans living with Miss Josephine, a kind woman in her  late sixties. She had pale skin and silver waist length hair that was always braided to the side. Her bright green eyes always shone with compassion and a maternal spark. She treated all of her charges with care and taught us to read and write and everything we might need to make a better life for ourselves when we turned 18 and had to leave to orphanage.

I have lived with her since I was three when my mother died in a factory accident, my father was killed in military service. However, these girls are like sisters to me and Miss Josephine is the only maternal figure in my life.

After eating I helped Miss Josephine with dishes along with one of the other girls, Casey a ten year old with strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes that make the sea look dull. After fifteen minutes or so of cleaning, everyone had made their way to their respective rooms to go to bed. I climbed the old flight of faded wooden stairs to my room on the second floor, fourth door on the left. As I make my way down the long corridor to my old creaky, once white door. I slowly open it as to not wake any of the younger children who may be asleep already. Once I am safely inside with the light on, I rest my head against the door. I tried my hardest to be cheerful and upbeat today but I couldn't do it, not after what I was told this morning.

This morning when I awoke, there was a note on my dresser in Miss Josephine's penmanship. It was short and blunt "Please come see me before breakfast in my private office." It was very rare to be invited into her office unless you were in deep trouble or you were to be adopted, and neither of those were the case for me, I was sure of it.

I quickly got a shower and got dressed the whole time thinking about what could possibly happen in her office. The minute I was ready to see her I practically sprinted out of my room, through the hall, down the staircase and planted my feet in front of her office door. Taking a deep breath I timidly knocked earning I sharp "Enter" in response.

I slowly opened the door and slid inside, closing it behind me.