Paper Planes

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"Poetry spills from the cracks of a broken heart, but flows from one which is loved."
—Christopher Paul Rubero

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Let's rewind the clocks back a bit...

"Ah, Mrs. Clarke! Come on in!" Evelyn cheered, her blush tinted glasses slipping down the curve of her nose as she opened the door widely.

"Lovely to see you again, Evelyn." Mrs. Clarke smiled, her wiry gray hair pulled into a tight bun as she shuffled through the front door of Evelyn's orphanage.

"We currently have twenty-six children," Evelyn explained, the heels of her stilettos clicking loudly against the wood floor as she led Mrs. Clarke into the large house. "Fifteen girls and eleven boys, ranging from three to seventeen years of age."

Evelyn led the stocky old woman into a nearby office, littered with stacks of unorganized manila folders piling on top of an old oak desk. A single broad window sat behind the desk, the mahogany curtains drawn back to allow light to enter the slightly small room.

"Please, take a seat." Evelyn smiled, outstretching her arm in the direction of a plush carob tinted chair as Mrs. Clarke quietly sat, her leather purse resting comfortably on her lap as her beady eyes scoped out the office.

"So, what age were you interested in, again?" Evelyn requested, taking a seat in her leather swivel chair as she began to shuffle through the manila folders.

"Between eight and eleven, preferably." Mrs. Clarke said, chewing mindlessly on her bottom lip.

"Lovely. Let me show you the children we have in that age range." Evelyn shuffled quickly through the folders, placing several of them on the opposite side of the desk in front of Mrs. Clarke.

"I have three girls and one boy between that age range," Evelyn explained, folding her hands and resting them on the desk as Mrs. Clarke retrieved the boys' file.

She flipped open the folder, a neat arrangement of documents held inside by a paperclip as she admired the little blonde boy with a very toothy grin.

"His name's Jackson. He turns ten today, actually." Evelyn informed the woman.

"He's adorable!" Mrs. Clarke observed, skimming over his information as she snapped the folder shut. "Can I see him?"

A grin tugged at Evelyn's lips. "Certainly."

She brought Mrs. Clarke out back to the playground, which was littered with screaming children as they played cheerfully.

Evelyn scanned the area for the little boy Mrs. Clarke was interested in adopting. She finally spot him off to the side, perched against the wall as he sat shoulder-to-shoulder with a dark haired girl known as Ember.

"He's right over here, Mrs. Clarke." Evelyn pointed.

Mrs. Clarke's gaze settled upon the boy, giggling gleefully beside a girl as they bounced little red balls against the pavement.

"Is that his sister?" Mrs. Clarke inquired, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Why wasn't Jackson playing with the other boys?