-This is Mee-

The Orphanage

February 6, 2003

The clouds above were sad, and grumpy. They didn't want to be sad and grumpy. So they cried about being sad and grumpy. Their tears made everything wet. I didn't want to be wet. But I was.
The kids in front of me were wet to. That made me happy. Most of them were taller than I was. Maybe older. I didn't like being in the back, it made me feel small and unimportant.
"Keep moving!" A grumpy man shouted at us.
My head sunk on my neck, like a turtle. The collars of my coat rose above my ears as I scurried forwards.
I looked down at my muddy boots. They were brown with black laces. Well, my left was missing it's laces, but it would be black if it was their I assume. My socks were no longer white. They were brown and wet now. Gross. They made my toes feel funny. My green shorts were too big and didn't fit well. Oh, yeah. That's where my other lace went. They kept my pants up.
The thought made me giggle to myself. The kid in front of me turned around and sniffed.
He didn't look friendly. He had short red hair, freckles, big teeth, and an even bigger nose. He was scary looking, and taller than I was, but he looked like a Scottish rat.
That thought flushed the scary away and I laughed to myself some more.
"Pft." He rolled his eyes. "Loser."
I puckered my lower lip as a tear crawled over my left eyelid.
Meany...
My eyes widened when a rat tail peeked out from the bottom of his jacket. I gasped when it came all the way out and swayed in front of my face. The rain made it shiny and pretty to look at.
I giggled and tried to grab it, but it flicked away whenever I got close. I laughed a little harder but I couldn't catch it. When I started to get frustrated and sad, it reached over and tickled my nose.
The kid in front walked forwards, and in my attempt to grab it, I fell forwards and splashed into the mud. I laughed loudly and splashed my hands in it more.
"Hey, kid." Said the man. I looked up to see his big nose in my face.
He was crouched down to meet my eyes. His brown eyes matched his bushy brown mustache. His glasses had rain drops running down like they were siblings racing to the creek nearby. His blue cap was soaked along with his brown leather jacket.
"C'mon, boy!" He shouted. "Get up!"
I laughed as I reached over and squeezed his nose.
"Mr. Ledd!" An old woman shouted as she walked up.
She wore a bright blue dress, and dazzling jewelry. Her blue umbrella was traced with gold leaves. She wore pretty things, but her face yelled at me without her even looking my direction. She was scarier than Rat Face Boy.
Mr. Ledd stood up quickly while at the same time grabbing me by the back of my jacket. He set me on my feet before straightening his posture.
"Ms. Tsvet." The man said. "I was just getting them lined up."
"Yes, I can see that." She said coldly. "And giving one of them a bath already, too? Very good Mr. Ledd." She smiled evilly.
Mr. Ledd's shoulders fell lower and he looked down. "Sorry, ma'am."
"How many do we have?" The mean old lady asked.
I didn't like her. She was mean to Mr. Ledd. Her face looked like a vase with big red lips. Her gray hair curled around her face like strings of crescent moons.
"We have fifteen kids this month." Mr. Ledd said. "All boys. Oldest is 12, and the youngest-"
He stopped talking when I started laughing again. I watched as Ms. Tsvet's ears grew and flapped around like Dumbo. Then, a small stick figure went down one of her hairs like a firefighter. It waved at me so I waved back.
"And that one?" Ms. Tsvet snarled like an angry lawnmower.
Her nostrils flared up and down like her ears, making me giggle more. Rat Face Boy's tail tickled my ear and made me laugh even more. He turned around and looked at me disgusted. So did all the other kids.
"That one is the youngest. Seven years of age." Mr. Ledd said. Hehe.. Ledd said.
"It's name?"
"Matthew." He said. "We didn't get any record for his parents, so we don't know his last name."
"Oh," she scoffed as she smiled. "He's one of those kids."
One of those kids? I wondered. There are more Matthews?!
"Y-yes, ma'am..." Mr. Ledd said glumly.
I didn't understand what they were talking about. I didn't care. I watched my stick figure friend jump on her umbrella like a trampoline.
"Hehe, jump! Jump!" I laughed as I jumped up and down excitedly. The mud below me splashed up and got all over Rat Face Boy's butt. It looked like he sat on a toad's birthday cake! I laughed even more.
"Ugh!" Rat Face gagged. "Such a loser!" He said as he shoved me. I fell on my butt hard enough for it to hurt, even with the mud. The wet dirt splashed all over me and got in my mouth.
I tried spitting it out and wiped my eyes, but it just put more mud on my face. All the other kids laughed. They pointed at me and kicked more mud over. Rat Face mimicked a crying baby as I started to cry. When I wiped my tears, more mud would smear over me.
Mr. Ledd began to walk over as he said "Kids-" but he was cut off when the woman put her arm in front of him.
"No no no." She said smiling. "He's gotta learn how his life here is going to be, doesn't he? We stop them now, he'll never be able to handle it when we're not there. Right, Mr. Ledd?"
"But-"
"Mr. Ledd?" She cut him off.
He looked like he wanted to say something, but he decided to let it go. "Yes, ma'am."
The stick man on the umbrella slipped and fell and vanished when I wiped my tears. Ms. Tsvet's ears and nose turned back to normal as her mean laugh scared me. I looked at Rat Face and his tail crawled away like a scared dog. I cried as the kids continued to make fun of me, and my funny left me.
"Welcome, kids." The mean old lady shouted. "To Color's Orphanage!" She spread her arms, and I looked up at the building.
It had no color. It had sad gray wood, and rough black tile over the roof. The window frames were made of angrily red wood, and the height of the building was dominating. The tall fence that ran around it was like a mean warden in a prison. It stared at us as if it was daring us to try and leave.
I looked up again as a bolt of lightning struck behind the building, making me cry even more.
I didn't like it here.