Lost & Found

00: Prologue.

"Nothing can last forever. There isn't any memory, no matter how intense, that doesn't fade out at last."   ~ Juan Rulfo

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Dressed with vines and orange flowers stood an old two storied building, a collection of yellow aged and sun-bleached bricks. 

Morrisville Children's Home.

"Apparently she was found at an old married couple's home somewhere close here, to Morrisville," said a middle aged frizzy brown haired lady, hovering by the kitchen window of the yellow bricked building, with a perfect view to the driveway. The kids were running around, probably playing another game of tag.

"She's a weird one, this girl," said the man behind her reading the newspaper, sipping from his cup of tea. "I read from that couple's letter that she stumbled shivering, tattered, and looking downright terrified on their doorstep."

"Hm," said the woman, playing around with a pen with her fingers, "There's definitely a sense of mystery about this kid. The couple had kept the kid for a few weeks, and yesterday suddenly felt the need to get her home. But apparently the thing is, the girl doesn't know anything."

"Nothing at all? Was she traumatised? Did her family abandon her or something?"

"I don't know, no one seems to know but--"

The doorbell rang out through the foyer. The woman instantly set into action, figuring that it was the old couple and the girl, and went to the foyer to welcome their visitors. Meanwhile the man went to put his cup in the sink, still feeling hesitant about this unusual girl. 

He had always asked the woman's reasons for considering letting such a strange, mysterious child into their orphanage. The paperwork to get it all into motion was difficult enough. He was conflicted; he heard of stories where odd children joined orphanages creating only trouble for all those they came in contact with. The man heard chatter in the foyer, and came out of the kitchen to meet their visitors.

"Nice to meet you," said the woman, crouching down to smile at the young girl. "I'm Jean. What's your name?"

The little girl wore a timid smile. Her long light golden hair was plaited down her back, and she wore a yellow dress. She was like a canary. She looked around five. The man wondered whether she knew why she was here. "Elaine," she answered, her voice so quiet, they had to hold their breath to hear.

The old couple stood behind the young girl. The older woman had stray strands of white hair, and she had a fond smile with a hand over the young girl's shoulder. The older man beside her had a full head of white hair, and appeared kindly like the woman beside him.

The woman crouched before the girl spoke again. "That is a beautiful name, Elaine. Me and my friend," she pointed to the man, "are going to be your family for a little while, okay?"

The girl looked at the old couple behind her. The older woman smiled and nodded. Elaine turned back to Jean. "Okay." 

The man wondered how she had appeared to the old couple in such a mysterious state. She seemed as normal as any other kid he'd met. The girl turned to the man and smiled with a shy smile. He couldn't help but give a small smile back. 

Just what is her story?

"Elaine, we'll just need to talk to Martha and James for a little while, okay?" said Jean, standing up to face the old man and woman. "You can go join the kids playing in the garden out back. Come, I'll introduce you."

"Okay." Jean brought the young girl to the garden, where the twenty other orphaned kids were playing a game of tag amongst the orange tree orchard.

The man turned to the old couple, who's faces subtly turned to sadness as the girl ran off. "Nice to meet you, Martha and James," he said, shaking their hands. "I'm Robert. This must be hard for you, I would believe. You did just meet this girl, and it must feel like she's one of your own."

Robert was a concise man, unlike his friend, Jean. He was straight to the point. The old woman spoke. "Yes, it has been hard for us. Elaine is a fragile child, and it took us a while for her to start speaking to us. She's a sweet girl, that girl. Ball of sunshine. We took her in... you see, James and I never had children. But how I wish we did."

Jean came walking back into the foyer. "So, should we continue this in the lounge? We have tea and other snacks." The four adults moved into the lounge, the old couple sitting on a couch, Jean and Robert on two wooden chairs from the kitchen. Jean offered some tea.

Jean began. "We're glad you came to us, with all those other commercial adoption agencies in the country," she said. "We here believe that our little home is a nice environment for young kids. Almost like a school and a home combined into one."

"We thought that Elaine deserved a nicer environment not far from us," said James, the older man.

"So you tried with the local police?" asked Jean. "Nothing about any parents out looking for her?"

"Nothing," said Martha, sipping on her tea and glancing at James. "We know everyone in small-town Morrisville, and no one had ever seen Elaine before. It's as if the child appeared out of nowhere."

"Have you tried asking her about her past?" asked Robert, interested in Elaine's strange beginnings.

"She really doesn't know," said Martha. "She says she can't remember anything. And all she does remember is walking by some houses, and seeing me gardening on our front lawn. We took her in, and the next day asked the neighbours, and asked the police. They put up a notice for the girl, and no one has responded."

"Interesting," said Robert.

"All she remembers is her name," said Martha, quietly. "Well, it took us a while until we could finally call her by a name. Like we said, she was a quiet one for the first week."

Jean looked at Robert.

"We'll take care of her," said Robert, accepting Jean's pleading look. Jean was a person who wanted to help as many people as she could. It was an unalterable vocation. "In fact, you can just adopt her if you'd like."

"We'd love to," said Martha, a sad smile on her face, "but we know that we're old and due to... leave this earth soon. We want Elaine to have the best possible life with parents that will be there with her for most of it. It wouldn't be fair to the poor girl."

James continued on. "We thought it would be right for her to have a chance to find her proper family."

Jean sighed. "We deal with many issues when each kid comes in, but Elaine's story is probably the most difficult."

"We heard that you take good care of the kids," said Martha, looking at Jean. "Can you promise that Elaine will be able to go to a good family? She has most likely gone through much, but she has a personality that shouldn't be destroyed. The world will suffer if such a bright ball of light is doused by more suffering. Please take care of her." Martha's voice became pleading.

Jean looked at the golden haired, canary-like girl, smiling and running along with the other children. One of the other kids tripped over, while the rest ran to avoid losing the game. Another kid stayed behind, and extended a hand to help. Her yellow dress radiated in the warm sunlight.

"It's a promise."