A home. Many people have one. But there are others, like me, who share one big ‘home’. An orphanage. The orphanage here in New South Whales, Australia, is just outside of Sydney. From the outside, it looks like your typical haunted house. The once white paint, had turned to a light shade of grey and had begun to peel off of the brown hardwood walls. There where windows that had to be boarded up due to the older kids getting angry and punching them. But after a while, the owner of the orphanage decided to board up all of the windows to ensure that kids didn’t break the windows.. well most of the windows. The windows in her office, the kitchen and the ones near the roof everywhere else weren’t touched. Literally. They hadn’t been washed at all since I’ve been here, so they were covered in dust. On the inside, the place had holes in the walls, dust everywhere, toys all over the lounge room/play room, opened cupboards revealing caned food and alcohol, spider webs filling in the bank space around all of the rooms. There are around twenty rooms but around 60 kids… yeah it’s a big place.. anyway, everyone had to share. So each room had three kids. Usually, they were with their friends, but because I had no friends here, I was placed with my bullies. Yes, I know how cliché this is but it’s just how it went. The orphanage bullies are Sophia, Taylor (my roommates), Ben and John. I know you are probably thinking that they bully me physically, but that isn’t the case. They bully me mentally and emotionally, calling me names, saying that I’m not good enough and that I’ll never get adopted. Stuff like that..
“Jade, get your fat, lazy fucking arse up and tidy this place up! People are finally coming here to look at these other brats. After you clean, you go to the fucking basement. Am I understood!?” Maria screamed in my face. I had just gotten to sleep for the first time in this week, now I have to get up again.
“Yes ma’am.” I mumbled with my head bowed down, my eyes trained on the floor.
“Good! Maybe you will actually listen for once in your miserable life.” She spat at me, venom clear in her voice.
I nodded as I stood up from my make-shift bed on the floor to get started on the cleaning.
I decided to get started on the bathrooms. I quickly picked up all of the clothes, bath toys, soaps, razors and hairbrushes from the floor and sorted them into the two piles, what to throw out and what to keep. After I finished that, I glanced at myself in the mirror, only to see someone I didn’t recognise staring back at me. Her once wavy hair, was now knotty. Her once bright blue/green eyes are now a dull grey colour surrounded by dark bags under her eyes from the lack of sleep. She had a few spots (pimples) due not being able to shower often to clear her face of dirt and sweat. Lifting up my shirt, she mimicked my movements by lifting up her shirt to reveal her ultra-skinny body. Her ribs and hip bones were clearly visible, due to not being able to eat. It clicked that the girl in the mirror.
‘Had I really changed that much?’ I thought to myself. ‘I wish I could change. I want to be healthy and happy. Please, for once, let me be happy!’
My thoughts were interrupted by a high-heel hitting the back of my head.
“Get back to cleaning Bitch!” Maria screamed.
‘Oh well. I guess it will never be more than a dream.’ I thought to myself as I went back to cleaning.
