𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌 | 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘗𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳

1 || An Unexpected Guest || Year One

"Ashlynn, come down and say goodbye to Mirielle." Prissy called to me, beckoning me over with a gnarled hand. I rolled my eyes and slid off of the tiny bed, trying to hide my sad expression. Emotion in the orphanage marked you as weak, and that was not a good thing.

I don't cry.

"Ash, I'm going to miss you," Mira flung herself into my arms, her ebony-black ponytail bouncing. I leaned into her warmth.

I don't cry.

"I'm going to miss you too. Promise to write?" I breathed, pulling away to match her blue eyes with my own grey ones. Mira nodded tearfully.

"Mirielle, are you ready?" The couple that had come to adopt Mira smiled softly as Mira nodded.

"Enjoy the food!" I tried to sound cheerful as I watched her climb into a sparkling black car and drive away.

I don't cry.

I was alone again. It had been quick, painless, some would say. Not for me. The seed of anger in my gut gets replaced with sadness. A lingering sadness. I know it will never go away. No matter if things improve, or I am adopted.

I don't cry.

Yeah right. I'm too temperamental, too animalistic to live with a "family". I've learned too much, seen too much. The orphanage is where I'll stay.

I don't cry.

"Ashlynn, can you come help with dinner?" Prissy called. Her real name was Ms. Holcom, but Mira and I called her Prissy because of her prim and proper manner of speaking and moving.

"In a minute," I said back to her before taking the stairs two by two to the beds. Lucky for me, no one was there. I tried to avoid looking at Mira's tidy bed, so different from her usual rumpled sheets and twisted pillow.

I don't cry, I don't cry, I don't cry.

I don't cry...

It was a minute before the tears started to flow.

My best friend and the only one who understood me was gone. Gone forever, and I'd never see her again.

I'm crying.

It's different than I expected. A little more comforting. The tears are warm.

And now I'm crying, not just because of Mira, but because of my life. Because of the kids. Because of the unfairness that the world has shown each and every one of us.

"Ash?" A small voice wormed its way into my thoughts. Tiny stood timidly at the end of my bed. No one knew his real name, as Prissy had found him in the town square, but we just called the soft-spoken four year old Tiny. I was proud that one of his first words was my name.

"Hey, Tiny," I said through my tears, wiping them away and patting my lap. He gladly climbed onto the bed and situated himself so he was facing me. He took his small thumb and wiped away a tear from my cheek.

"Are you ok?" he said slowly.

"I'm fine, Tiny." I answered, trying to smile but utterly failing. "Can you go tell Prissy that I can't help with dinner tonight?" Tiny nodded and jumped off of the bed, eager to be of service. The bed creaked as he left it, and I fell backwards, tears flowing faster now.

--

It was a while until I stopped crying. But when I touched my feet to the cold ground to go down and give my dinner portion to Tiny, I wasn't met with the cold floor at all.

The ground was covered in water, at least two inches thick. The door to the beds was open, but the water seemed to hit an invisible wall and stayed in the room I was in.