The Element (TUA story)

Oga for Oga (part 3)

Scarlett...

I stood there. In front of the gates of the house that I used to call my home for about three months. Standing in front of the place where I found my first real friends. People that showed me that I could rely on someone other than my family. 

With them, I experienced the taste of real life. I got to go to school. I used to go to the park. Just like any normal kid my age should. I spent time outside. Going to the cinema from time to time. Seeing a movie that I had already seen but for my friends, it was something new. Imagine their surprised faces when I started spoilering it. 

Three years, filled with fun and spent in a carefree spirit. I owe so much to these guys. Not only for saving me from that alley where I could have bled out onto the dirty pavement. But they showed me what life really was like and I don't think I will ever be able to repay them that. Maybe an explanation would be in place. 

I am here to finally see them. And say the truth. I will finally stand in front of them and tell them that I am from the fucking future and that I am taking my ass back there just the save us all from the fucking apocalypse that will happen soon! Yeah...that's fine. Totally normal they will surely understand that. Right?

I walked up the stone stairs and towards the giant wooden door. Opening them slowly and stepping inside the main hall. It is unusually empty. When I was here it used to be full of kids running around, causing mayhem, and so on. But now, there was an uncanny silence spreading through the whole house. Some kids are just sitting in the sitting area. Either reading books or doing homework. The usual worked that is always sitting behind the desk looks unusually relaxed.

She always used to have her hair sticking in every direction. Screaming at everyone to calm down. Real psycho let me tell you. But now, she had her dark hair in a neat bun. Bright red lipstick coloring her usually pale lips and she was sipping tea from fine china. I didn't even know we had something like that here. 

Brushing off the weirdness that was creeping onto me from all the changes that occurred here, I decided to just simply head upstairs. The well-known creaking from under my feet made me sigh. They can make a whole personality change here but can't fix a few creaky planks...I am at loss for words. 

Making it up accompanied by the annoying creaks I made it to the corridor of girls' dorms. Now let's see if I still remember the number on the door. Was it 45? Hm...no. 67?.... Oh, I got it, 58! Man the corridor looks longer than what I remember. Welp, better start walking. 

Starting down the narrow corridor. Passing by the doors. From some dorms, you could hear the laughter of the girls. In others, there was screaming, commonly known as singing...or at least they were trying or there was just eerie silence if you knew this place you would know how uncommon that is in this house. The bright red carpet underneath my feet still had those peculiar stains on it, making me wonder if there was actually someone cleaning this place. 

The walls are covered with flowery wallpaper which is ripped in some places. A real sense of design these owners of the place have. We used to wonder if they were blind or something but turns out it is just an old lady that loves her flower wallpapers...and cats. But this institution sure is proud of their work. 

The pictures of all the kids they ever had in here are placed all over the walls. In some places even fully covering the horrible wallpaper. Pictures from each little competition the kids of this house attended or even the simple snap-shots of us kids relaxing around the house. Life here wasn't as bad as one would think. 

Yeah, maybe kids here don't have their parents. They live the sad life of an orphan as one would say. But when you get inside a house like this one, you find a new family. Maybe it is not the one you were born with, but you are supported and loved the same way you would be at home.