"I don't want to talk about it."
"Oh come on, don't be such a wuss," she whined again, "We all know that everybody here had a stupid home or did stupid themselves. I was a wild child, as my parents like to put it. I drank, smoked, hang out with the wrong crowd, didn't listen, got a tattoo, you know that kind of stuff. They were so done with me, they sent me here. And that goody-goody lady over there was the oldest of twelve children and when the twins came there wasn't enough money to take care of her so they signed her up. And they had this bullshit story about 'having a better childhood, a new way to get all the love you missed out on'. You know, so what's your story?"
I felt bad for them that their parents were also the ones who got them here, but I was too afraid to tell them my story. They had endured so much, while
I felt someone grabbing my arm softly, bringing me back to reality. "Come let's go to your room." I heard Mr. Carter say. He had put his arm around my shoulder and led me back. He opened the door for me and I felt his arms sliding off my shoulders. He petted my head once and said, "Try to relax and have a good night of sleep." He then turned to Nancy and Lexi. "Girls, sleep tight. Don't stay up too long." I heard some murmuring coming from them and then the door behind me was closed.I headed to my bed and laid down. I grabbed my elephant, I couldn't care less right now what the girls would think. It gave me comfort and that was all I wanted. Hearing that your parents don't want you is way worse than them saying they want for you a second chance for a good childhood."Alice are you alright?" Lexi asked.
Before any of them could react any further at what I said a nurse came into the room."Ladies, I need you to come with me," the nurse said with a big friendly smile on her face. It looked like this was their trademark, their friendly faces."Where do we need to go?" Lexi asked."For your test, of course, I assumed they explained it to you yesterday, didn't they?""Yes they did miss, we forgot that's all," Nancy responded politely. You could see she was the responsible one of all of us. It didn't surprise me, if you have eleven younger siblings to take care of, you will need that sense of responsibility.We followed the nurse through the hallway to the elevator. When we entered there
The nurses had told us that we had to stay seated when lunch was over. Everybody looked around to see why. Nancy and Lexi had asked me if my guardian had said anything to me, but Mr. Carter had only told me to eat my lunch, so I didn't know either. Soon the head of the programme, Mary, came walking into the dining hall."Thank you for your patience boys and girls! Now, the reason why we kept you here longer than we normally do is that you all need to take the personality test. It's very simple, all of you get a set with forms, and on each one are multiple-choice questions. These questions are about you, fill in the answer you think fits your personality the most, the answer that describes you the best. We do this so we can match you with your new family. Remember there are no wrong answers! Good luck!"With that, she left the room and t
After a while, I heard Nancy and Lexi entering our room. I could hear that Lexi was upset about something. "I tell you they don't have the right to take away my tattoo. I swear I'll get one, just the same as this one when I'm sixteen again." Lexi complained."Lexi, I understand it will hurt, but maybe it's for the better. You once told me you didn't like your tattoo and with this, it will be removed for free!" Nancy said in an attempt to cheer Lexi up.I looked over my shoulder and for a second I saw sadness in Lexi's eyes, but it was already gone when she started to speak."I don't care, it's just not their decision to make. It's my body!" Lexi exclaimed.I heard a sigh, which was followed by, "I get you okay, but you can't stop it,
The next three days were horrible. All of the teenagers had to get three kinds of scans, an MRI, a CT, and a PET scan. Because they are short on equipment, we all had to wait for a long time. Nancy and I tried to keep ourselves busy with the board games, but after one day we were already done with them.So I was left alone with my thoughts. I couldn't help but think about my parents and brother. My brother would be at home by now. An image of him showed up in my head and the longing for him grew with the second. I missed his soothing voice, his funny jokes, and his comforting words. I had already missed him so much because he was gone so many times before I left the home.I wanted so desperately proof them I was good enough to stay in their family. I just needed time. Why couldn't they love me like my brother? Why did they never talk about their feelings? Why were they always so cold towards me?I heard from many teenagers that either their parents had sat
"But I thought I had to wait longer." I looked at him with a puzzled face. "Yes, but because of your attempt to escape they want you to go first."I didn't really know how to react. I knew I was prepared for the procedure, but it was hard to imagine myself as a baby again. Also, I wondered how much I would feel about it. Would I feel pain? Would I still understand my surroundings as I did now? There were so many questions I had put forward every day, but now it was too late.My worry was visible to Jim and he tried to calm me down. "Hey, no need to worry or to get scared. I'll be there until you fall asleep and I promise you won't feel any pain.""Promise?" I asked."I promise," with that he held a hand out for me to take. I took his hand and he led the way out of my room. Outside I was greeted with not two but three guards. Feeling intimidated by them I walked closer to Jim and clung to his arm. As we walked through the building we entered corridors I wa
Jim Carter p.o.vI saw them wheeling Alice to the OR for the procedure. I wanted to stay with her, never before had I this urge to protect the child of my current case. I had seen many broken families, but this case would stay with me forever. Never, ever, have I seen a father and mother give up their child for not getting the grades they wanted to see.Also, I had never experienced a child who wanted as badly to go home as Alice. How many conversations have I had with her parents, trying to convince them to stop the adoption process. Three times we have denied their request, but when they came the fourth time, my boss, Mary Anderson, said something remarkable. She told us it was possible if her parents didn't want her at home and weren't satisfied with her schoolwork she could be abused, not physically but mentally.With this reasoning we could process their request into the system, as we could justify, according to the law, to put Alice in the
Alice p.o.vI opened my eyes. I felt something soft, it was comfortable. I hugged it tighter. Then I was picked up. I didn't want that, stop. I looked around and nothing was familiar. I didn't like this, so I cried.Then a friendly face, warm brown eyes, and a familiar smile. He held me in his arms, I liked it. As I was comfortable I put my thumb in my mouth and closed my eyes. My thumb was removed. I didn't like it, I started to whine. But soon it was replaced with something else.I liked this. I closed my eyes again as I stayed in the warm arms. I was happy.Jim Carter p.o.vThe nurse said she would wake up soon and if I wanted I could go in. I followed her into the room. She told me to wash my hands as I entered. Just when the nurse wanted to wake her up, her big hazel brown eyes met us. She curled around her elephant and stayed there.Alice was picked up, but not without making a fuss. Before she could c