FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #9

It was the thing he'd always loved about her.

 

It was different, but that didn't bother him. Its dark shade of brown shone against the rays of sun. It made her stand out among others. It was her skin. The girl was black, and some people didn't like it.

 

  Adam had been sent to the orphanage about four years ago now. His Dad, David had died during World War 11, and his Mom (Elaine) could no longer take care of her so she gave him away. The orphanage would be heaven for most children. Delicious meals three times a day, lots of free time, comfy beds to sleep in, never being told what to do. Not for Adam though. He hated doing the same thing every single day. Yes, he was treated well but he was so bored. Nothing interesting ever happened. Until the day Daffy arrived.

 

      It was a normal Friday night, May 7, 2001 precisely 8:00 PM. All the children were snug in their beds drifting asleep, when suddenly they were interrupted. Mrs. Mclingin the kind owner of the orphanage barged in the door. She was dragging a girl roughly behind her. We all stared with wide eyes, expecting Mrs. Mclingin to place the girl in the empty bed. But she didn’t. She kept moving and brought her to a small room next to ours. This was new; all children were usually placed in the one big bedroom. Something was different about this girl, her skin. It was black not white. What could be the matter with that though? , Adam wondered. He tried to get a look at the girl but she was gone. Adam dozed off.

 

 

    He awoke in the morning to his normal breakfast: bacon and eggs. Adam looked around to see the girl, when he noticed her eating something different. Not fresh eggs, but a crusty old piece of bread. How strange, thought Adam, he had always been treated well. Adam observed the girl closely. Her long wavy dark hair, bright green eyes, sharp features and most of all skin looked very different then Adam. He had short strawberry blonde hair, lots of freckles on his cheeks and nose and yellowish eyes. This girl, Daffy as they called her, was the first black person that ever-stepped foot in the orphanage.

 

    Daffy got treated the same way every day. The same bad bread, small uncomfortable bed and dirty clothes. Adam looked at her every day, she interested him. Even if they were in separate rooms Daffy had a window on her door. All Adam wanted to know was why she was treated so badly. Could it be her skin? It certainly didn’t bother him, in fact he kind of liked it. It made her different and stand out.

 

      Adam couldn’t take it any longer. He had to know why. Finally, he took courage and asked Mrs. Mclingin when she came to say goodnight. Adam hoped Daffy couldn’t hear well through her door. “ Mrs. Mclingin”, called Adam. “ Yes”, she said, and walked over.

 “ I was just curious to why Daffy has been treated so badly”, Adam whispered carefully,

“ Oh”, said Mrs. Mclingin, “ The truth is Adam, I don’t like black people”. Adam was shocked. This was so mean and unfair, he went to confront Mrs. Mclingin , but she was gone. 

 

   How horrible, thought Adam.  For a young girl to be treated so horribly just because she was black and from a different country. Well at least they are giving her a place to stay, she would have had nowhere to go. Maybe it wasn’t so bad. But Adam knew it was still wrong.

 

     I’ve been watching Daffy the last 4 weeks. I kept wanting to talk to Mrs. Mclingin, but I was too scared. In the last week I have noticed something different about Daffy. She was starting to become pale and weak. Adam realized that she wasn’t being fed enough to be healthy. A horrible truth came to Adam, Daffy was slowly dying.

 

     Adam couldn’t take it anymore! This was so unfair, Mrs. Maclingin was basically killing Daffy just because she was black. Adam finally made a decision, probably the hardest decision of his life. He would escape with Daffy.

 

    Today was the day. I had it all planed out. Whoo, this was scary. What if something went wrong? Would he have to live in the streets? Ok, stop panicking. Time for step one.

 

     Target in sight. Adam slowly approached Mrs. Mclingin. “Excuse me Mrs. Mclingin”, called Adam, “ Somebody wrote all over the boy’s and girl’s bathroom stalls.” “Well OK, I’ll go check it out”, she said. “Um, wait!”, called Adam worriedly, “It’s a big mess, you should bring the supervisors with you. They will probably know did it.” “Fine, I’ll be back in a minute. Keep things under control here”, Mrs. Mclingin stated.

(Yes, step one complete. Mclingin gone!)

 

     Carefully and silently as a mouse, Adam approached the office. He tugged on the door, it was open. He entered the room, looking for the ring of keys. Wait, there it was, yes! To the bedroom!

 

      It seemed like it had been forever when Adam reached Daffy’s room at last. Adam urgently tried each key on the door. And guess what? The very last one worked. He ruffly tugged on the door, it opened. “What”- started Daffy. But Adam quickly shoved his finger to his mouth and said, “Shh”. Then, he grabbed her hand an ran faster than he ever had before.

Finally Adam and Daffy arrived at the back of a farm where they could rest. Daffy looked at him in shock. And the whole story came out.

 

      Daffy was very thankful of what he had done for her. She told me I could leave her to be now, and go back. Although, I denied. I wasn’t ready to leave until the orphanage had changed its rules.

   After a few days starving, Daffy noticed food in the field behind the farm. So that was the first robbery they made. At midnight they snuck into the field and stole a wack load of food. I knew it was wrong, but it was ok in a life or death situation right? The two children went on like this for the next while. Eating, talking and making a plan of change. A decision was made.

 

    Adam thought Daffy must have the most brilliant idea ever that night. It was genius. Together they would round up hundreds of other black children to protest. They would stand around the orphanage until they got what they wanted.

 

   June 14, 2010. It had been around 2 weeks the two had been collecting black children for action. So far, a total of 150 children. The routine was to go on a different neighbourhood every day. They would knock on every door and ask for volunteers. If they said yes, Daffy would tell them when and where to meet. That was June 15, 2010 at 1:00 PM on Billow Dr. Tomorrow was the day.

 

    Neither Daffy or Adam could sleep that night. Would their plan work? They couldn’t shoot them all, or could they?

 

 Everyone was meeting at Billow Dr. now. About 100 people had arrived so far.

At last the final person arrived. Time for action.

Everyone was in a position around the orphanage.

 Adam gave the signal( thumbs up), and everyone yelled!

 

   There was a cheer of “ Freedom for all” with “Hope for the black” and many others. People stomped their feet and did all possible.

 

    Inside the orphanage Mrs.Mclingin was growing very inpatient. People would be curious to these kids. That could start a bad reputation. She decided to wait a while. Besides, how long could the silly kids wait?

 

    The answer to that question is: a while. Everyone stayed for about four days now protesting!

Mrs. Mclingin looked out the window now and saw a little white child poor on the street. Poor thing, she thought. Then Mrs. Mclingin realized this is what she did to little black children. What was really the difference?

 

    Looking out her window now, she saw the protesting children without having starving and sad. Now or never I could make a difference to our orphanage.

All the children yelled as Mrs. Mclingin appeared through the door.

“I have an announcement”, she stated, “You great people have made me realize how wrong I was about you. Everyone should have rights. And this is a problem in the world. So now, I will start making a difference by accepting you as you are. Please join me now for a great feast.

 

   All children cheered in success! They were delighted with the delicious food!

  Out of the children, the most satisfied was Adam. Even though small, this orphanage was hope for a change in the world. Adam decided not to stay at the orphanage. Instead, he and Daffy would go to support the cause in bigger ways. With hope, change could be possible.

 

 It wasn’t a bad thing to be black for Adam, it was the thing he'd always loved about her.   

 

back to Contest #9