Chapter OneA Chapter by Calibaster work in progress.
Coal looked around the corner, and seeing nothing, stole down the stairs. Years of experience had taught him where to place his feet for the ultimate silence, and prevented his hand from touching the worn railing, for he knew that it would give him away with a chorus of creaks. He peered down into the darkness of the orphanage, knowing by heart where everything was.
He had lived in this orphanage for as long as he could remember. He had seen his records, he had appeared on the doorstep one night, with a nametag that read "Coal". No one had adopted him, no one had even attempted to adopt him. Somehow, whenever someone came to adopt, the Matron found some reason for him not to be seen. All his friends got adopted on the other hand, except for his very first friend. Kish. Kish was his very very best friend, and had been that since Coal was 3. Kish never got adopted either, even though he was the nicest, funniest person in the world! At least Coal thought that. He and Kish had singled each other out as the people who the Matron wouldn't let be adopted, and for who knew what reason.
In fact, Kish was the reason he was here now. They had gotten tired of so little breakfast, because they were always last in the line in the morning. So Kish had proposed, in his mischievous way, that they get up in the middle of the night, and sneak downstairs, to see who is the sneakiest and the fastest. And they would be the first ones to breakfast! Not only would they get more food, it would be warmer too!
Coal rounded the corner chuckling to himself that he had won, only to give a squeak of surprise at the sight of Kish, leaning against the rotting grey wall just outside the old front door to the orphanage! Kish laughed and said," Coal, you're late, and this is the second time we're doing this! Now I've beat you twice!" Kish was a little taller than Coal, and had tan skin with golden brown eyes, and golden hair.
"Well," Coal protested in a whisper," You always win when food is on the line!" Kish laughed quietly at that before saying," Let's get in line already, just in case the others decided to try this too." Coal nodded and followed Kish down the corridor and into the room where the lunch was served, they went over to the little window where you got your tray, already prepared, orphanage slop and all.
They both stood there, forming a two person line, with Kish in front because he had won. There was a back door in the room, two little windows for trays on either side of the door into the lunchroom, one was for girls the other for boys. There were corridors on both sides, that led to the front room, which had stairs leading off both sides of it, leading up into the girls and boys dormitory's. They were always just about a half an hour before the other boys. The little window opened and the cook smiled to see them," The early bird gets the worm, the saying goes, you boys took that ta heart!" She was a grubby chubby woman with a plump pink face. " We sure did!" Kish said," Besides, who could resist your cooking?" " Yer too kind m'boy." The cook smiled. " You're very welcome," Kish replied with a grin. The cook dolloped a big scoop of mush onto his tray before handing it to him, then did the same for Coal. They went and sat down, already eating as they did so. Kish finished just as there was a pounding sound coming from the stairway, within minutes there was a long line of boys on one side of the dormitory, and soon afterwards, a line of girls as well. They all wore drab grey clothes that matched the crumbling walls of the orphanage, they all looked older and more mature then they should have been. Their eyes told stories of hardship and work, as did their body language and cold, bony, angular faces. but their mouths still managed to smile as they all sat down to eat, one after another, chatting about happenings in the orphanage.
The latest, and most exiting news was that an older boy named Rod had been adopted. This didn't happen very often, seeing as the orphanage was for an out of the way town, that didn't see travelers very often. Even less travelers that wanted to adopt children.
The Matron limped into the room, silencing everyone with his cold stare, his frizzy white hair making him look bigger than he was. A young girl was behind him, her cream colored hair pulled into a tight bun, her skin was fair, and she had soft features. She was wearing a cream colored dress that lit up the grey room, and her big eyes seemed to shift colors, from a light blue to a light green to a light brown ect. Coal figured that it was just a trick of the light, and her eyes were just hazel.
Then the Matron said," This is Breeze, you all must treat her well, her parents are away for the week," His gruff voice ended, leaving the room feeling empty. He gave them a sobering stare, then turned and limped out of the room slowly. The only sound was a scoff from the orphanage bully, Ben. The chatter never picked up after that. Everyone just stared at poor Breeze. She turned uncomfortably to the cook, who gave her a tray with steaming orphanage mush piled on it, then slowly turned back to the silenced children. She trudged sullenly towards a table filled with girls, one girl was sitting next to an empty seat, who, as Breeze shuffled towards it, promptly put her foot on it, leg straight. Breeze turned away, and walked towards another table, all the girls on it turned their backs quickly. Silence had engulfed the room, as Breeze finally sat down at the empty corner table, completely alone. " Well," Coal whispered to Kish," I get the feeling I wasn't the only one who saw that coming." Kish nodded sadly as he rose and turned in his empty tray before going outside, with Coal tailing closely behind. Coal came out to the center of the ruined courtyard, and Kish came up next to him saying," So what do you want to do today?"
" I dunno," he replied absently. He was still thinking about how Breeze had been shunned in there. It was because she had parents. No one else did. This was an orphanage after all! Then there were a few shouts as children trickled from the orphanage, trampling already crushed grass as they happily started games everywhere. A few girls were even doing the limbo! He and Kish had chosen to race. Coal loved running. He always had, he was faster than Kish, and pretty much all of the other kids who chose to race. Running was the most free experience he'd had. And since he'd never left the orphanage grounds, freedom was what he craved.
Just as he and Kish were starting their third race, Breeze stepped out, squinting in the sunshine filtering through the clouds. He watched in intrest and pity as she tried to join in several games, but was turned away by a wall of discrimination every time. Finally she retreated to a corner of the yard next to a half dead willow tree leaning over the moldy fence. Apparantly she could take a hint. Coal watched as the orphanage bully, Ben, trailed her. Coal didn't realize it at first, but he was slowly walking towards them. He watched as Ben caught up with her and began to talk. He began walking faster, ignoring Kish's warnings til' Kish grabbed his arm and said," Coal there's nothing you can do. Let her work it out herself." Just then, Ben began to guffaw very loudly, his bulky frame shaking from his hearty bellow. At the same time, Breeze began to cry. " That's it." Coal muttered angrily, and broke out of Kish's surprisingly firm grip, and sprinted towards the bully. Ben was still laughing when Coal socked him in the jaw. He hit the ground hard, and moaned. Coal walked over to Breeze and touched her shoulder," Are you all right?" He asked worriedly. She opened her mouth to answer,when suddenly Ben, who had gotten up discreetly, clobbered him. He was on the ground when Ben punched him. Hard. Again and again! He watched dazedly through tears as Ben raised his fist again, when Kish came in, and began wrestling with the bully. Coal got up while he did this, and watched in horror as Ben threw Kish off and stood," You are so dead." He huffed, and punched Coal hard, knocking him to the ground. Coal tried to dodge, but ended up getting kicked again and again. He looked up through a haze of pain and saw Kish with a bloody lip, being held back by Bens pals. He braced himself for the next kick, but when it came, instead of pain, he fell into darkness.
© 2014 CalibasterAuthor's Note
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10 Reviews  Last Updated on February 9, 2014 Author
CalibasterSpringville, UTAboutIt's been a while since I've even touched this site, but it's such a big part of my childhood and growth in writing that I could never bring myself to delete anything I've posted. If I thought tha.. more..Writing
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