The room I woke up in was cold and sterile. Everything around me was orderly, sanitary, and white. I remember thinking that this was a nice change from the place I used to live. I was lying under a warm blanket in a metal hospital bed. There was an IV in my arm dripping some mysterious liquid into my veins. I knew where I was, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I only knew that I was comfortable and that’s how I was supposed to feel. The door at the end of the room opened making a triangle of white light on the floor. A woman pushed her way into the room with a tray filled with medical supplies. She had very pale skin and blond hair that was held tightly in a bun at the base of her neck. Even she looked completely organized.

“Hello Abby,” she said in a kind voice, “I just need to give you this shot. It won’t hurt a bit I promise. Is that okay with you?” She and I both knew that I would agree because we both knew that if I didn’t someone would come in and force it on me anyway, so I nodded my head.

“This will only take a minute,” she said as she got the needle ready. It stung when she first broke the skin, but soon it was over. “Is there anything I can get you?” asked the nurturer. I could already feel sleep pulling my eyelids shut while I shook my head. As she walked back towards the door I felt my head hit the pillow and my eyes closed. I thought that if they ever really let me wake up I would ask them for something good, like a big bowl of ice cream.


When I woke up the second time I was in a different room. This room was very small, and it had only one bed in it. On the walls were colorful pictures that looked like they were done by kindergarteners. On almost every single picture was the word “Welcome” written in messy handwriting. I scanned the pictures on the wall and realized they were pictures of the orphanage. I got out of bed, my feet hit the cold metal floor and I shivered. I walked along the line of pictures and just as I got to the end I noticed one that didn’t have any color. It was partially hidden by two other drawings. I pulled it off the wall and saw that it was a beautiful drawing of the orphanage that was so lifelike it looked like a black and white photo. I didn’t see the words welcome on it, but I noticed in tiny light script the words “Be careful.” I wondered what that meant, so I folded up the paper and put it under my pillow.

When I turned around to survey the room I nearly gasped at the sight out the window. It was a beautiful side of London. The sky was gray as usual, but the buildings were tall, strong, and beautiful.

I heard the door behind me open. “Hello Abby,” a voice whispered. I turned around and saw another nurturer, this one was a woman too. She had the same pale skin and pulled back hair, except her hair was dark brown. “I brought some clothes for you,” she said in that same soft voice. Something about it bothered me. It was like she was talking to a scared animal, like I might attack if she spoke too loud.

I tried to say something back, but it took me a minute to find my voice because I hadn’t used it in a while. “Thank you very much,” I finally said. She smiled and slowly put the clothes on the bed. She seemed kind of dim, so I decided to shake her up a bit. Just as her hands left the clothes, I lunged for them and she jumped back, letting out a little squeak. She quickly shut the door and I let out a throaty laugh.

I changed quickly in case she came back, and wrapped the drawing in the nightgown I had been wearing before. I stuffed the picture and the nightgown under my mattress. I put on the stockings and he shoes and looked at myself in the floor length mirror next to the door. I was wearing a soft red dress that fell to just above my knees with a green ribbon on the waist. The stockings where black and reached up to my knees. The shoes were black patent leather. This outfit was the most luxurious thing I had ever worn. I wondered where the other kids were, and I wondered if they had rooms like this.

I walked to the door and jiggled the handle. It didn’t budge. So they can lock it from the outside, I thought. I went back to my bed and opened the drawer of the bedside table. I found a bible and a dictionary. I took out the bible and turned to my favorite story. The one about baby Jesus. I had just started reading when the door opened and a boy stood there. He was about my age, so around 10.

“I’m supposed to bring you to dinner,” he said. I looked him over. He wasn’t scrawny like the boys I knew where I used to live. He had dark hair and skin and even darker eyes. There was something strange about his eyes, they looked blank. “Well, are you coming?” he asked. I noticed that he didn’t look at me when he talked.

He stretched out his hand and I took it. I watched as his face became less tense, and he smiled a bit. “I’m Jason,” he said, “I’m the oldest here.” Jason only came up to my ears.

“How old are you?” I asked as we came to the end of the narrow hallway where my room was located. We took a left and I took note of the painting of a woman and her child, so I could find my way back.

“I’m nine and a half,” Jason said proudly. We came to some stairs that seemed to go down forever. I was quiet until we reached the bottom.

“I turned ten last night,” I said. He made a funny face for a minute, like he didn’t like what he heard. We didn’t talk for the rest of the way there. We had taken a right after we reached the bottom of the stairs. I could hear the sounds of many voices all talking at once. The double doors at the end of the hall were opened, and a golden light flooded the hall. When I stuck my head through the doors I saw a huge room filled with tables and benches. There were six long rectangular tables in the middle of the room. Around the walls were tables piled high with food and drink. Nurturers walked around the room occasionally stopping to talk to the children or one another.

I turned back to Jason and he still seemed to look only straight ahead. He held out his hand in my direction again and I took it. Then we walked through the doors into the noise and light of the cafeteria. As soon as we stepped inside a nurturer led us to two empty seats. We sat down and they brought us both a plate heaped with food. There was roast beef, mashed potatoes, breads, and something that looked like cake. I began to eat and eat and eat. At the moment I felt safe, warm, and full.

Someone came over to Jason and hit him lightly on the shoulder. It was a younger boy. “Hey blind man, who’s your girlfriend?” At that moment all the safe, warm, full feelings were gone, and I was both shocked and embarrassed. I hadn’t known what was so strange about the boy, or why he never seemed to look at me.

I looked at him and I could see it now, even as he joked with the other boy. I thought about how we came down here. How he never missed a step or hesitated on a stair. I was amazed by him, this boy who couldn’t see, but could do anything he wanted.

As I was puzzling over this I didn’t realize that he had tuned back towards me and was trying to say something. I looked over at him and yelled, “What did you say,” over the noise.

“I said how do you like it here?” he yelled back.

“I like the food,” I said hesitantly. I felt weird talking to him now that I knew about him.

“Well, I’ve been here for four years and trust me it’s always this good,” he said.

I just nodded my head feeling like and idiot for not being able to talk to him since I knew he was blind. He seemed to notice my reluctance to talk.

“You don’t need to treat me different because I’m blind,” he said, “I’m just like everyone else.”

I smiled and right then I thought that we should be friends.

… To Be Continued