Orion Saga
Part 1
Quest For the Orbs
A young girl is walking around alone on the streets of Japan. She has no idea of where she is going, when she walks past a young man. Around the age of twenty-seven, this young man glances at the child in passing. Assuming that the girl, who couldn't be anymore than four or five, is going to meet someone, he walks past her. Later, while having lunch, the young man looks out of the restaurant window and sees the same girl. People walk past her as she sits across the street, huddled into a little ball. Checking the other diners around him, the young man realizes that no one else seems to notice the girl. After collecting his meal, and paying the bill, he exits.
"Hello, there."
The girl looks up at the man squatting in front of her.
"Are you all alone?" The child continues staring at him as he speaks. "Where are your parents? …Do you speak English?"
After a moment, he tries to form a phrase in Japanese. "Hello, what is your name?" He waits and the girl looks up at him only to shake her head. "You don't know?" She shakes her head again. "Where are your parents?" Another shake of the small head is his answer.
"Can you speak? Do you know English?" While the girl stares blankly, he takes out his food from the restaurant. Showing it to her, he gently prods her, "Do you want some?"
Looking at him, and then the food, she places her head on her knees. "What's wrong?"
The child looks at him with doleful expression. Thinking that she is about to cry, he places a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Everything's going to be okay. I'll take care of you."
She looks up at him with tears trapped in the corners of her eyes.
"It's okay. I'm here to help." He stands, extending his hand. Though the girl doesn't seem to understand him, she takes his hand. The two of them walk down the street together.
The long legs come to a stop and the child looks up. Clutching his hand, he enters the hotel with her.
"Excuse me?"
At the sound of his voice the receptionist looks from him to the little girl before answering. "Yes, sir."
"Is there a children's clothing store nearby?"
"Yes, sir. Go down the street and turn left. It's in the shopping district."
"Thank-you…my niece."
Nodding, the young woman looks at them as they walk out.
"Looks like I should get some clothes for you, huh? I'll probably be leaving soon, but back home…" He stops speaking as they walk into the store where a smiling young saleswoman greets them. He quickly explains that he needs to get at least a week's worth of outfits for the child.
"What size?"
"Well, I'm not sure."
A bubbly voice answers him. "That's okay. I'm pretty sure I can help. Come on, sweety."
Looking at the woman, the child squeezes the man's hand. "It's okay. We're getting you some new clothes. She's going to help."
"That's right. So you come with me and we'll try to find something to go with that sweet little face." She leads her to the dressing room as the man stands around somewhat awkwardly. "You look so cute!" She smiles at the child before looking up to her companion. "Will that be all sir?"
"I'd like to buy a toy for her." He whispers this as he takes out his wallet.
While the saleswoman rings up his purchases, the shy little girl walks out of the dressing room and takes the man's hand. He thanks her and the two of them walk out of the store. They walk back to the hotel, the girl clutching his hand the entire way. When they reach his room, he opens the door, but the child stays in the threshold looking around.
"It's okay. Come in." He takes her hand and leads her over to a chair near the television. "Maybe there are some cartoons you can watch while I call home." Sitting in the chair, she watches his movements as he takes a bag and brings something to her. "Here."
She stares at the object with a fearful and puzzled expression.
"It's alright. It's a toy…for you." He gently places it into her hands. She in turn watches him as he goes over to the phone and begins to dial.
"Hello." A rich female voice is on the other end.
The young man's deep voice answers. "Jalise, its Martin."
"Hey, baby. How are you?"
"Fine. How's Louise?"
"He's fine, but he misses his daddy. And quite frankly…so do I."
A smile plays across Martin's lips and creeps into his voice. "Well, I'll be home in a day or so." He glances at the girl for a moment. "Look, I have to talk to you."
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what is it?"
"I sort of found…something that I'll be bringing home with me."
"A surprise?"
"Yeah…something like that. I can't really go into it right now. But you need to get the spare room ready."
"One of your business friends?"
"Not exactly. But could you schedule an appointment with Louise's doctor?"
"Um…okay?"
"Thanks, hon. Bye." While placing the phone back on the hook, he looks at the girl. "She'll definitely be surprised. But what if she says no when we get back?"
The child clutches the stuffed cat and looks at the man. He gazes back at her. "I guess the next step is to get a passport for you. But you don't know your name." And you have no papers.
The child continues to look at him. The next day, the two of them arrive at the American Embassy and the young man somehow manages to get the child a passport. When they are finished, they return to the hotel and prepare for the next day's flight.
When the two of them board the plane, the silent child clutches her toy and looks around. "First time on a plane, huh?" She looks up at the sound of Martin's voice.
"It's okay. I'm taking you someplace nice. You'll never have to be on the street again. And we're going to help you."
They ride in silence for a few hours. After a while, she falls asleep. A few more hours later, the plane lands in America. Martin wakes up from a light nap and glances over at the small girl next to him. Waiting for everyone else to get off, he scoops her up in one arm, and gets the luggage. He is helped with his bags as he passes through the terminal and makes his way to the parking lot.
His hands are wrapped tightly around the steering wheel as he drives, glancing every now and again at the figure of the sleeping child. Her head is resting on the window in the passenger's seat, the small arms are wrapped tightly around the toy, probably her first.
Who could've left her back there? Her parents…maybe they were killed. But she doesn't know her own name.
Another hour passes before Martin pulls into the driveway of his home. He carries the girl into the house as quietly as possible so as not to wake her. When he gets in, he gently places her on a large soft chair in the living room. After coming back in with the bags, he finds his wife waiting.
"Martin, you're back. Hi." The two greet each other with hugs.
"Hi, Jalise."
"How was your flight?"
"Long, but otherwise okay."
"So…about your call."
"Oh. Come into the living room." Holding her hand, he walks ahead of her. "Where's Louise?"
"He's still asleep."
"Well, this will still be a surprise for him then."
"What will?" Martin stops in front of the chair in answer. "Wha- Martin, how?"
"Well, I found her in Japan."
"I kind of guessed that. But why did you bring her here?"
"She was in bad shape. I mean-you should have seen her. She was walking around on the streets…no parents."
"How do you know?"
"I'd seen her a few times."
"Oh."
"She doesn't seem to be well. She hasn't said a word in days and she's barely eaten anything. She doesn't even know her own name."
"That's why you wanted the appointment?"
"Yes, did you schedule it?"
"Its later today." She looks at girl on the chair. "So you want us to take her in?"
"Well, she doesn't really have anyone else."
After a moment of silence, Jalise smiles faintly and nods. "Okay then. I guess I'll give her bath and everything when she wakes up." She kisses Martin on the cheek as he leaves the room to take a nap. Still looking at the child, Jalise's smile gets a little bigger and she drapes a blanket over the girl.
Martin is in the kitchen with his wife and his seven-year-old son. "So where did you find her?"
"It's weird. She was just sitting on the street. I went over to her and she was completely alone. I'd seen her before then too."
"She was alone both times?"
"Yes."
"Well, then it's a good thing you did. But bringing her across the world?"
"I didn't know what else to do. I only wonder how long she was there."
"How will she adjust?"
"I don't know. I mean, she wouldn't even talk."
"Maybe she's mute."
"Well, we'll find out this afternoon." Jalise looks at her husband.
The small girl wakes up in the large velvety chair and her small eyes dart around the room. The startled child sits up, her hands still wrapped tightly about the toy as though it were the only thing that could help her. After taking the blanket off of herself, she meanders around the room silently gazing at bookshelves with liquid brown eyes.
"I'll go check on her." When she walks into the doorway, the young woman sees the child standing wide-eyed in front of a cabinet full of dolls. "Pretty aren't they?" The girl's head snaps up at the sound of the softness in this new voice. "My husband travels a lot and he likes to bring something back for everybody. Well, one day, he started bringing back dolls. So we decided to keep them in here." She stands next to the child and smiles slightly.
"Maybe one day you could have them." Both of them turn to see Martin. He looks at his wife and then turns his eyes to the child and thinks for a moment of the dolls that he had been bringing in case they should have a daughter. "Jalise? Don't you think we should take care of her?"
"Actually…I …do. I mean, something must have happened for her to be like this." She casts a maternal look at the child. "I'll take her upstairs and give her a bath." She grasps the small hand in her own. "The appointment's in an hour."
A brown hand reaches for a scrubber. "I bet this feels really good huh?" In a tub full of bubbles, the girl's head is covered with shampoo. Jalise rinses her hair last and takes her out. The curly purple hair is dried and she is dressed. "So, did you like your bath? It's okay. You don't have to say anything right now if you don't want to. But I promise everything will be okay from now on." Taking the small hands into her own, Jalise smiles at the girl. Noticing the curious expression on the child's face she stops smiling. "Is everything alright?" The child had thought she saw something familiar in Jalise's face and responded with a look of surprise. She stops staring and begins to smile.
"Jalise, come on."
"Come on, sweety. It's time to go." The two of them walk downstairs and out of the house.
They enter the car and Louise looks at the new girl. "Mom, dad, who's that?" Jalise turns to her son and then to Martin who answers.
"Well, Louise. It looks like this is going to be your new little sister."
"A little sister?"
"Yeah."
Excited brown eyes look back at his parents and then the girl sitting next to him on the back seat. "Hi!"
"Um, she's kind of shy honey, so don't get mad if she doesn't say anything to you now."
"What's her name?"
The two adults look at each other. "We're going to find out. The four of them arrive at the doctor's office. Once they are in the waiting room, the doctor calls them and Louise is left in the play area. "We'll be back, so wait here and don't go anywhere."
"Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. Hello."
"Hello, doctor. This was the child I called about."
"So you found her Japan?"
"I did."
"And she wouldn't speak at all?"
Martin shakes his head and watches the young doctor with the black hair and green eyes as he looks at the child intently. "Strange." He pulls out a penlight and shines it in her eyes. Immediately, she flinches and looks at Martin and Jalise.
"I guess the light's bothering her." Jalise looks at the girl.
The doctor looks at the child for a moment and then presses the button on the intercom. "Anaya, could you come here please?" Noting the looks on the Johnson's faces, he explains himself. "My nurse speaks Japanese." After a few moments, the woman walks into the room. "Anaya, I need you to help me with something. I think this child may only speak Japanese if she does speak. Could you talk to her please?"
"Sure." She smiles at the little girl on the table. "Hello, sweety. My name is Anaya and this is Dr. Klein. We work here. Can you understand me? Please nod if you can." All of them watch as the child nods. "Good, can you speak? Do you know where your parents are? Your mother?"
"Mother?"
"She spoke? What did she say?" Jalise looks at the little girl anxiously.
"She said mother. I asked her if she knew about her mother." She turns back to the child, again speaking the foreign tongue. "Do you know where your mother is?"
"I…I don't remember mother."
"Do you remember your name?"
The child's soft voice falters as tears fill her eyes. "No."
"It's okay…we're here to help."
"She is not mother?"
Anaya follows the child's hand and sees Jalise sitting next to her husband watching the child intently. "No. Does she look like your mother?"
"I can't remember, but she's nice."
"Was your mother nice?"
"I don't…know."
Gently, Anaya begins to rub the child's back. "Okay. It's okay. Do you want her to be your mother?"
"I guess."
"Who is that man? What did he do?"
"He took me to get...clothes...and he brought me here."
"Is he nice too?"
"Yes, but he talks funny."
"He speaks English."
"English?"
"Don't worry. You'll learn." Anaya smiles at the child before turning to the others and speaking to them. "Okay. She can't really remember anything. Her name, not her family…nothing. She doesn't really know if they're dead or alive, but she does think that the two of you are nice. She said she wouldn't mind you as parents."
"The poor thing!"
Anaya looks at Jalise's sullen expression and turns back to the girl. "How did you forget?"
"I don't know. I woke up one day and my head was empty."
"Where were you?"
"On…the streets."
"Nobody was with you?"
"No."
"Okay. But why weren't you talking before?"
"I was scared."
"Are you scared now?"
"Yes…but,"
"What is it?"
"Can you really help?"
"Yes. We can. If you want, they can be your parents. They really like you."
"I'd like that."
"Good. But now we have to check you out and make sure everything else is okay."
"Will I remember anything?"
"I don't know honey." She explains to them what she was just told and the doctor checks the child out. Strangely enough, she is healthy, save her obvious problem. He suggests that the Johnson's begin to teach her English and Anaya volunteers to help. She also helps to make sure the child does not forget what appears to be her native tongue. Days after their visit to the doctor, the young woman goes to visit.
"How's she getting along?"
"We've been doing okay with body language and pointing. I know she'll be happy to see you."
"What are you calling her?"
"We still haven't decided. We can't come up with a name that suits her."
"Have you thought of a Japanese name?"
"No, we hadn't even considered that."
"Well, maybe we'll come up with one. Where is she?"
"In the den. Come on. I'll show you."
Anaya follows Jalise through the immaculate house. They walk in to see the child looking at the television and hugging her toy close to her body. "Hey, remember me?"
"Anaya-chan?"
"That's right. So did you learn any English yet?"
"I don't think so. But one word keeps popping into my head."
"Really, what word is that?"
In English, the child's soft voice utters the word. "St…star."
"That's very good. Does that word mean anything to you?"
"I don't know. It just keeps popping up.
"Well, I guess that was your first English word." The child looks at her with a slight smile. "So, they tell me they haven't picked a name yet."
"No, I don't have one."
"Don't worry. You'll get one that suits you. One in Japanese."
"Really?"
"Yes. Well, let's get started on the lesson." She takes a book out her bag as she looks at Jalise. "A good way for her to learn is to watch TV and for you guys to talk to her and show her things."
Months later, the child gets up and goes down stairs. "Hi momma."
"Good morning, Zentora. Are you ready for your first day of school?"
"I guess so. Will I do okay?"
"Sure."
Zentora, as she is now called, is raised as their daughter. She becomes comfortable with her new family. Eventually, she forgets about her adoption and spends fourteen years of her life with the Johnson family. Yet, throughout the years, she begins to feel as though she doesn't really belong. Her parents are very protective of her and she has grown into a very quiet young woman. She is shy and very often withdrawn.