Thin blades of sunlight disemboweled a massive body of gray clouds to reveal the cerulean gore within as Besnik
ran staggeringly towards the orphanage through the wet,empty streets of Milan.
Securely within his arms he held the cradle in which his nine month old baby girl laid, and with a huff at the humid
thickness of the air, he glanced behind his shoulder, up to the clearing sky, to the left, and then to the right.
The pounding of the thief's heart resounded in his ribs as he stopped running to catch his breath, relieved that he
was now alone.
Smirking smugly, he gazed down into the wide, blue eyes of his baby girl, whom he had named Aishe because of
her liveliness.
Then, he looked ahead at the orphanage.
Glossed with the morning light like an earthbound nirvana, the orphanage stood at a modest height, surrounded
with white lilies.
It was plump and round like a belly, and had been accompanied by no other neighboring house because the
foster parents had built it in a deserted cul-de-sac at the edge of town.
This was the only place Besnik had sworn to never steal from, for he will always remember the first time he
encroached upon it to do just that. He crawled through the flowers of the yard with the enthusiasm of a
grasshopper, and was amazed at how each section was intricately built and divided according to their purpose.
His favorite section was the playroom. There he saw for himself the smiles of the husband and wife
as they watched their orphan children indulge themselves in horseplay and games of tag, and stick horses and
rag dolls, rattles, and many other toys Besnik,being deprived of childhood, could not name.
What Besnik loved about the orphanage most of all was that these people, untouched by the prejudices of man,
took in any child of any kind. He watched them take in Italians, Spanish, Greeks, French, German, sick,
abandoned, and crippled all with open arms.
He knew without a doubt that this was the right place for Aishe and after he gave her one last kiss on her
forehead and said one last prayer, he set her cradle upon the flower bed right under the window of the playroom
and fantasized about how she would play with all those little toys and outrun every child in a game of tag.
Besnik haughtily pursed his lips like a cat.
"She'll be just as quick as me..no even quicker! They'll never catch her," He snickered to himself as he turned to take his leave.
But his baby girl began to wail just as soon as he turned.
Besnik bit down hard upon his lip, reminding himself that he had long decided that he would rather die alone.
With that final thought, he clenched his fists into balls tighter than the matter of stone and sped off into the
smoldering brilliance of the sun blades.
Meanwhile, the volume of Aishe's cries increased dramatically, which soon resulted in the lighting of a candle in
the third to first window of the orphanage. A silhouette of a petite woman outstretching her lithe arms faded into
the orange light. She stood up from her bed then groggily trudged out of her room and out of the front door to
see what was causing all the noise.
It was louder than anything she had ever heard in her life,it was amazing that it took her several minutes to
locate the source of that incessant, aaaaAAAAAAAAAH!
But when she glanced to the left and saw the cradle resting upon the flower bed under the third to last window,
her slanted eyes widened, revealing incredulous, chocolate spheres
Steadily, she made her way towards the cradle,
aaaaAAAAAAAAH! aaaaAAAAAAH! a-aaaaaAAAAAAAH!
while covering her ears with both of her hands.
aaaaAAAAAH! aaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!
Bracing herself, the woman peered into the cradle and in an instant, her mouth dropped.
"Oh my goodness!" She crooned as she wrapped her arms around Aishe, who had stopped crying after she became aware that she was not alone anymore.
"Zeta, darling, what has you up and about so early?"
The deep voice of Zeta's husband made her face light up with fair-skinned glee.
"Bernardo, look! God has blessed us with yet another child!"
A smile stretched across Bernardo's face as he looked down at the cooing infant.
"Ohh, another Roma, eh?
"Isn't she beautiful,"
Bernardo nodded.
In fact, Aishe was actually one of the most beautiful infants Zeta and Bernardo had ever seen. They had adored
her big, blue eyes and her lovely bronze skin, and even the silken mess of ebony hair that laid upon her head.
"This is unbelievable! Why would anyone want to abandon this child?" Zeta said.
"Whatever the reason, it must've been a pretty damn good one," Bernardo replied.
"Well, what do you suppose her new name should be?"
Bernardo rubbed his scruffy beard with his left hand while Zeta pursed her lips and closed her eyes in deep thought.
During this time Aishe took it upon herself to tamper with Zeta's braided black locks.
"Hmm, how about Abelie? For her beautiful skin?" Zeta crooned.
Bernardo shook his head.
"Naah, too common,"
"You got a better one?"
Bernardo looked down upon Aishe once more and chuckled when he saw that she was gnawing on his wife's
braids. He gently tugged them out of her toothless mouth then brushed his finger lightly across her plump cheeks.
An outburst of laughter erupted from her as he did this and her hands reached out from under her woolen blanket
for his finger, which he wiggled into her grasp like a worm.
"Of course, why didn't I think of it before?" He said.
"You've figured it out?"
Bernardo nodded.
"Well, come on! Out with it!"
"Her name shall be...Vitalia,"
With a gummy smile, the baby clapped her hands unsteadily.
"Awwwww, it looks like she likes it! Don't you, Vitalia" Zeta giggled playfully as she gave Aishe(Now Vitalia) a small
kiss on her cheek After naming their new daughter, they took her into their home, bathed her,clothed her with
fresh linen,fed her, and said her name with great cheer just to see her smile.