You know why nothing ever makes sense? People lie. All the time. I'm an orphan, so you never know. I have no idea where I came from. Who my parents are. When you're an orphan, there are these questions that pop out your head randomly. Begging for answers. You can't help thinking about what went wrong, why your parents had to give you up. Then, it all comes to you. Was there something wrong with you? Maybe the reason why my parents dumped and left me on the orphanage's doorstep with a letter with my name, birthday and a three-digit number(809) and a small golden key is... me. Maybe they didn't want me. Maybe, maybe they found out that there was something abnormal about me and that they were ashamed. Maybe they were ashamed that I could change the color of my hair. That I could turn things into mice. That I could set things on fire. That I could make things disappear.
But I swear, I didn't do them on purpose. They'd happen when I was angry. Or sad. Or excited and happy. Maybe that's why. I don't see anyone who could do the same things. What could've done this to me? Radiation? A scientific experiment gone wrong?
It's hard being different. You've got no one to talk to, share your thoughts with. They said being different makes you an individual. It makes you unique. All it did to me was make me a loner. I had no one here. No friends. Only a pillow I snuggle with at night.
I'm weird. I do weirder things. I'm socially awkward. I'm a coward, afraid to do something new. But I accept it. This is who I am and I stand by it. Grace, our housemother here at St. Claire's House for Girls, always tells me that good things come to those who wait. Well, I bet there's an amazing thing coming for me because I've been waiting long enough. I've been here since forever. I'm turning 11 on the 23rd. Which is the day after tomorrow.
There was a knock on the door. Grace appeared. She looked at me warmly. "Sunshine won't kill you, Silver." I smiled at the nickname. Others call me by my first name, Equestrius. Others, like Grace, address me as 'Silver', like the silver highlights on my hair. Grace says that I had black hair when I was a baby, the silver highlights just appeared.
That's not the only weird thing. I turned 7, that's when odd things started happening. One time when I was nine, at Christmas Eve, we were all given some chocolates from our sponsors, people who want to adopt children but can't and they give the orphan they choose some money for their needs. Everyone's met theirs but my sponsor hasn't even shown up once and only has the money and packages mailed here. As I was saying, we were given chocolates but Mackenzie Morris and her friends took all of mine. I couldn't do anything except be furious. Everyone's afraid of them too and I had no one to watch my back. Then, these crazy things happened. Tara, their tall, skinny, blonde friend tripped over the staircase as she was going down and fell 4 flights of stairs. Nothing serious. Just a sprain her ankle and gashes on her 'pretty' face. Victoria, one of Mackenzie's friends with poop-brown hair, chubby little fingers and no neck at all, slipped on the ice outside and broke her nose. It took 5 people to get her in. Oh, if you'd only hear her blubbering. Then came Mackenzie. When she woke up the next morning- Christmas day-, she got a surprise all right. Her hair was braided and tied to the bed's metal frame over her head! It was a horrible sight. Her screams woke up the whole house and everyone came to laugh at her. There were a bunch of things entangled to her hair too. Cheese, crumbs, dirt, candies that fell on the floor, you name it. It was 3 hours of getting her hair out of the bed frame and 1 hour of removing the nasty stuff from her head plus another hour of washing tomato paste out of her hair. So basically, 5 hours of shrill screaming and crying. I think 2 of my ribs cracked from trying not to laugh. After that she pointed at me and accused me of doing it. Grace defended me and laughed at the idea. She said I couldn't do it alone. She was right. I couldn't even braid my own hair, much less braid Mackenzie's. Anyway when afternoon came, I, too, got a surprise. When I came back to my room, my bed was overflowing with chocolates! Mars bars, KitKats, Snickers bars, Toblerones, Whoppers, and Ferrero Rochers! I had no idea where it came from. Then, I looked out the window. I saw a man with dark complexion across the street. He was wearing a violet headdress. He was suspicious-looking so I stared. I had the feeling that he was staring at me, too. But then a bus came and blocked my view. In a blink of an eye, he was gone. I asked Grace. She reckons it was from my sponsor. I told her I saw a man across the street and described him. She tore her eyes away from me and looked at the window, grinned and shook her head. A mere stranger, she says. She said she was surprised, too, but there was something about her grin. It was like she knew something. She was hiding something. I suspected that she knew something from the start. I remember that whenever I would ask her questions about me, where I came from, what the golden key was for, she'd flinch and avoid the subject. If I only knew. Anyway when I was 8, I found out that I could change my hair color. I decided not to tell anyone, they might think I'm 'Looney Tunes'. Then I discovered I could make fireballs with my hands. I could touch fire without feeling burnt. I could summon things from far places. I could make things disappear. These 'new-found abilities' were bad news. They cost me trouble. With Grace, with the other girls. Bloody hell, I almost set the house on fire! I'm pathetic and lousy, the girls would say.
Grace walked over and sat beside me on my bed. "Why don't you join them? Make some friends. Have you met Amy?" I snorted. Grace was always introducing me to new girls. Then, it'd get awkward and girls would say I'm 'disturbed'. In short, girls here are perfectly normal, thank you very much. It's boring. Frilly dresses and sandals? Now who would wear that everyday? It's hot and you can't even run in those. That's why I wear jeans and sneakers instead of those cloth-like horrors.
"Yes, Grace. I have. And she doesn't like me. I heard her whisper to Natalie. They think I'm weird. They're talking behind my back. Everyone is, Grace. It's tiring." I slumped down on my pillow.
"Oh, sush. You don't know that. Don't let them get to you. Anyway, there's nothing to be sad about. Today's 21st of August. Your birthday's on Friday." She said.
"I know.'It's another opportunity to get adopted.' like you always say, Grace." I said, imitating her Western motherly accent.
"Oh, it's true, Silver. You know that."
"Oh please. We're like dogs here. Parents only want the cute pups. And the rest of us get old and we'll soon hit the streets. You know that."
"Don't lose hope, Silver dear. And I've got feeling that your birthday's gonna go well. I just know it." She said with a twinkle in her eye.
"What? How do you know that?"
"I just know, Silver. I just know. You only turn 11 once, dear. It's gonna be special. You'll find answers to your questions then, Sweetie." She said as she was standing up. "Now if you're not going outside, you might as well clean your room."
And she left before I could even say one word. She left my head swirling, though. Answers to my questions? What does she mean?
