Ch.1 Childhood
"Go! Run for your life! If you don't go now, you will burn to death!"
"If you survive, you will one day end up like us!"
With fire everywhere, he runs for his life. He runs and runs until his body gives out. ". . . Mom. . . Dad. . ."
He collapses to the ground, out cold.
. . .
"What's this? Oh, no! What is a boy in this condition doing here like this?"
She carefully picks up the badly burnt child and gently places him in her car and drives off to the hospital.
. . .
"Ugh."
"Oh, good. You are finally awake. How do you feel?"
"Bad." His eyes drift around the room, eventually resting on his rescuer, a look of fear and confusion on his face.
"You were in a terrible accident and you are in the hospital. My name is Ms. Lipsky, what is your name?"
"Drew. I am five years old."
"Drew, can you tell me who your parents are and where to find them? We need to tell them where you are."
"No," He sniffles, "I . . . I can't remember anything." Tears start to run down his cheeks and he holds his arms close to his body.
"It's ok. Don't worry. I will help you find them."
Drew stops crying and wipes his nose with his arm, stopping to look at the burn marks. "I was in a fire, right? Otherwise I wouldn't have these burns." His eyes widen in fear as Ms. Lipsky nods. "Were they in the fire too?"
"I'm not sure."
He aquires a puzzling look while his face is still red from the tears. "Where will I go if they are dead?" His eyes begin to water then he looks up questioningly. "Ms. Lipsky?"
"I guess you can come live with me. I have no children of my own and I'm sure you will like it better at my place than an orphanage." She smiles warmly.
After a moment of thought, "I would like it better."
They both smile. "You are a very bright boy. I'm sure that whatever happens, you will be fine."
"Thank you."
. . .
A few weeks later, "Hello. How are you feeling today?"
"Great! The doctors said I can leave today." The boy smiles a huge smile while sadness shows in his eyes.
Ms. Lipsky glances away sadly. "I know what happened to your parents."
"They're dead, right?"
She looks at him with surprise. "How did you know?"
"I saw the sad look you had and figured it out."
"Well, I'm sad to say that your home burned down and there is nothing left. Your only living family member is your grandfather and he is very sick."
"That means that I will be living with you." He looks at her hopefully. "Can I call you mom?"
Surprised, she smiles. "Sure. Are you ready to go to your new home?"
"Yes." He smiles and stands up, picking up his gifts from the hospital staff.
"I'll be right back; I have to sign you out."
"Ok."
As she walks out, he looks around the room and notices a small package with his name on it. He opens it carefully and finds a small notebook with writing in it. He puts it in his pocket and walks to the door as Ms. Lipsky comes back into the room.
"Let's go now so that we can go buy you some clothes and toys."
"Ok."
. . .
"And this will be your new room. It is late so you should shower and get to bed soon. You can put everything away later."
"Ok. Thanks again for everything."
"You're welcome." Ms. Lipsky steps out of the room and closes the door behind her.
Drew grabs his new pajamas and walks to the bathroom. He takes a shower and heads back to his room. Once there, he walks over to the desk where he left the notebook and turns on the lamp next to his bed. Grabbing the notebook, he turns off the light and climbs into bed, guided by the lamp. Once settled, he starts to read what was written in the notebook. The words were simple and he soon started to cry. After he finished reading, he placed the notebook under his pillow, turned off the lamp, and cried himself to sleep.
"Good morning." Drew slowly opens his eyes, still puffy from crying. He blinks a few times and, as he starts to sit up, Ms. Lipsky turns on the light. "Breakfast is ready." He sniffs a few times and, smelling the food, feels a little more awake and a little better.
"Good morning." He replies as he climbs out of bed and walks to the dining room. He could hardly contain his excitement as he looks at the food on the table. "Dig in." As he starts to eat, he remembers how he always had to rummage through the kitchen for whatever food he could find. He never starved but his parents were always too busy with work and almost never made food for him. He knew his life would be better now but he still missed his parents.
Ms. Lipsky watched him as he ate and thought she saw sadness in his eyes for a moment. She wished she could do something more for him. "What would you like to do today? We can go to the park, or to the zoo, or. . ." She stopped as Drew started to sob and she pulls him into her lap, embracing him. "What started the fire?," he asks.
Ms. Lipsky sighed and decided that he could handle the truth, or part of it at least. "Your parents were working on fixing a machine and they made a mistake and it exploded, causing the place to burn down."
Drew wiped his eyes and looked up at her. "Were they bad people? I remember them getting in a lot of fights and they would always hide me when the cops came to take them away after losing the fight. A few days later, they would come and get me and we would move."
Ms. Lipsky hugged him tight. She knew she couldn't keep the truth away from him. "I don't think they were bad people but they did do a lot of bad things."
"Like trying to take over the world?" He was looking at the burns that were still on his arms, trying to hold back tears. "I heard them talking about it when they thought I wasn't around." All Ms. Lipsky could do was nod her response when he looked at her.
After a few silent minutes, Drew stood up to go brush his teeth. He smiled at his new mother. "I would love to go to the zoo." He was ready to live a new life.
Ms. Lipsky smiled as she walked out of the room to go get ready. "He is strong," she whispered once he was out of sight.