Ten year old Tommy was not a morning person. He groaned as his bunkmate
shook him awake and put his head under the pillow.
"Go 'way," he murmured, then sat up sharply as his covers were ripped from him and the lights turned on. Shivering, Tommy ignored the ladder and jumped down from his bed. He pulled on a sweater that was nearing the end of its days, gave his black hair a quick combing, then ran down the hall where there was already a long line for the bathroom.
The people at the front of the line were pounding on the door and as a tall boy with blonde hair exited, there was a scuffle as everyone wanted to take a shower while there was still hot water. Tommy never tried too hard to be in front because he was so small that he would be quickly pushed to the back anyway. "I hate Mondays," said a miserable voice from behind him, making him jump.
The speaker was Ethan, his best friend who slept below him at St. Elizabeth's Orphanage. Ethan was a year older than Tommy but he had only arrived there three years prior, when his parents were killed in a plane crash.
"Terry said he'd give me a dollar if I cover for him while he's faking sick today. Stupid git gave it to me already; as if I'd actually keep up my end of the bargain after he told Ms. Jacobs that it was me who put that frog in Amelia's desk."
Tommy chuckled at the memory of Amelia Redmond running screaming from the room shouting, "It's going to kill me!" as he and Ethan were rolling on the floor. Privately, Tommy suspected that Ms. Jacobs already knew who was responsible, as it was usually Ethan.
Tommy had black hair and eyes that always seemed serious, even when he smiled. He was very polite to the teachers and the other kids at the orphanage, but rarely spoke to anyone other than his best friend. Ethan, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He had curly blonde hair and blue eyes that always seemed to be laughing. Even right after the death of his parents, Ethan had been fairly cheerful and was the eternal optimist. The two friends were two of the younger kids at St. Elizabeth's, and therefore stayed out of everyone's way to avoid getting hurt.
As they made their way to breakfast, James started to describe a plan that he had devised to nick food without being caught. He was talking for nearly a full minute before he realized that he was alone. Looking down the corridor, he saw Ethan talking to Linda Eberts, or rather staring at her with a dreamy expression while she spoke. So, Tommy made his way to the table alone and sat down a little ways away from the rest of the boys.
Ethan came in looking shocked, placing his book bag on the bench then sitting down right on top of it, eyes wide. "Linda spoke to me! Did you see it? She spoke to me! As in a real conversation. And this time she didn't think I was someone else! And she knew my name and-"
"I get the point; what did she say?"
"She said that she has the room right below us and she'd appreciate if we stopped jumping off the bunks because it makes dust fall on them, but what she said doesn't matter, the point is that she said it." Ethan was still looking very pleased with himself as he ate the tasteless cereal that was served.
The cafeteria quickly filled up as the girls came out of their rooms on the first floor. At the orphanage, the younger kids ate at seven o' clock while the older ones ate an hour later because there weren't enough tables. St. Elizabeth's was an extremely old building in the middle of London. It had crumbling brick and ivy snaking up the walls. The inside was in desperate need of a paint job and the books and desks were in varying states of disrepair. It was home to about seventy five kids of ages ten to eighteen. Due to overcrowding, seven children were crammed into rooms meant for four, and there were not nearly enough teachers. Despite being one of the youngest, Tommy had been at the orphanage for practically the longest time. As far as he knew, his mother had died giving birth to him and his father had been unable to raise him because he was very poor. Apparently it had broken his heart to have to leave his son with strangers, but he had done it to give Tommy a better life. That was what the headmistress had told him.
However, some of the other orphans thought otherwise. They said that Tommy's father had probably just not wanted to bother with him, so he dropped him off and drove away without thinking twice. As much as he wished that this weren't true, he often wondered why his father never came to visit him, even if he couldn't raise his son. He had never received a birthday card from the man, nor did he know who he is. Tommy found it hard to feel sorry for himself when he was with dozens of other children who had lost parents that they had actually known, but once in a while he wished he knew something about his parents. What did his father do for a living? What had his mother's voice sounded like? However, pity was not something that was given out freely at the orphanage, so Tommy managed to cope.
"So what do you want for your birthday?" asked Ethan. Suddenly it hit Tommy that his eleventh birthday was a week away. Apparently nobody knew when his real birthday was so the headmistress had chosen one for him; July 18th.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a new pair of shoes? I've had to glue the soles of these back on three times," replied James, shrugging.
"Should I buy them at the thrift store or just have Kevin steal them for you?" Kevin was another of their roommates and was notorious for stealing. He had been found one day living in an alley where he had been staying for a month and was taken to the orphanage. If anyone lost anything, they needed only to search under Kevin's bed to find it. However, nobody got very angry at him because Kevin always gave the best gifts.
"Whatever," Tommy replied, not thrilled at the prospect of his birthday. Nobody got too excited at St. Elizabeth's because there were no games, cakes, or celebration in general to make you feel special on your birthday. And with that, he and Ethan left the building to go enjoy the time before classes started at the nearby private school's park.
The night of July 17th, Tommy lay awake listening to the snores and murmurs of his roommates. He often had trouble falling asleep because night was his only time to think. During the day the near constant commotion made it impossible to concentrate on anything, so Tommy was very thankful for the time he had after lights out to himself. As usual, his thoughts drifted over to his parents. He wondered how his life would be if his mother hadn't died. He imagined that she was very beautiful and was funny and always knew what to say or do to make somebody smile. In his fantasy family he had two younger brothers and a sister who looked up to him and would play football with him in the front yard of their cozy home in the country. And his father... Tommy didn't know how he felt about this man, or whose story to believe. He liked to imagine his dad as a kind man who was constantly working so he could whisk his son away from the orphanage, but sometimes, in spite of himself, he felt anger. He was angry at this man who had left him here; angry at the man who knew where he lived but never visited; angry at the man who he had been told shared his name. Sometimes he hated Thomas Riddle.
"Go 'way," he murmured, then sat up sharply as his covers were ripped from him and the lights turned on. Shivering, Tommy ignored the ladder and jumped down from his bed. He pulled on a sweater that was nearing the end of its days, gave his black hair a quick combing, then ran down the hall where there was already a long line for the bathroom.
The people at the front of the line were pounding on the door and as a tall boy with blonde hair exited, there was a scuffle as everyone wanted to take a shower while there was still hot water. Tommy never tried too hard to be in front because he was so small that he would be quickly pushed to the back anyway. "I hate Mondays," said a miserable voice from behind him, making him jump.
The speaker was Ethan, his best friend who slept below him at St. Elizabeth's Orphanage. Ethan was a year older than Tommy but he had only arrived there three years prior, when his parents were killed in a plane crash.
"Terry said he'd give me a dollar if I cover for him while he's faking sick today. Stupid git gave it to me already; as if I'd actually keep up my end of the bargain after he told Ms. Jacobs that it was me who put that frog in Amelia's desk."
Tommy chuckled at the memory of Amelia Redmond running screaming from the room shouting, "It's going to kill me!" as he and Ethan were rolling on the floor. Privately, Tommy suspected that Ms. Jacobs already knew who was responsible, as it was usually Ethan.
Tommy had black hair and eyes that always seemed serious, even when he smiled. He was very polite to the teachers and the other kids at the orphanage, but rarely spoke to anyone other than his best friend. Ethan, on the other hand, was quite the opposite. He had curly blonde hair and blue eyes that always seemed to be laughing. Even right after the death of his parents, Ethan had been fairly cheerful and was the eternal optimist. The two friends were two of the younger kids at St. Elizabeth's, and therefore stayed out of everyone's way to avoid getting hurt.
As they made their way to breakfast, James started to describe a plan that he had devised to nick food without being caught. He was talking for nearly a full minute before he realized that he was alone. Looking down the corridor, he saw Ethan talking to Linda Eberts, or rather staring at her with a dreamy expression while she spoke. So, Tommy made his way to the table alone and sat down a little ways away from the rest of the boys.
Ethan came in looking shocked, placing his book bag on the bench then sitting down right on top of it, eyes wide. "Linda spoke to me! Did you see it? She spoke to me! As in a real conversation. And this time she didn't think I was someone else! And she knew my name and-"
"I get the point; what did she say?"
"She said that she has the room right below us and she'd appreciate if we stopped jumping off the bunks because it makes dust fall on them, but what she said doesn't matter, the point is that she said it." Ethan was still looking very pleased with himself as he ate the tasteless cereal that was served.
The cafeteria quickly filled up as the girls came out of their rooms on the first floor. At the orphanage, the younger kids ate at seven o' clock while the older ones ate an hour later because there weren't enough tables. St. Elizabeth's was an extremely old building in the middle of London. It had crumbling brick and ivy snaking up the walls. The inside was in desperate need of a paint job and the books and desks were in varying states of disrepair. It was home to about seventy five kids of ages ten to eighteen. Due to overcrowding, seven children were crammed into rooms meant for four, and there were not nearly enough teachers. Despite being one of the youngest, Tommy had been at the orphanage for practically the longest time. As far as he knew, his mother had died giving birth to him and his father had been unable to raise him because he was very poor. Apparently it had broken his heart to have to leave his son with strangers, but he had done it to give Tommy a better life. That was what the headmistress had told him.
However, some of the other orphans thought otherwise. They said that Tommy's father had probably just not wanted to bother with him, so he dropped him off and drove away without thinking twice. As much as he wished that this weren't true, he often wondered why his father never came to visit him, even if he couldn't raise his son. He had never received a birthday card from the man, nor did he know who he is. Tommy found it hard to feel sorry for himself when he was with dozens of other children who had lost parents that they had actually known, but once in a while he wished he knew something about his parents. What did his father do for a living? What had his mother's voice sounded like? However, pity was not something that was given out freely at the orphanage, so Tommy managed to cope.
"So what do you want for your birthday?" asked Ethan. Suddenly it hit Tommy that his eleventh birthday was a week away. Apparently nobody knew when his real birthday was so the headmistress had chosen one for him; July 18th.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a new pair of shoes? I've had to glue the soles of these back on three times," replied James, shrugging.
"Should I buy them at the thrift store or just have Kevin steal them for you?" Kevin was another of their roommates and was notorious for stealing. He had been found one day living in an alley where he had been staying for a month and was taken to the orphanage. If anyone lost anything, they needed only to search under Kevin's bed to find it. However, nobody got very angry at him because Kevin always gave the best gifts.
"Whatever," Tommy replied, not thrilled at the prospect of his birthday. Nobody got too excited at St. Elizabeth's because there were no games, cakes, or celebration in general to make you feel special on your birthday. And with that, he and Ethan left the building to go enjoy the time before classes started at the nearby private school's park.
The night of July 17th, Tommy lay awake listening to the snores and murmurs of his roommates. He often had trouble falling asleep because night was his only time to think. During the day the near constant commotion made it impossible to concentrate on anything, so Tommy was very thankful for the time he had after lights out to himself. As usual, his thoughts drifted over to his parents. He wondered how his life would be if his mother hadn't died. He imagined that she was very beautiful and was funny and always knew what to say or do to make somebody smile. In his fantasy family he had two younger brothers and a sister who looked up to him and would play football with him in the front yard of their cozy home in the country. And his father... Tommy didn't know how he felt about this man, or whose story to believe. He liked to imagine his dad as a kind man who was constantly working so he could whisk his son away from the orphanage, but sometimes, in spite of himself, he felt anger. He was angry at this man who had left him here; angry at the man who knew where he lived but never visited; angry at the man who he had been told shared his name. Sometimes he hated Thomas Riddle.