OK guys! Sorry for taking AGES to update. Prove that you forgive me by leaving at review (PLEASE?)! Uhhh...There was school, my computer dying on me, and other things that kept me from typing so...heh.
It was an early summer morning; the sun had just begun to rise. Mikayla did not actually see this, but she knew, for it was instinct to begin cooking in the morning. She got up even earlier than usual because she was going to attempt something for the first time: pancakes. They consist of flour, water, and...other things to sweeten them right? She intensely focused as she began to mix the ingredients together. She could not risk messing up with the little amount of ingredients she had at disposal. Despite the amount of stress that task would be, she was very delighted to know that this would result as a very joyful moment with the thirty-one children she considered her own.
Later that same morning, Oliver stood directly in front of the clock, watching each second pass by. He knew that Mikayla was cooking something sweet; his sense of smell always knew how to tease him. He was twisting the sleeping gown given to him on his first day with his fingers, suppressing his anticipation. It was only a mere ten minutes before 9 o' clock, yet those ten minutes alone seemed to be forever. Oliver had grown accustomed to waiting each morning, for Mikayla always sent him back to his room when he came down too early. However, the second the clock struck nine, Oliver dashed downstairs, leaving his roommates asleep once again.
As always, he headed straight for the kitchen where Miss Mikayla was. "Good morning Oliver, how are you today?" She greeted as she set up the plates. "Pancakes?! Cool!" Oliver was looking over each plate. "I asked 'how are you'" Mikayla lightly hit Oliver's hand with the wooden spoon, resulting in the boy flinching away from the plates. "You know the drill Oliver. Get changed, pass out the plates, and then I'll allow you eat your breakfast."
"Yes Miss Mikayla…" Oliver replied deadpanned. He ran back up the stairs and went into his room. Then, Oliver shook both Ron and Mai, telling them to wake up. Directly after, he went to the basket that had his clothes. He pulled out the dark blue jacket, the white shirt, and black shorts. Oliver could never get over how much they resembled the ones he wore for a long time in his life. Then again, he could not have thought of a better present for his 'birthday'. He kept the same hat though, for it was in too good of a condition to be replaced, but it did have to be cleaned. After changing, Oliver ran back downstairs, followed by Ron and Mai. The three helped Mikayla set up the plates for the tables; then they began to eat.
"Miss Mikayla, why did you make pancakes? I've never recalled you doing that before." Ron asked, smiling as he ate. "I'm not complaining though, these are delicious!"
"I'm glad you like it! I decided to make them for a certain occasion." said Mikayla, who was now leaving the room. "'A certain occasion'? What's she talking about?" asked Oliver. "How could you not know?" Mai raised an eyebrow. "It never came up in conversations, so don't look at him that way" Ron wiped his mouth. "My birthday is tomorrow. Miss Mikayla tends to make something special the day before everyone's birthday."
"Oh really? I don't remember anything special being made for mine." Oliver said right before he resumed eating his pancake. "That's because Christmas was right around the corner at the time! She didn't see the point of making two sets of special food." Mai explained. "Plus you would have guzzled any food down special or not.Your definition of a 'special' meal is when you're allowed 'thirdsies'" Ron chuckled. "Sorry, I can't really defend you on that one." Mai shrugged. Oliver sat there blankly before responding "Ohhhhh…no wonder she let me have thirdsies that day!"
"A little late aren't you?" Ron and Mai said in perfect unison, causing them to flinch away from each other. "If I got a snack for every time you two did that I'd be fatter than walrus!" Oliver laughed. He could not help but do so since Ron and Mai seemed to have the same thoughts for the past few months. Mai doesn't seem to hit him as much as she used to either…
By the time the trio was finished with their food, the other youngsters came downstairs for breakfast. Because of this, they had first dibs on the ball. It was typically the advantage to have the ball first. Oliver passed the ball to Ron. "How about it birthday boy?" Oliver tipped his hat to issue his challenge. "Why of course Ollie-boy!" Ron teased. "I said never call me that again!" The blonde hissed. "Then how about making me regret it?" Ron grinned. "Maybe I'll just sit out on this one…" Mai thought aloud. She and the other kids knew that when Ron and Oliver were having a 'face-off', it's better to keep your head rather than participate. The more they got to know each other, the more competitive they got. Mai had to act like a babysitter to calm them down several times. For some unknown reason, the two boys didn't need their daily morning lecture. They even handed the ball off to the next person that came in. Mai was happy yet shocked that they did so, but she did not show signs of the ladder trait. "'Kay then, how about we go do some doodles instead if you two won't play a ball game?" She grinned as she wrapped her arms around both boys' necks. "Sure" said Oliver who felt like he was slowly being strangled.
The place to draw 'doodles' was the schoolroom. During most of the day, no one was in it, so those who weren't in a mood for playing often just came here. Ron was anything but a skilled artist. He considered stick figures to be his masterpiece. Mai's skills were fairly good, but she was not that passionate in drawing every day. The main reason she liked going to draw in the schoolroom was to see what Oliver was going to draw. Many of her pictures were left incomplete ever since the day Oliver picked up a pencil. For some odd reason, he really enjoyed drawing. It was like his excuse for ignoring his surroundings. What should I draw today? The boy thought to himself. I've already drawn James several times...but maybe I could do an improved version! Oliver let out a small whistle, cuing his favorite pet to get on the table. He instantly began to draw James' outline; he still managed to keep the proportions correct even though the goldfinch moved a lot. Oliver's talent for art is quite astonishing, considering the fact that all his hands have ever been used for is stealing and eating. Each art piece he drew grew slightly more realistic for each attempt. Oh, I should start drawing something myself Mai thought. Now what should I draw? She looked around the room, wondering what her subject would be. At that moment, she saw Ron napping on the table, drool slowly coming out of his mouth. I feel so sorry for that paper! Mai giggled; she began to draw Ron's outline.
"Finished..." Oliver said right before raising up his completed picture. It was in fact better than 'the previous James', but it wasn't quite realistic yet. "Not bad Oliver, it looks amazing!" Mai stared at his picture for a few seconds, and then went back to sketching her own. Suddenly, Mikayla opened the door; her face was plain if not serious. "Children, please get changed into your nicer clothes"
"What? I thought we had church a few days ago..." Ron mumbled as if he were talking to himself. "No, it's not church..." Mikayla paused, not sure if what she said would be considered good news or bad news. "A couple has come for adoption...you all have to present yourselves properly"
"Adoption?!" Mai accidentally shouted. "Why not just show them the younger ones?" Her face became noticeably sadder. "It would not be fair to the others" Mikayla said plainly. "Please get dressed"
"But this is the nicest set of clothes I have!" Oliver said, tugging on his favorite outfit.
"Of course I'll have to make an exception for that" Mikayla replied. "Now get going all of you" She left the room without saying another word; the trio followed her silently.Adoption? I know this is an orphanage, but this is so sudden! I feel like this more of a home to me than anywhere now… Oliver looked at his two friends in front of them. Judging by their faces, they must be having the same thoughts as him.
It seemed that Mikayla told the trio to change last, because all of the young-lings were in fancier attire long before them. Mai and Ron's fancy attire actually left him very surprised. Mai looked kind of…cute. Her white skirt was slightly above her knees; her hair was tied up. The shirt she wore was the same light orange color that she typically wore, but this shirt had more accessories to it. There was a white under shirt that covered what would become her cleavage in a few years, and she wore a simple white pearl necklace. As for Ron, he almostlooked his age. He wore a dark-blue sweatshirt, along with matching dress pants. This was one of the first times Oliver had seen the teenager without his hat; he hair was even combed. Additionally, his ponytail was lowered. Am I the only one thatdidn'tgo through some dramatic transformation?!Another thing that Oliver found odd was that even though the kids were now dressed well, they went back to their casual playing. So…look good and have fun? That's how you get adopted? These customs are so strange…
"So now what?" Oliver asked Ron, who then replied: "Whatever, but we can't draw"
"Why?" The blonde asked. "Everyone's back to doing what they were already doing"
"We have to be where we can be seen." Ron gestured towards Mikayla, who was talking to a brown-haired couple. "We can't just stay out of rank or the 'supervisor' will fry our butts for it"
"Sounds fun Ron. How 'bout we try it?" Oliver nudged. "No" Ron refused. "Like she said, it wouldn't be fair to the others"
"When did you get so mature?" Mai butted in the converse. "This really isn't like you Ron"
"I've been here for a good decade, so I feel like I would be clinging to this place for too long if I rebelled against adoption…but I definitely would hate to leave."
"Me too" Mai and Oliver replied. A few moments of silence passed. "Why are we still standing here? Let's go play a game!" Mai rushed outside, causing the two boys to look at each other. They both let out a sigh and followed her.
The amount of time spent playing ball was not long, for Mikayla called all thirty-one of the kids to come line up in front of the other two adults. This was yet another thing that Oliver found strange: How could kids be okay with strangers taking them away? Some of them had faces that screamed 'Pick me!' while the brown-haired woman glanced over each one of the kids. Oliver felt shivers as she looked at him, for reasons he did not know. The woman then bent down and faced a short and very young boy, who had matching dark hair. "How about you little Noah? Would you like a family?"
"Yes, please~!" His face practically glowed with happiness. So much happiness, it left a small sting in Oliver's heart. I bet Noah really wanted to have a family… Oliver must have blanked out for a while, because before he knew it, Mikayla had already handed the couple the papers containing Noah's information; the three had left, Noah holding on to his foster mother's hand.
Despite losing a friend, many of the kids went back to their casual routine. Some of the young-lings were noticeably saddened by Noah's departing. Apparently the adoption process takes a long time, because it was a mere few minutes before dinner. To Oliver, that was a very good thing. The meal for that day was, surprisingly, mostly meat and bread. Mikayla is the type to shower all of her consumers with a variety of veggies, but all that there was for today was some carrots on the side. The meat was amazingly seasoned; it was wrapped in bread, which was buttered just the right amount for an even better flavor. I can only imagine the amount of greens she has in store for us tomorrow… thought Oliver, who had not spared another thought before diving into his plate.
The next day, shortly after breakfast time, Ron woke up. Seeing how Mai was not next to him, he instantly realized that he had overslept. I'll just pray that the blonde piglet didn't eat my food! Ron quickly took a bath, changed, and headed towards the dining area. It was empty, and the play area was as well. Wait what? This is crazy! Ron ran to the schoolroom, trying to find any sign of people there. Nobody was in either one of the school rooms; to add to his fears: Oliver wasn't even in the kitchen. Where the heck is everybody?! Ron continued checking every single room; his speed grew for each empty room. He ran down to the main hallway, in front of the building's entrance, panting and sweating. Once his panic episode was completed, he started to think more clearly.This must be planned. There's absolutely no way that thirty-one people can just disappear into thin air. I bet this is their attempt of a birthday surprise. Ron began to pace around, wondering what he should do next. Looking for them would be far too much effort. I'll just look for something to eat.
Ron reminded himself so much of Oliver when he began to look for food to eat. He could not find anything that was prepared, so he just settled for eating plain bread. It tasted better to him than he had expected. Once he closed the storage up, he noticed a note on the cupboard. It read:
To Ron,
The kids and I are going to be gone for a while. Sorry if this is inconvenient, but I need you to do a few things:
1. Purchase milk, our supply is running out. (The money is next to the basket mentioned later)
2. Get the basket on the kitchen counter (it has a red cloth above it) and deliver it to the elderly woman at the market place. This is my way of thanking her.
-Mikayla
P.S Happy birthday! I can't believe your 17 already!
"Of courseshe still makes me work on my birthday" Ron let out a sigh and began to work on his task.
Meanwhile, at some other building, Mikayla was working on preparations while trying to babysit at the same time. Once she failed at that, she asked Mai, Oliver, and some of the other older kids to act as 'supervisors'. "How long is this going to take?" Oliver asked Mikayla. At first, she ignored Oliver, but then answered: "As long as it takes. I'm trying to see if I can finish within this hour, but so far that seems impossible" Mikayla was mixing some type of batter in a bowl. Her facial expression was a mix of both happiness and focus. Mai tugged on Oliver's arm and gestured that they should leave Mikayla to her business. "So what was the point of us ALL coming here?" Oliver asked Mai, who answered: "Because she's gonna need a LOT of extra hands when she gets back" Mai explained. "For the birthdays of the older kids, she makes entire feasts!" This statement made Oliver stare into space; in a matter of seconds, he was drooling.
"You never seem to have your mind off of food" Mai giggled, and tried to get him back into reality by snapping her fingers a few times. "So we have to carry food back?" Oliver asked, grinning. "I'm pretty sure that Miss Mikayla will purposely make you carry something that isn't edible" Mai laughed. "Darn" Oliver said, making another exaggerated facial expression. "I guess I'll just imagine eating for now"
"Try not to drool on anything!" Mai teased. There was a short moment of silence; Oliver asked another question. "So what's Ron doing? Is he trying to look for us?"
"Miss Mikayla says that she set up some distractions just for him!" Mai smiled mischievously.
"Some birthday present" Oliver said.
At the marketplace, Ron was waiting in line to purchase milk. The old woman seemed somewhat busier than usual, because there were never this much people when Ron was around.Then again, I've never come this early either Ron thought. Once he made the purchase, he handed the basket to the elderly woman and turned around to leave. "Oh wait!" The woman called. "Huh? What is it?"
The old woman said: "You delivering me this reminded me that I was supposed to give my grandson this package. I am very busy today, so can you do this for me?" She pulled out an ordinary brown box. "The home where he lives is across the stream south of this place. It's very hard to miss since it's the only house you'll see for miles"
"Uh...Okay" Ron accepted the box, hesitantly. "Well then, I'll see you!" Ron politely smiled and left quickly.
Ron began to head to the house, directly after figuring out which direction was south. Oh! I've been here before. I remember playing near this stream when I was a kid! I don't remember any house though. Not long after his thought, he realized that there was a small building in the distance. "Oh wow! This place was closer than I thought!" He began running towards the building. He quickly learned that his eyes were deceiving him. The building was farther away; it was much larger as well. "Oh wow" he accidentally said aloud. He walked up the stairs that led to the dark-brown wooden door. Ron stood a little while to regain his breath, and then he knocked on the door. It took less than a minute for someone to answer. The man was quite tall; he towered over Ron, causing the boy to smile nervously. I really am short... "Uh...uh-" Say something! His subconscious yelled at him. What was that old woman's name again? "Oh! Mrs. Catherine asked me to deliver this package to her grandson...sir"
"I see! Why thank you!" The man turned around and called out "Tommy!" A few moments passed; a young boy ran to the front door. "Yes Father?" The boy glanced at Ron curiously before facing his father. "This young lad has something for you!" The man crouched down to his son's height as he spoke. "Really?" Tommy had let out a smile. "What is it mister?"
"I don't know. It's from your grandmother, not me." Ron handed the box to the young boy. The little boy wasted no time opening it. Inside, there was a toy set.
"Thank you so much!" Tommy did a toothy grin as he said this. "Again, this is from your grandmother, not me." The boy didn't seem to pay much attention to Ron at this point. He was simply messing around with the new toys he had just been given. "Mister, can you play with me?" Tommy looked at Ron. "I-...uh" Ron could barely answer. He wanted to say 'no', but the boy's face was too cute to resist. "If your father allows it I guess..." Ron rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Sure, I don't mind" The man said. "Tommy doesn't get to play with many young people"
"Okay..." What did I just get myself into? Ron thought to himself.
Once Ron was able to get away from Tommy and his 'needs', he began to head back home. "Seriously, if the kid's so damn 'lonely', then just send him outside!" Ron muttered several other statements of that nature on his way back. He looked up at the sky, noticing that the sun had set. "Really?!" He began running back, but not too fast. He knew better than to wear himself out. The building appeared to still be silent, from an outsider's perspective at least. You're kidding right? There's no way they would be gone that long… Ron opened the door, only to walk into a hallway with no light. This made Ron think that he really was alone, since he never turned on the lights in the morning. He felt for the light switch that was in the middle of the hallway, and the lights nearly blinded him since his eyes were adjusting to the darkness. I bet this is their attempt to 'surprise' me… Now where would they be? Ron paced around, imagining possible places. His very first thought was the dining area; after all, it made more sense than anything. Knowing this, he nonchalantly walked to where he expected he would find the other 31 residents. Once again, he had to feel for a light switch. He spent over a minute searching for it, because he forgot it was outside the room and not in it. Once he went through his moment of feeling like an idiot, he walked back into the dining area.
Ron was now more annoyed than anything. It would've been nice to simply have the so-called surprise where you expected it for once. He decided that a walk outside would calm him down, so he headed to the play area. The door was closed, just like it had been in the morning. They'll probably be back soon, so a little walk wouldn't hurt to-
"… … …"
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Ron stood there in pure shock. The whole play area was decorated in a way that only middle class people could manage. In other words, the place looked decent, at the very least; to Ron, the place looked amazing. There was a whole table filled with foods that would only be eaten for leisure, very sweet foods that Mikayla would never cook. The sight of the cake made Ron completely ignore the fact that among the 'happy birthday's, there was someone, more than likely Oliver, who yelled 'moron'. Instead, he wanted to laugh at the faces of the little children who were staring at the cake.
"Well come on! Are you going to faint or eat some cake?" Oliver yelled, and many others either nodded eagerly or simply looked at him.
"Will you ever get your mind off of that fat stomach of yours?!" Ron imitated Oliver's tone, causing everyone to laugh.
"Birthday boy gets first slice!" Ron ran over to the table.
After stuffing their faces with desserts, the kids began their umpteenth game of ball. Yet another new thing for that day was the ball they were using. It was much cleaner, thanks to its new condition, and it bounced much better than the older ball ever had. Every single person passed the ball to Ron at least once; Oliver always aimed for Ron's face, without fail. Ron would occasionally pass the ball to Mai, just to give himself a break from Oliver's constant challenging. Despite this, Oliver managed to get his hands on the ball again. Hehe! I'd like to see him catchthisone! The blonde giggled mischievously as he positioned his arms for this 'special' throw, one that he prepared at the last minute just for Ron's birthday. The round object rocketed towards Ron, causing him to panic. Instead of trying to catch it, he hit it back in the opposite direction. At least, that was his intention. The result, however, was the brand-new ball being launched into the air, making it look like a dot in the dusk sky. All of the young ones watched as it fell in the distance.
"Oops…" Ron and Oliver managed to say in perfect unison. "I'll get it!" Mai shouted, after she sprinted into the woods. "Hey, you shouldn't just run there when it's about to get dark!" 'Birthday boy' yelled, right before chasing his younger friend. "Hey, don't just leave me out!" Oliver chased after Ron, without even thinking about the others who would be left waiting. His 'rivalry' with Ron often distracted him from those types of things.
Mai, Ron, and Oliver looked almost everywhere they could for the ball. "There's no way it could just disappear like that!" Mai said, trying to encourage the boys to keep searching, even though they made it clear they had given up. "It's already getting dark! We can just look for it tomorrow" Ron said. "But wouldn't everyone want to continue the game?" Oliver asked.
"Maybe you would want to continue the game, but I'm pretty sure that they just want to see us in one piece" Ron replied deadpanned. "Aw c'mon! Just a couple more minutes of searching wouldn't hurt too badly would it?" Mai gave a 'beaming' face, showing that she was more than determined to go searching again. "Maybe we could pretend that we're looking for treasure to make it more fun!" She was clearly suppressing her excitement.
"You sound like your seven right now Mai…" Ron said, right before laughing. "I guess a few more minutes wouldn't hurt us."
The trio once again began their search, but this time they went out a little further. The moonlight made it easier for them to see what was where, but there was still no ball in sight. Suddenly Mai called out: "I see something!", and she pointed to a distant tree. The two boys looked in the direction she was pointing; they saw some whit poking out of the tree. "Could that be the ball?" Mai asked. "Let's go check it out!" Oliver replied. Ron and Mai ran ahead of Oliver; Ron was in the lead since he thought the ball game would resume again. "Ha, I guess this day didn't turn out so bad after all—" Ron quickly stopped in his tracts, causing Mai to accidentally bump into him. "Hey, what's wro-" Ron slapped his hand over her mouth before she could finish talking. Mai noticed that Ron was shuddering, despite her shock from the slap, but she failed to notice Oliver behind her, acting the same way as Ron. The only difference was that the look on his face was filled with confusion, along with a betrayed look, with his own personal horror. 'Why are you to acting so weird?' She wanted to say, but she found out before she could even form the full statement in her mind. She saw blood: Blood that they could not see before all over the other side of the tree, belonging to a man who a fancy, and formerly-white suit.
That couldn't be…Nathaniel?! Oliver was struck with disbelief by what he was seeing, and it only got worse as he saw the other person looming over Nathaniel, a woman wearing a dark grey dress, holding a dirtied knife. Her pale hair contradicted the dark and bloody scene; her eyes seemed to have a deadly red tint. The devilish smile that was on her face vanished; and she began to lift up the body, more than likely to dispose of it. Ron quickly and needlessly gestured that they get the heck out of the place before they ended up next. Mai managed to keep quiet, but still panicked. She accidentally bumped into Oliver, causing his pet bird to let out one small
Chirp.
The woman moved her head in the direction of the three; her eyes widened; Oliver silently whispered:
"Nurse Hannah…why?"