Thornberry's Orphanage For Lost And Wayward Children
The taxi pulled to a stop infront of the gates of Thornberry's Orphanage For Lost And Wayward Children. 10 year old, (Y/n) (L/n), pushed open the door of the taxi. She hoped out, pulling her suitcase out with her. The August sun beamed down on her (S/c) skin, providing her some warmth on this dreary day. She closed the taxi door, and having already been paid, the taxi driver took off.
Her (E/c) eyes looked upon the familiar building before her. The three-story building was quite old, the bricks that made up the building cracked and discolored. The windows seemed to always be fogged over, and the old oak door locked like it could fall of it's hinges any moment. The property was surrounded by a tall rusted metal fence with spikes on top, and a large gate at the entrance. The grounds of the property contained several old Oak trees, and a semi well kept lawn. And of course, tow metal signs, one above both the gate and one above the front door of the orphanage read, Thornberry's Orphanage For Lost And Wayward Children.
The wind gently blew through her (H/c) hair, as she walked through the old gates. She followed the crumbling walkway, till she reached the old oak door. Raising a hand, she gave the door a couple soild knocks. The door opened soon enough, to reveal a small old woman, with blue-grey eyes and silvery- white hair. When she saw you her eyes crickled sadly, and she offered you a sweet smile.
"Hello, my dear. Welcome back." She said in her soft honeydew voice.
You smiled sheepishly.
"Hiya, Ms.Thornberry. Sorry for showing up so early. The Johnson's were in quite the rush." You apologized akwardly.
"Oh, nevermind that. Let's get you inside now, dearie." She said, waving you off.
She guided you into the orphanage, closing the door behind you both. The inside was slightly more well kept then the outside. The hard wood floors creaked loudly when you walked over them, and the floral wallpaper was chipped and peeling. The halls were lit with the soft glow of lanterns, and the building always ached and groaned, never seemingly able to settle it's old bones. Ms. Rosemary Thornberry was a kind old women, who had always wanted children of her own. She never managed to have any however, so she decided to open up this orphanage in her youth. She's been running it ever since, but the building and grounds have fallen into disrepair as she has been having a harder time keeping up with the maintenance of the place in her old age.
You and Ms.Thornberry made you way to your old room on the third floor. She opened the door for you, and you both stepped inside. The room was pretty empty, with a a well made bed in the back left corner by the window, and a small desk and chair along the right wall. In the middle of the room there was a wooden wardrobe, and a chest at the foot of the bed. The only things of note where a few of your books and clothes that you left here a few months ago, when the Johnson's came to adopt you. You stopped bringing everything with you when you left, and the first couple times you returned.
"Here you are, dear. Just as you left it." She said.
You set your suitcase down on the bed, and a thin layer of dust flew into the air, making you sneeze. The desk chair suddenly crashed to the ground, giving you and Ms.Thornberry a little startle.
"Oh, deary me. I thought I finally got that fixed." She muttered to herself, as she went over to pick the chair back up.
"Sorry, Ms.Thornberry..." You apologized.
She once again waved you off.
"Not your fault dear. This whole place is falling apart anyway." She said reassuringly.
You know she's right, you didn't even touch the chair after. Odd things always seemed to happen around without any explanation. And even though you know you had nothing to do with it, deep down you somehow felt responsible.
"Well I still like the place. It has... What did Mrs.Johnson say it was...? Oh! Character! It has character." You said, as you began to unpack your things.
Ms.Thronberry gave a small smile at your reassurance.
"Speaking of the Johnson's dear, I'm sorry things didn't work out with them." She said Sympathetically.
You froze in your task of putting away your clothes. Your heart clenched, and a frown formed on your face. After a moment, you shook her head, and shot her a small smile.
"It's okay! They did quite well actually! Lasted much longer then I thought they would." You exclaimed.
"Would you mide telling me what happened this time?" Asked Ms.Thornberry curiously.
As you continued to unpack the rest of your belongings, including clothes, some books, and a few other essentials, you rambled on about all the notetable events of the past 3 months you spent with the Johnson's.
"Well a lot has happened. Mrs. Johnson really wanted to pretty me up with a hair cut, cause she said my hair was much too long for her liking, and took me to a very fancy hair dresser! The hair dresser was nice and talked a lot while she cut my hair, and gave me what Mrs.Johnson called 'a really cute bob'! She was so upset the next morning when she saw all my hair was back. She kept taking me back, it gave up after the fifth time, too much money she said. Another time I was playing with Mr.Johnson's puppy, but he didn't want the stick I had, and Mr.Johnson said that the puppy likes to play with the blue ball, cause blue is his favourite, and it worked and I had a lot of fun. But the puppy turned blue, and I thought it was so cute, but Mr.Johnson really freaked out, and took the puppy to the vet. The puppy was fine, but Mr.Johnson got mad and told me that you don't dye animals cause it can make them sick, and he didn't believe me when I said I didn't do it. And then the past week I had a really bad cold, and I was sneezing a lot and had a runny nose. I went through 6 boxes of tissue! And all week cups, and vases, and a bunch of other things kept exploding and breaking. They were supposed to have a party tonight, but this morning they're China set from their grandma broke. They got really mad at me, saying it was super expensive and important, and Mrs. Johnson was even crying. I felt really bad, but they still didn't believe me that I wasn't the one breaking things. They said it was the last straw, and called a taxi to take me back here. That's why I arrived so early today all of a sudden. that's okay though, they probably had a lot of work to do to clean up and get the party ready, so it makes sense they wouldn't want me to get in the way." You rambled quickly.
You had to take a deep breath after as you winded yourself. Even Mr.Thornberry looked winded just from listening.
"Always quite the fast talker dear. Sounds like the Johnsons had quite a bit of trouble." She said.
"Yes, quite a bit of bad luck. You believe me though right? That I didn't do it?" You asked, even though you still feel like the strange happens had something to do with you.
"Oh, I know you wouldn't cause anyone trouble of purpose dear. Strange things happen all the time, it's no one's fault." She reassured you with a warm smile.
This made your small smile widen into a more genuine one. Ms.Thornberry was really the only good thing about this place. She was the only one to ever believe in you, that you weren't responsible for all the strange things that happened around you. It was nice. Though both the other kids at the orphanage, and the families that tried to adopt you always thought otherwise. At best they thought you were a trouble maker, and at worst they thought you were cursed. And if you really were cursed... Well you knew very well you deserved be.
Before your thoughts could get darker as dwell on old memories, Ms.Thornberry patted your shoulder, bringing you back to reality.
"I'll leave you to your unpacking, dear. When you're done, you can come down to the dinning Hall and join the rest of us for some lunch. I made chicken noodle soup!" Said Ms.Thornberry cheerfully.
You gave her a nod, and she left the room. Now alone, you spent the next few minutes to finish your unpacking. Once you were done, you hesitantly went to the dining room to join everyone for lunch. Immediately all the eyes of the other children were on you. Murmers and chatter filled the room, as you akwardly made your way through to get a bowl of soup.
"It's (y/n)!"
"Why'd she have to come back again?"
"Quiet! She'll curse us if she hears!"
"I'm not afraid of that freak."
Once you had your bowl, you quickly made your way to the far side of the table to sit down. Many of the children were quick to scooch further away from you. Keeping your head down, you tried to focus on just eating your soup. Once again you thought, Ms.Thornberry really was the only good thing in this place. And even though you knew by now that you'd never truly be adopted for good, you couldn't hope but wish that one day you might be.