When she was 10 Lara lived in an orphanage. Well, really it was a group home. But since all the other children living there, were orphans like her, she thought of it as an orphanage. The neatest thing about this place was that it was so easy to escape from. All she had to do was sneak past the night staff person and go out the door, down the ramp and across the lawn. Then she was free. She did it quite often but always made it back before anyone noticed she was gone.
This was her favorite sport, she was all stealthy, in dark clothes. She could climb any wall. Her favorite place was a big three story abandoned house. There were balconies on each level, with great places for foot holds and hand holds. One day she was really brave and climbed so high she was able to crawl through a window into a third floor room that turned out to be an art studio. It was a fascinating place full of pencils, markers, paints and brushes. All the stuff she loved. There was a large table and she found a sofa and a faded old quilt. She was tired and it was so tempting after her brave escape and dangerous climb to just curl up and rest a little bit. She fell asleep and she may have been dreaming, she wasn’t sure. She felt the presence of someone leaning over her. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw dark brown eyes staring down at her. It was a guy. He had long brown hair that framed his face like a curtain. His mouth was set in a frown like he was trying to be scary. So tempted, she took her hand from beneath the quilt and touched his face, her fingers tracing his frowny mouth, not quite believing that he was real.
“How did you get in here?” She pointed at the window. “Weren’t you afraid?” he asked, “You should be afraid.” and then added “You should get out of here and forget this place.”
So sleepy and still believing this to be a dream, her eyes drifted shut. He only barely heard her small defiant little voice say “No.”
He swiftly removed her from his studio and considered what to do with her. He carried her down to the second floor then down again to the floor of the atrium. His friend Paul, met him there and with a curious glance asked. “What have you found?”
He sat on a bench still cradling the girl and said, “I’m not sure. I need you to do a little research and see if you can figure out who she is and where she belongs.”
Paul left through the gate and wandered around the neighborhood until he heard a bunch of worried voices talking about a missing girl.
The girl, still wrapped in the quilt, molded herself closer to his body. With his free hand he gently moved her light brown hair from her face and though he could clearly see that she was a child he also saw a vibrant reflection of the woman she would become and struggled to resist the urge to lean down and kiss her lips. Instead he place a light kiss on her temple and continued to gaze at her thoughtfully.
His friend returned with news that a girl was missing from the State Street Girls Home.
“I don’t want her associated with this place we have to take her somewhere else where she can be found quickly. Any ideas?” he asked.
Paul thought, then suggested, “Children love parks and there is one near the home, we could take her there and give someone a hint where to look for her.”
“Fine” he responded “leave her wrapped in the quilt and stay near enough to see that she gets home safely.”
“Will do buddy.” He wrapped her more snugly and handed her to his friend. Surprisingly she was still asleep when Paul left. He walked swiftly to the park where he placed her on a park bench then drifted away. Wandering toward a police officer and a group of people talking about the missing girl, Paul offhandedly mentioned the idea of looking in the park. One of the guys agreed and led a group there. Paul held back but was able to see her found and followed at a discreet distance as he watched the police officer take her to the Group Home. He could see through a window that the girl was tucked into her bed after a stern scolding from the night staff who was angry but relieved to have her back. Satisfied that she was safe he returned to his waiting friend and reported the success of his mission.
“What if I hadn’t been here to find her? What would have happened to her?”
“I don’t know. Why did we come here today?” Paul responded.
“I just wanted to see the old place, I’m going to miss it. It was my home.” He sounded forlorn.
After thinking a moment his friend said, “What do you want to bet that your girl will try to break in here again?”
“Mm hmm, and we won’t be here. I wish I didn’t have to sell this place.” was his only response.
She woke up when the morning bell sounded and started her routine: bathroom, wash face and hands, brush teeth, get dress and comb hair. Everyone was staring at her, she was in trouble. She was folding her new, old quilt, when her staff informed her that she was to report to the home manager right after breakfast.
It was Miss Redmond, she wasn’t so bad usually, but she was looking pretty angry today. “How did you get out? Where did you get that old quilt? And why did you leave in the first place?”
Taking a deep breath Lara started answering each question. “I went out the front door cause Mrs. Phillips was asleep. I found that quilt in, um, a dumpster. And I was just going on an adventure, but I got lost.” her expressions had gone from defiant little criminal to clever treasure hunter then ended with a fretful look of remorse. Her eyes were all watery by the time she stopped talking,
She was truly amazed, but Miss Redmond was completely taken in by her story. She sent Lara off to school and gave Mrs. Phillips a warning for sleeping on the job.
He saw her right away. A little girl in a tan skirt and navy blue polo shirt just like all the other children as they stood out side the school in their uniforms waiting to enter the building. He’d found out a few things about her, her name, her school, her situation. She saw him too and it worried him that she had a happy look of recognition and was watching him calmly. She hurried up the steps and informed the attendant that she needed to pee, so he let her pass into the building. The man approached the attendant too and asked for directions to the school office which he was given. As he entered the building he saw the girl waiting in the hall. He walked up to her swiftly, scooped her up and took her into an empty classroom.
“You shouldn’t know who I am.” He stated.
“I don’t know who you are.” She looked up at him, confused.
“Yes, but you recognize me from last night and I told you to forget me.” He said, realizing how stupid that sounded.
“I don’t want to forget you. I love your big old house.” She answered.
He sighed in frustration, “Yeah, I love it too.” then knelt down so he could see eye to eye with her. “You can’t run away again you must never come back to my house unless I send for you. Do you understand?”
She nodded but then ask in a soft voice “When will you send for me?”
He had already decided that he would keep tabs on her and help her if he could. “It will seem like a long time, years might pass, but I promise I will send you letters as often as I can and it would be great if you would write back to me. Will you do that?”
She nodded, but sensing that their time together was coming to an end, her eyes began to fill with tears. He placed his hands on either side of her face holding her in place. “Promise me that you will never run away again.” and for emphasis he brought his face very close to hers. Only when she made her promise to him did he tilt her head down and placed a kiss on her forehead.
When he let her go and stood, she barely had time to ask his name before he left, She heard him say, “Oliver” Then he was swiftly and silently lost in a sea of students.
She received a few letters and post cards from Oliver each year and gifts arrived at Christmas and on her birthday. She sent him pictures and newsy letters about her life. She never failed to ask him about his big old house. There was money in an account for her to use to buy clothes and other things she needed or wanted. As she grew older she began to realize that she no longer had a childish desire to run away, but never stopped hoping to see him again. So, it was a surprise when she noticed that his place had been renovated and now looked lived-in. She wondered if it was him but kept her promise and stayed away.
Her senior year was busy with college applications to fill out and final classes to finish. She hadn’t planned to attend the Senior Prom but on the morning before the dance, a large box arrived that contained a beautiful pale yellow formal dress and shoes to match. There was also a note telling her what time her date would arrive to pick her up. Her friends helped her with her hair and make-up and she was ready in time for her mystery date to escort her to the dance. Suddenly there he was, exactly as she remember him, long dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. He was wearing a tuxedo and looked very handsome. He had a wrist corsage of tiny yellow tea roses that he gently placed on her arm. The other girls were oohing and aahing and her cheeks began to flush as she became suddenly shy and embarrassed. But he took her hand and led her to his car and drove her to the dance.
The music was loud and the place was crowded. They danced together like they were one person and when they weren’t dancing he held her hand or had his arm around her waist. Her friends were impressed. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. There was no way to talk to him until the end when they were in the car heading back to the group home. She asked him to stop for a while and he pulled into the same park where his friend Paul had dropped her off seven years ago, to be found by the search party.
“How can you look the same? You haven’t aged one bit,” She asked.
“You had sleepy baby eyes back then. I might have looked like a man to you, but I was only 16.” He teased.
“Are you living in the big house now? I noticed that it has been renovated and there are signs of life, is it you?”
He ignored her question and asked her, “Why did you choose to break into my house?”
“I wasn’t really breaking in to your house.” she explained. “I was climbing the walls and balconies it was like a mountain to me, an adventure, a challenge. Please tell me you are living there.”
He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips, “I can’t. Right before we met I lost my parents. I had become an orphan just like you. I had to sell the place so I could finish school, start my business and I wanted to help you out.”
“No!” she said loudly. Even she was surprised at how disappointed she sounded. She tried to pull her hand out of his but he held on tightly and she didn’t really resist that much.
“I have every intention of buying it back. I just don’t have the funds to do that right now”
“There is still money in my account you can have that back and I can get a job and start paying you the rest of the money when I graduate.”
“No you are going to college I have that covered for you. I know you have applied to some great art schools. You are talented I have kept my eye on you and your work.”
“I want you to have your home back Oliver. The picture I’ve always had in my mind is of you in that big old house.”
“What about you?” he asked. “Where do you see yourself?”
“Hey someday I’m going to be climbing up that wall and over those balconies to get back into that studio, Just try to stop me.” she smiled brightly. “Who ever is living there now is fortunate that I haven’t done it already. They are lucky that you made me promise,”
He shook his head, but she took hold of the front of his shirt and pulled him close, their lips finally met in a sweet and slightly desperate kiss.
She received a degree in Art with specialties in Photography and Painting. Her work is on display in several galleries and has sold well.
He became an independent film maker, writing and directing his own films. Although his first experience at finding the funding for his project was daunting, once he built an audience and gained some recognition, he was able to find investors who were willing to support his endeavors.
Oliver was finally able to buy back that big old house, after he sold the rights to his second film, to a major studio. They moved in after she sold her first book of photographs that she had taken while hiking up to Twin Sisters Peak in Colorado.
He often finds her asleep on the sofa in their third floor studio, huddled under that old faded quilt. Now when he scoops her up and gazes at her, he sees the woman she has become. Only a pale reflection of the child he had first found there and loved, remains.
Judith A. Sears
©10/14/2018
5,839 Prime Words 