The Orphans

 

Hello! The story you are going to read today is, well, super classic. It is definitely(!) not possible to understand what it is about by looking at it's title. But I can't think of any other title yet. If you have any suggestions please let me know with the comments. Also let me tell you that this is an unfinished story, and I am still writing it, slowly though. Anyway, enjoy!

The Orphans

Chapter One: The First Death

The three siblings ran down the lane towards the apartment

happily. The oldest was Jack, a 20-year-old youth with chestnut

hair, a brave heart and a steady face. He studied in a good

university and was altogether a nice boy. The next in line was

Jessie, a fifteen-year-old, with long blonde hair streaming behind

her. She was a faint-hearted princess to the eyes of literature, yet

she was generous and kind, and much-loved in the family. She

was weak in fighting illness though, and the family’s great fear

was that she should leave them after a sickness. The youngest

was Carol. Both Jack’s and Jessie’s good qualities were in her, and

the nine-year-old was patient and clever beyond anything you

could think. She had chestnut hair, and a beautiful face.

The children ran up the stairs, panting. Opening the door, they

crept into the flat. It was big and wide, and usually merry, yet

now it was still as a graveyard, maybe even stiller. Only one

sound of sobbing rendered the great silence. The children ran in,

sensing the sadness, to find their mother weeping quietly.

Immediately the girls’ eyes filled, for it was the first time they had

seen their brave mother crying. Jack’s face darkened, yet his voice

was steady, and he asked “What is wrong, mother?” Their

mother looked up, and cried “My son! Y-y-your father, has left

us, f-f-forever!”

So was the darkness that day, the sadness, the crying. The sight

of the family was heartbreaking on its own. Jessie weeping

quietly in a corner, Carol with her head in her mothers lap, tears

streaming down her face, and her mother also sobbing, it was a

heart-rending sight. Yet Jack was brave, and was looking out of

the window, as if to see his dead father come home.

Chapter Two: The Second Death

Things got harder and harder as time went on. Both Jack and

Jessie were working while studying. Young Carol was managing

the house, while trying her best to pave a path to her studies. The

three siblings struggled to help their mother, and be good, and

learn as much as they could. Yet another lion guarded the path to

success and happiness.

Their mother, Mrs. Silver was caught in a serious illness and was

struggling quietly. Yet the children were worried beyond

everything. Mother’s medicine, food, and house-rents took more

money than the little family could afford. Indeed, fathers are one

of the things a child needs to flourish, and their place can never,

ever be filled. And the children were feeling it’s emptiness.

Days passed, and the hardships grew. Mother was worse, and no

medicine was found to cure her. She was taken into the hospital,

yet the doctors said that there was no medicinal cure, and sent

her home. Her fever burned, her head throbbed painfully, her

breath was uneven, and she could find no refreshment. In

despair, she would sink into deep sleep, trying to relief her pain,

but it would not work. There were days, even, when she did not

recognise her loving children. Tears flew down the pale cheeks

of the girls, and even Jack’s eyes filled once or twice.

One month after the death of Father, when Jack and Jessie were

at work, and the rain poured down, the event everyone was

fearing arrived.

Little Carol was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, and adding to

the soap her bitter tears. Then, she heard a noise. Letting go of

what she was doing, she washed her soapy hands and flew to

check Mother. She was lying on her bed, muttering words to

herself, occasionally crying, “Jack! Jessie! Carol!”

Frightened to the heart, Carol went to the house’s phone and

called Jack and Jessie. They came flying home, just in time to hear

Mother say, “ No need to call the doctor, dear, for I think my

time is over.’’ The doctor was called in spite of it, yet before he

came Mother called all of the children into the room with a

quivering voice. They came in, crying softly.

Mother slowly lifted the pillow, and revealed from under it a

worn out little box. This she opened very slowly, pulled Jack

close to it, and said, “ Jack, this was your father’s. Use it well, and

take care of your family, for you are the father now,’’ and out she

pulled a golden embroidered watch, with a matching chain. Then

she gave him a kiss, and pulled towards herself Jessie. “ Jessie, my

dear, this belonged to me. Cherish it, for it is the strongest link

between us, and take care of Carol, for you are the mother now.’’

And out of the box came a ring that shone brightly in the light.

Then Carol came forth, crying silently, saying, “Mother, you

won’t die’’. “My Carol, this is from all of us. Keep it well, for you

are our little dear, and are precious than everything,’’ and revealed

a golden locket and chain, in the shape of a heart, and inside was

a family picture, containing all five of them smiling cheerfully.

The children hugged their mother tight as if to never let go, but

they had to, for the last motherly words were uttered, the last

gifts were given, the last hugs were hugged, and the last breath

was taken, and the mother of the three loving children had

closed her eyes never to be opened again.

Chapter 3: The Big Change

The three siblings, as has been told until now, were orphans since

that dark cold day. Hardship and pain was raining down on them,

and they were bearing the unpredictably falling raindrops, with

no complaint but tears and sighs. Indeed, the children did have

money left to them, yet with the food, education and many other

fees the money was going fast. One day Jack and Jessie

approached Carol, and Jack said in a hushed voice,“Carol, me,

and Jessie have both decided to-erm-move house, sell it with the

furniture, for we need the money, and we’re not able to take care

of such a big house.’’ Carol burst into tears. “We can’t leave the

only home we have! Do you want us to live on the streets? No,

Jack, we can’t go!’’ Jack opened his mouth to say something but

before him Jessie impatiently said, “Carol, look here. We are not

going to live on the street. A man said we could stay with him if

we do some work and chores to help his wife. Okay?’’

In the end, Carol had to give in to the fact that the house cost

too much money. So the trio started to pack a few of their things.

“ Don’t take too much. We don’t have much storage at the new

place. Just our money, valuables and a few clothes. We’ll sell the

rest.’’ said Jack. Carol’s eyes filled, but she just bit her lip and left,

as if biting back words.

The day finally came, and it was time to leave. Carol was sad, but

Jack and Jessie were altogether miserable. They had more

memories of how they ran, played, slept, and thrived in that

house. To them it was not a house, but a home. And to them,

leaving the home, would be leaving those memories of happiness

behind. And they knew, that they were never, ever to be perfectly

happy again.

Chapter 4: The Third and Last Death

As soon as they got there, the orphans were told to work. Jack

and Jessie were to work at jobs, while Carol was to work at home.

They worked day and night, and there jobs were painful too. Jack

found a job as a worker in a mall, and sometimes worked at night

as well as day. Jessie was a cleaner in a restaurant, and wore out

her beautiful white hands with soap and water. Carol was the

most hard-working, for the house was a big one, and the family

the same. There was the laundry, cooking, and cleaning to do.

She also waited on the master, mistress and five children of the

house, of which oldest was a sixteen-year-old girl, youngest, baby

Tom, of 2 years. If a speck went wrong, she was to be beaten,

but she was patient, bore the pain, and never told Jack or Jessie,

for they would rage at the master and mistress, and lose their

shelter.

Days and days past, and suddenly the children found themselves

a couple of months away from the one-year anniversary of that

fateful day, when they had raced into their house, to learn that

their father had left them forever. Young Carol was almost

eleven, Jessie close to seventeen, and Jack was near to twenty-two

years of age. Yet there was a problem. Jessie was slowly getting

weaker, frailer, and paler. A simple disease had blown her onto

the hard, old bed that the children slept on, like a wind does to a

beautiful flower. Days and days past like fallen leaves in that same

storm, and soon dear Jessica was not strong enough to hardly

speak. She and Carol stayed at the house, while Jack worked with

double force, and never a complaint his strong tongue uttered.

That day Jack was at work, and Carol was serving the family

dinner. The snowstorm outside whirled, as Jack broke into the

house, panting and shivering, and he and Carol went to see Jessie,

though afterwards, the two wished they had never, for she had

left them, like everybody else.

Chapter 4: Carol Gets Lost

The funerals were done, and the two orphans started to get used

to life without the Princess. Twas’ hard, of course, and tears flew

down unlike ever before. Even more than the time Mother died,

for then they had Goldilocks to calm them down, to soothe their

feelings like a mother. Yet she had flown, from this worldly place,

to a place where only the ones that left us, will go. And no soul

would come back from that unknown land, where the orphans

wished to go, and join their folk that are resting there, without

troubles nor burdens.

Several weeks passed, and one day, on Jack’s ‘pay day’, as the

master called it, Carol was in a tizzy. It was half past nine, and

the rain had let up, but the dark night was wet, and spookily

ghost-quiet. Yet no shining face of Jack came out of the damp

doorway, no strong arms pulled Carol into an embrace, and

shortly, no Jack came. Carol ran to the window every five

minutes, and returned with damp eyes. Lizzy, the daughter, of

Carol’s age, watched her with bored eyes. “ I don’t get why you

care about your brother so much. Believe me, I am dying to get

rid of my big bro, he’s such a louse.’’ Carol gasped, between tears,

“I don’t want to lose Jack as well. It’s almost midnight and he still

isn’t here. I don’t care for anything, I will find Jack, and if he’s

gone, I will be gone also!’’ And with that, she pulled on Lizzy’s

pink jacket and purple boots, and ran out of door, as Lizzy

shouted “Hey! That is my jacket!’’ after her. The mud splashed

against her legs which, by now, had turned into noodles. She ran

down the street and onto the main road, where, tripping up, she

fell in front of hundreds of cars. Yet luckily, the street was

almost empty, except for a car some distance away, which was

coming towards her. She tried to get up, but fright and tiredness

kept her on the wet ground. The car sped up...

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand pulling her to her feet, and her

mysterious saviour pulled her onto a wet sidewalk, and said, with

a sturdy accent, “ You alright? My, your filthy! No offence miss. I

can escort you home. What were you doing there, at this time of

night in these old and ripped clothes?’’ “Ripped?’’ Exclaimed

Carol, looking down at Lizzy’s coat. It was ripped, her new ‘ pass-

me-down’ trousers were filthy, and her chestnut-brown hair wet

and muddy. She looked up at the person who said this, and saw a

handsome young youth standing before her. He was a year or

two older than Carol, and reminded her of Jack, whom he looked

like, a number of years ago. She felt her face go red. The boy

smiled at her, and repeated, “ Can I escort you home, miss?’’

A second passed, and then a voice was heard, rendering the

noises of the street, the sounds of people talking, the noise of

the thousands of motors.“Carol! Come here at once!’’ It was

Riley, the oldest daughter of the family, who had come to get

Carol on her bright-pink bicycle. Carol thought of going with

her, for it was cold and wet, but then, she noticed the tone of

Riley’s voice. It was beyond anger, it was hatred, and Carol was

sure of that, when she heard Riley’s voice again. “ I could have

been lounging at home in the warmth right now, but no, Madam

Carol had to run away, and Riley is the oldest, so she’s gonna go

out in the cold, right?’’ Carol thought of the beating and

punishment she would get if she went home, and, suddenly ran

out of sight, Riley yelling after her. “ Carol Silver, or whatever it

is, come here’’. The boy, on the other hand, went after her.

Carol ran like the wind blowing through a snowy valley. She

turned a corner, and there was a dead end. Another path, and

then she met with Riley, who was fuming, and, at the first chance,

gave Carol a slap!

Carol, and Riley, stood shocked of that one blow. Then, holding

her cheek, Carol ran away, and Riley, in a strange state of mind,

decided to go home and leave Carol to her own fate. Carol, on

the other hand, had run into an unknown street, slipped on the

mud, and had, broken her leg, after about 5 falls on the hard

concrete. Slightly broken was her limb, true but the pain was

still immense. The youth came after her, and said, reassuringly,

“The miss chasing you is gone, but are you alright?’’ Carol was

chalk-white, but all that was in her mind was Jack. She tried to get

up, but immediately slid down again. The boy furrowed his

brows and said gently, “ You’re badly hurt. You can’t walk. I’ll get

you some help,’’ he said, and without another word, disappeared

into the darkness. Carol called after him, “Don’t leave me here!’’.

It indeed sounded silly to the ear, yet what would you do in this

terrorising situation?

Jack, on the other hand, had come home late because the bus he

was on had broken in the middle of the road. He was happy, he

had got his salary and had bought Carol some gifts. He came

home, and asked cheerily, “Where’s Carol?’’ When the events

were explained to him, he turned red, then white, then red again,

and his eyes filled.

The truth is, he had been crying, a lot, for his parents were more

close to him than to his sisters. No human can stay without

crying when they have lost everyone but one. Yet Jack thought of

his family more than himself, and had not showed them his tears,

so that they maintained a good morale. But when he thought he

had lost Carol too, he could not contain himself, and burst into

tears, for at that moment, he was alone in the whole wide world.

Lizzy and Riley, who had both been in a hushed conversation

about Carol were now looking at Jack as if he were standing on

his head, and giggling. Jack gave the pair one silencing look,

whisked on his coat, and left the house, still wiping tears from his

face, and trying very hard not to remember the days when both

his sisters would play with him under the happy roof of a family.

Carol sat, shivering as drops of water fell from the dark sky and

clung to the tips of her hairs before falling into nothingness

along with her tears. It had been quite a while since the boy had

gone. The boy...

The boy, who was the eldest son of a well-off family, and was

named Daniel, had turned a corner and collided with a young

woman whom to he told the story and asked for help. The

woman swung around her waist-long bright blue hair, gave Dan a

disgusted look, and said in a high, girlish and quite annoying

voice, “Does it look like I care?’’ then stalked away, her hair

swinging about her. Daniel found many people like this, with not

a care in the world except their small affair of theirs. Finally

something went right for the orphans, and he met Jack, who was

running under the raindrops falling on the cold grey street. Jack

had a trustable, comforting air about him, and Daniel felt in his

heart that whomever this youth was would help him.

“Mister, please help me! A little girl...’’ and away went his

tongue, telling the fragment of the long, sad tale that he knew.

Jack felt sorry for the girl, and though he was looking for Carol,

he knew that somewhere in this large busy world there was

someone looking for this girl ,whomever she was, just like him.

“All right. Take me there, young man.’’

Daniel ran off into the distance, Jack following close behind him,

two dark figures caring only for the girl huddled against a wall

with a broken leg.

Carol was lying half conscious on the floor, when Jack and

Daniel arrived. She didn’t recognise either until... A scream

broke out into the night. “Jack!’’ He ran to her but stopped,

examined her leg and then picked her up, and took of in the

direction of the hospital. Daniel stayed behind, but Jack yelled

over his shoulder,“C’mon young man’’ and he too sped up to

help.

Some time later Carol lay asleep, her foot in a cast, with Jack

sitting beside her. He was crying, not, of course, because of

Carol, who was alright, but for his mother, his father, and his

sister, his family and friends he had lost worst than even Carol,

who had less memories of them than him, but even then it was a

great loss. Suddenly Carol eyelids jerked open. Jack stood up as if

his seat was burnt. “Carol! How are you feeling?’’ ‘’ Carol forced

a smile through the wall of pain and tiredness. She shrugged.

“What happened to you? Why were you late? How did you find

me? Where’s the boy ?’’ Jack frowned. “Calm down, Carol. You

need to rest.’’ “Yes but what happened?’’ Jack told his story, then

demanded,“ What about you?’’ Carol started her tale, from what

Lizzy said, passing through Daniel saving her, Riley’s blow and

her falling down in detail. Jack gave her a hug. “You did this... to

find me?’’ His eyes filled and the drop of sadness dripped away

as he saw her insides, her love and care for him, and he

recognised it, he had seen Carol before, once in her mother, once

in her father and once in Jessie... They had not left him, they

were in his heart, and in Carol, in her hair, in her face, in her

heart and soul itself, and their memories would never leave him

nor Carol until the day came when both would die...

“Jack!’’ Jack awoke from his thoughts by this cry of Carol with a

large tear welling in his soft brown eyes.“Y-yes, dear?’’ “Can we

go home now?’’ Jack arose.“I’ll ask.’’

Jack walked out of the room, still embedded in thought, when

he collided with the doctor. “So sorry-ah, Doctor! I was looking

for you, miss. You see, my sister, well, she is rather impatient and

wants to go home. When can we leave, sir?’’ He said anxiously,

trying to be as polite as he could. “Let me have a look at your

sister first. I’ll give her a checkup and we’ll see. What was her

name again?’’ The pair walked towards the ward, talking about

Carol’s age, usual health, and so forth. They got to Carol’s bed

where she let white and tired. As soon as the doctor’s eyes rested

upon Carol’s tired face and tearful eyes, her voice became tender,

and while examining her was soft as her mother was all those

months ago. Both Carol and Jack felt this, and were quite sad by

the time the doctor was done. “Well my boy, your sister’s leg

should be fine. Come to me after a month and it should be as

good as new. After all, it wasn’t a bad break, but for tonight she

should stay here, with you of course. Is that all right for you?’’

Said the smiling doc, stroking Carol’s hair. Jack nodded. He was

thinking. Doctor noticed this, and repeated“ Is that all right for

you?’’ Jack again nodded, and said,“ What’s the fee?’’ He stopped,

bit his lip, and continued,“I-I might not be able to p-pay all of

it.’’ The doctor’s expression changed, and with quite a different

voice she said,“ I see. I’ll try what I can do.’’ “ I thought this is a

public hospital?’’ The owner of this voice was not Jack, but

Carol. “ Yes, dear, but yours is a broken leg, and you have to pay

a bit.’’ Carol didn’t say anything, and the doctor left the two

alone. Jack sunk into a chair thinking what the family would do to

him, and more importantly, to Carol when they went home.

Chapter 5: The Saving of a Life

The next day came, followed by many whippings, scoldings and

punishments. The children teased all day long, Riley and Lizzy,

on the other hand, were in delight. Yet hard times will pass, and

the sun does shine after the storm through the grey clouds. Life

became normal, and work started again. One snowy winter’s day

Carol was getting Jack ready to work, her face surprisingly cheery.

She sang like a little songbird as she fluttered about. Finally she

stood on her tiptoes, kissed Jack on the cheek, and whispered,

“Goodbye, dear.’’ Jack whisked away a drop of emotion,

remembering how his mother did exactly the same, and after her,

Jessie. He was about to leave when he turned back, and yelled

into the house,“ Carol! Would you like to come with me?’’ Soon

Carol was ready, and both set off through the white crystals that

shiningly blanketed the soil. They then took a bus to their

destination. Eventually the couple arrived at the clothes-shop

Jack worked in. He showed Carol a room where she could sit and

rest. After a while Jack took Carol out for a walk in the snow.

The two walked silently passing restaurants, playgrounds, cars

and so forth. Jack observed the quiet girl who smiled serenely as

she saw children playing, men smoking cigarettes and woman

chatting. Most kids her age would run about in the snow, but

pain and sadness had trimmed down Carol’s lively spirit and joy.

She did watch the girls make snowmen, have snowball fights and

make snow angels sadly, and Jack knew in her heart she wanted

to join. Suddenly, she gave a shriek, pointing at the road in front

of them. A small three-year-old girl was playing on the road in

the snow. Her mother was busy with some things that had fallen

out of her bag, and both were not aware of the silent, powerful

white sports car that was speeding along the chalk-white road.

Jack gasped, ran onto the road and pulled the girl up, but she

didn’t want to leave her deadly play.

“ No!’’ She cried “I doesn’t want to go!’’ By now the little girl’s

mother was aware the situation, but was frozen in her spot from

fright. The small thing resisted, and the driver of the car was not

aware of the two figures in front of him; he was texting on his

phone. Jack picked her up, and, struggling, ran to the opposite

pavement. But the car was near, and it just hit his foot, tripping

him up. Yet fortunately, nothing except a cut happened to Jack,

and as for the girl, she was giggling. On the other side of the

road Carol was turning red, then white, then red again, as was the

habit of the family, as we saw previously with Jack(he learns

Carol is lost). As for the tiny girl’s mother, she was near tears. As

soon as the two woman returned to their senses, they ran across

the road, the small one embracing the big, the big one embracing

the small figure.

“Thank you so much sir,’’ whispered the woman, shaking Jack’s

hand.“Oh, really thank you. Lily here is my youngest and dearest

child. I don’t know what I would do without her. Really, what can

I do to pay it back?’’ Jack shook his head quickly. “ Oh no,

madam, I can’t accept any fee for this. I- Well I just can’t.’’ “No,

sir. I have to give you something.’’ And on this conversation

went, until finally the woman said, “ Well at least I could have a

cup of tea with you and this young woman here.’’ She smiled at

Carol, who smiled back. Jack thought, then finally nodded.

They went into a cafe and the woman ordered three cups of tea,

some biscuits and a slice of cake for everyone. Then, she sat

back and asked them to tell her about themselves. Jack told her

shortly that they had no relatives, and where they lived, and

where he worked. She was touched, and when they departed, she

kissed Carol on the cheek so tenderly Carol started crying. Then

she was gone in what seemed like a flash.

When they were walking to the bus stop from were they would

catch a bus to go home in the twilight, Carol suddenly asked,

“Do you think we’ll see that kind woman again?’’ Jack shrugged.

Carol did not say anything, but relapsed into her usual quiet self.

Then she said,“ I guess they are like people in stories, they come

and then they go, with no more importance in our life than a bird

we see in the sky.’’ Jack was surprised; Carol did not usually make

such poetical and literal statements. He knew then that this event

had made a deep imprint on the small, orphaned girl’s broken

and bleeding heart.

Chapter 6: A Near-Death Accident

Twas a hot, sunny and beautiful day. Carol and Jack, like always,

woke up at 6 o’clock, and the first words that Carol’s troubled

tongue uttered were, “ Oh, what a pretty day ’tis! It’ll be good,

for sure.’’ Alas! Maybe Fate wanted to tease dear Carol, for that

day was not “good’’ nor “pretty’’. In fact it might have been the

worst day yet, for both the orphans, and especially Carol herself.

Carol got Jack ready, then went to do some housework and cook

breakfast. When Jack was going, she gave him his lunch, his usual

hug, and said, like she did every day, “ See you, dear. Stay safe,

and have a good day! Bye, Jack’’ and off Jack went, never

thinking that a small event was about to change his small, sad life.

Carol saw Jack off, did her work, got scolded for dropping a

knife, and beaten for breaking a cup. Despite these misfortunes it

was like a normal day for her, so when to take a rest she retired

to her room she was not weeping nor very sad. But when she

saw her golden, heart-shaped locket her eyes filled, and the dam

of her eyelids started to leak, then slowly break away. Before she

knew it, she was sobbing over the pleasant jewellery, not seeing

nor hearing a single atom of matter until the mistress’s yell pulled

her out of the cold waters of grief. “ Carol! How many times do

I need to yell? Seriously, this thing is deaf, Brian, why did we take

in these siblings?’’ Mr. Brian, the master, yelled, “Carol!’’ Carol

ran into the room. The mistress, Mrs. Ava, groaned and

mumbled, “Oh, finally. Girl, are you deaf? No, right? So, come

when I call you the first time. Anyway, the phone’s for you.’’

Carol took the telephone Mrs. Ava was waving towards her.

“ Hello, I’m Carol Silver.’’ Her face fell. “ Bad news? Oh, ok.’’

Then suddenly she gasped, and a tear, then another, and then

another raced down her thin, pale cheek. Without saying another

word she put down the telephone and ran out of the room.

“Carol! What is it, your brother dead or something?’’ Lizzy ran

after her, and giggled these teasing words as she twiddled with

the light switch. Carol gave a great sob, and nodded, then shook

her head. Lizzy’s teasing attitude slipped off her face, only to be

replaced by a confused, emotionless look. “Is your brother,

James or whatever he is, dead, or not.’’ Carol didn’t answer. Lizzy

groaned, then left the room, saying, “Mom! This dumb thing,

what in the world is up with her? Hey, mom!’’ Mrs. Ava was

talking on the telephone. “ I see. You just found him, you don’t

know how it happened, right? Yes, yes, oh, ok. Ah. Where now?

Oh, that place. Ok, all right. Yes, thanks, bye.’’ Mrs. Ava put

down the phone. Then, she turned to Lizzy. “ Lizzy, Jack ha

suffered a great accident. I do not want you to make fun of this

situation, he is in intensive care, ok? Elizabeth, OK?’’ “Yeah,

mom, all right.’’ Mumbled Lizzy. Then she ran into Carol’s room

and whispered tauntingly, “ Hear that? You’re bro’s gonna die.

Do you know why, everyone around you dies? Because you don’t

deserve relatives. What a pity, dear.’’ And with that, she left

room, and strode into Riley’s, undoubtably to talk about the

orphans in a hushed, gleeful tone.

Carol was taken to the hospital, where she ran to the doctor who

had called and, without a greeting, said, “ Where is Jack?’’ The

plump, kind-looking man looked down at her, and said in a soft

voice,“You cannot see him now, Ms. Silver. He is in Intensive

Care, and is being treated.’’ Carol silently sat on a nearby seat,

buried her face in her arms, and sat there, occasionally giving a

sob. Then she raised her head. Her face was red and wet. Bits of

brown hair were stuck to her cheeks and forehead from the

stickiness of the tears and sweat.

“ Doctor!’’ She whispered. “ Is he going to-’’ she broke off. The

doctor opened his mouth, but not a single sound came out. Then

he sighed, and sat next to Carol on the seat with the air of an

elephant bothered by flies. “ We- we must be prepared for the-

we must be prepared for the worst, is all I can s-say at the

moment.’’ Carol gave a small scream, and buried her face again in

her arms. A bell was heard, and the doctor got up. “I must go. A

new patient has come. I- I will do my best to get your brother

back on his feet.’’ Carol didn’t raise her head. The doctor left, and

still she didn’t rise. No passer took any notice of her, she was but

a wall to the selfish people who didn’t care for even a particle of

dust except their own business; but we mustn’t blame them, for

everybody was either a patient, or a loved one of a patient, and

so they too would be sad. Yet I think no soul present there could

be as sad as Carol, for Jack was the only thread left to bind her to

life.

An hour or so later, though to Carol it felt like a century, a nice

looking young woman came to her. She was wearing a nurse’s

outfit and a badge saying, “Nurse Rosamund Bloom, patient

care’’. “Hello, dear. You can’t stay here, but the authorities will

give you a room to stay in, and I’ll stay with you, because I know

how sad you are. How’s that?’’ Carol looked up at the smiling

lady. For a few minutes she didn’t say anything. Then, she said,

“ I want to be near my brother. Take me to him.’’ Miss

Rosamund gave a small, sad sigh. “I’m so, so sorry, but I can’t

take you to him. Please, come with me.’’ Carol got up, rubbed her

bloodshot eyes and nodded. “Well, then. Come this way.’’ Miss

Rosamund took the small, poor thing’s hand and the couple

walked towards a nearby door. That led to a long, gray corridor,

at the end of which was a blue door. Through that they went,

then up a long flight of stairs, then into another hallway, where

there were many doors. Through one, and Carol found herself in

a nice, rather cosy room.

There were two beds, a sofa, some food on a table, a television, a 

bookshelf and a telephone. “ Well, here we are!’’ Miss Rosamund

was trying to look cheerful. “ Are you hungry?’’ Carol shook her

head. “ Just tired, Miss Rosamund.’’ “All right. You can rest. By

the way, call me Rose. I prefer that.’’ Carol nodded, and then got

into one of the beds, and there, started to silently cry. Rose was

reading a medical book, and didn’t notice, and so Carol,

exhausted, cried herself to sleep.

TO BE CONTİNUED .......

I am so sorry if the alignment of the writing is a bit wonky. It's like that because I copy-pasted it from the place where I was writing it. Also, I want you to know that I started this thing a long time ago, so sorry if it is a bit childish. I will update the post or add a new one when I have written more. May this story brighten your day!📖📖🌞🌞🖊🖋