Wintervale: The Beginning

Meeting Shelter

“Who is she?” a boy asks Langston. He had curly black hair, hazel eyes, almond skin, broad shoulders, and I could see his muscles under his shirt. I guess you could say he’s very built.

“Her name is Summer. She will be staying with you and your mother for a while.” he replies.

“What do you mean?” I ask him in confusion. What about my mother? Was he going to tell the police she’s dead?

“I will be searching shelters and adoption centers, just in case there are any people who might want to adopt you.”

“Why would I need that?”

“Your mother is - well you know..”

“Her mother is what?” the boy asks him.

“Dead,” I sob.

“Oh,” he pauses. “Well, you’re w-welcome here.” he tells me timidly.

“Thanks.” I smile. Langston waves as I go inside the house with the boy. I wave back, but when I do, Langston is no where to be seen.

“So, what do you like to do?”

“Sing, write, draw, and well, run!”

“Me too. Do you want to see some of the drawings I made?” I nod, then look over at the door, which was closed, and locked. It was a chocolate brown wooden door, with ovals carved into it, and there was a window on it. “My mother’s not home yet.” he says looking over at the door too. I guess he thought I was wondering where his mother was, and he was right. “Look at this.” he demands. It was a drawing of a beautiful tall girl. She had wavy dark brown hair, eyes that were two different colors, one grey, one hazel, fair skin, and a body like a hour glass.

“That’s beautiful.” I say admiring the piece of art. “Who is that supposed to be?”

“My mother.” he laughs. My mouth drops. “Yes, she’s that young.”

“Jaden, I’m home!” his mother calls. She looked just like the girl in the drawing. “Ah, you must be the girl Langston told me about. I’m really sorry for your loss.” she says looking at me. By the way she looked, I could tell she wasn’t sorry for my loss, she was sorry for me. I didn’t have a mother, and I didn’t have a home. She was wearing a black bandage dress, black stilettos, a gold heart locket , golden stud earrings, and a golden bracelet.

“Thank, you.”

Do, you kids want some dinner?”

“Yes!” we said in unison.

“You guys must be really hungry!”

“I sure am.” I say in an exhausted voice.

“Well, what’s on the menu?” Jaden asked her in a harsh way.

“Excuse me sir, who has been slaving out in the hot sun, for money to take care of you?” she says angrily at him.

“You,” he mutters.

“Huh? Speak louder. I didn’t hear you.”

“You.” he says louder.

“Alright then,” she pauses. “What’s your name, girl?”

“Summer.”

“That’s my favorite season!” she teases. I laugh for a bit, then sigh. She walks toward the kitchen and from what I hear, I think she opened the refrigerator, because I started to hear the microwave make a noise. “Jaden, Summer.” she called. We walked into the kitchen quietly and sat in dark brown upholstered chairs with cushions on the seat.

“Smells, good. What is it?”

“Taste it Jaden, and you’ll find out.” Jaden frowned at his mother’s comment. I guess he just decided to ignored her, because he started taking small bites out of the food. It was cheesy macaroni, watermelon, and chicken. I know the depiction of this in your head might be rather bland, but this looked like gourmet food. Unlike him, I gobbled down my dinner. I was very hungry, and I didn’t eat today at all. “Are you enjoying the food?” his mother asks me while flashing me a full smile. I nod at her and she laughs. “We’re so used to leftovers, Jaden usually doesn’t eat much the first day meals are cooked. So, this is new for us. But that’s good, you’re eating all of this! Good food, shouldn’t be put to waste.”
That’s what my mom used to say to me all the time. I never did waste any food, unless something was wrong with it. I understood that there were people out there who didn’t have any food. Suddenly, I changed the conversation and asked them about the curriculum. His mother replied by saying that kids are free to go to school, and there are no extra things they have to do. She also said that she figured that, since right now school was out, I didn’t have to worry about anything. Then she told me I should consider the fact that I might be adopted.