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Grade
6

“Sierra,” Emma whispered, “ Are you scared?”  

“No, not really, and why did you have to wake me up?” Sierra whispered back.  It was their first night at the orphanage.  

“Children who want to be well rested should be sleeping at this hour!”  A voice harshly whispered.  It was Miss Applewhite, the manager of the orphanage.  Emma almost fainted and Sierra cringed in her bed.  

 

The next morning they got up at 7:45.  By 8 o’clock they were to be downstairs for breakfast.  Soon after breakfast it was time for school.  When they got there, their teacher, Mr. Kratchnick, was sitting at his desk with the reddest apple Sierra had ever seen.  Emma was too scared to pay any attention when Mr. Kratchnick said, “Today, students, we will begin with spelling.”  Emma was the best speller at school before she came to the orphanage.  “We will start with Stella Eisenhoward”, said Mr. Kratchnick.  Stella was a shy girl with dark brown, shoulder length hair, she looked about nine.  “Stella”, said Mr. Kratchnick, “How do you spell Mississippi?”

“Ummm”, said Stella shyly, “M-I -S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I, no, not ‘I’, ‘Y’.  Wait, it is ‘I’.  

“Stella”, said Mr. Kratchnick, “Since you were not sure, I hope that you will try harder next time.”  “Yes”, whispered Stella.  And then she sat down with a thud.

“Now”, said Mr. Kratchnick, “Emma, you spell Constantinople.”  All the students cringed in their seats.

“C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-I-N-O-P-L-E”, said Emma.  

“Correct Emma”, said Mr. Kratchnick.  

 

The day went very fast.  Soon it was lunch time.  Miss Applewhite packed all of the orphans’ lunches because there were people to help her and there were only thirty orphans.  “Yuck!” said Sierra, “Peanut butter sandwich, cheese stick, and a protein bar called ‘Healthy for just you’.”  (Miss Applewhite was a health freak.)  When they finished lunch, they had recess.  Emma and Sierra sat on the outskirts of the playground and played hand clapping games together.  Soon a boy with reddish hair that was in a bowl cut walked over to them.  “Hey”, he said, “How old are you?”  He pointed at Sierra.  

“I’m twelve, why?”  Then the boy ran off to the monkey bars where a group of boys who did not look too nice stood.  

 

That night at dinner they had lentil soup with bread.  Whole wheat, Emma presumed.  When Ms. Lasur, the lady who served the meals asked Sierra what she wanted, she said, “Bread and butter please.”  

“Ye don’t want enny soup lassie?”  she asked.  

Sierra turned slightly red in the face and said, “No thank you ma’am.”  

“Alrighty” said Ms. Lasur with a smile.  

 

While Sierra brushed her teeth that night, she could not understand why the boy with the red hair asked her her age.  “Maybe”, she thought, “the boys were playing truth or dare.”  

“Beds everyone!” called Miss Applewhite.  Five minutes after Miss Applewhite called, the lights were turned out.  Emma dreamt of her parents Jeff and Jenny, and Sierra dreamt of living in a tree house, the thing she always wanted.  Suddenly Emma woke up with a start to hear someone crying.  Here is what was happening:  Downstairs Miss Applewhite was in her nightgown, all in a fluster because she forgot that night a man and a woman were leaving a girl named Miriam that they had found wandering around outside.  She was three years old.  

“Sierra” Emma hoarsely whispered while gingerly tapping her sister on the shoulder, “Do you know what is going on?”  

“Ugh, I don’t know.” Sierra mumbled rolling over in her bed.  

Back downstairs, Miss Applewhite was still very flustered.  “You will have to fill out these forms.”  she said, handing the people one of the orphan’s art projects, instead of the proper documents.  “Uh,” said the man, “and this is for….?”  

“Oh!” said Miss Applewhite, throwing her hands in the air.  “But it is a lovely picture, don’t you think?”  

“Well yes,” said the woman, “but don’t you think we should get on with the documents?”  

“Of course.”

“Where do we sign?”

“Here.”

“With what?”

“A pen of course, have you ever heard of a pen before.”

“Well, yes, I know what it is, but I have never used that kind.” said the man, pointing to a fancy black feather tipped ball-point pen.

“Well you use it like a regular pen.” said Miss Applewhite with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.

“Well okay then.” said the woman.

“So you have to sign here, here, and here.”  

“Okay, wait, where is Miriam?” moaned the man.

This is where Miriam was:  Emma had snuck downstairs to see what the commotion was all about.  Miriam spotted her and Emma put her finger to her lips and beckoned the tear-stained child over to her.  “I don’t yike dis pwace aweady.” whispered Miriam.  

“It really isn’t that bad when you get used to it.” Emma whispered back, which was a small lie because she had only been there for a day.  “Do you want to go get in bed with me?” asked Emma.

“Yes, I weally co-wold.” Miriam whispered back.

“Well then come on, you can use my old nightgown that is too small for me.”

“Kay.”

“Come on, let’s go upstairs, you have to be quiet though.  You don’t want to wake Miss Robinson up.  I assure you she is snoring like a pig.”  

At this, Miriam stifled a giggle.  Once Miriam was changed, they got into bed.  “You have to go under the covers so Miss Applewhite doesn’t see you.  For goodness sake, it’s 10:30 already, try to get some sleep, okay?”  

“Emma, I yike you aweady.” whispered Miriam as she dozed off.  

So that is where Miriam was, curled up in Emma’s bed, asleep.  

 

Suddenly, Emma woke up to find that Sierra was shaking her.  “What is it, Sierra?” said Emma, sitting bolt upright.  

“Get packing, we’re leaving. I had a dream last night where there was a stone house on a hill and it was for us to live in.  I am going to find it wherever it is.  Are you coming Emma?”

“Well, yes.” she replied.  “All the commotion last night was because a little girl named Miriam got dropped off here.  I don’t know her story, but can she come too?  Miss Robinson and Miss Applewhite have bicycles, let’s use them.  One has a basket where Miriam can sit.  They are in the shed. “

“Yes, of course Miriam can come, where is she?”

Emma lifted the covers, there lay a curled up figure.  “Under the covers.  And if you want to go now, we can because it is 3:30 a.m., we have plenty of time.”

 

Twenty five minutes later the two girls were ready to go.  Sierra took both the small bags of their belongings, while Emma carried the sleeping Miriam outside wrapped in a blanket.  On their way out, the floor kept creaking, but eventually they got out without waking anybody.  Soon they got to the shed without any trouble, for Sierra had found a flashlight.  “There they are!” said Sierra, spotting the two bicycles.  On one bicycle, just as Emma had said, was a large basket.  It was the one that Miss Applewhite carried the groceries in for the orphans’ lunches.  So Miriam fit fine, curled up in Emma’s thin duvet.  

“Let’s get out of here before anyone gets suspicious.”  Emma hoarsely whispered.

“Yeah, let’s.”  Sierra whispered back.

 

Soon they were flying down the country road, away from the orphanage.  “Away from ‘Healthy for just you’ bars.” Sierra thought, happily as the cool wind blew through her hair.  The sun rose as if rising out of bed for a new day, leaving streaks of pink, purple and orange across the sky.  After a while, Miriam woke up in terror, and then realized where she was and what she was doing:  Riding a bicycle in a basket with her new favorite person, Emma.  

 

Around 7:30 they came to a small town, where prim cottages lined the streets.  A far ways off in the distance, slightly apart from all the others, they could make out a stone house.  By now, Miriam knew exactly what was going on.  As they drew nearer to the house, the three girls’ hearts grew lighter and they pedaled faster.  Up, up, up the hill, until they came to the front door of a beautiful two story stone house with ivy growing up and around the chimney.  They parked their bikes in the grass and Sierra ran to the front door and Emma took Miriam out of the bicycle basket.  When Emma and Miriam got to the door, they saw Sierra looking at a note that was taped to it.  It read:  

 

Dear M. E. S.,

Your room is upstairs with fresh towels and clean sheets.  Help yourself to the food in the kitchen.  I left the house key under the doormat.  Bob, Lily and I will be back in a week.  Make yourself at home.  

From,

Adelaide

P.S. Please feed Matthew, he is in our room.

 

Emma and Sierra read it through two times out loud.  Sierra looked at it frowning.  Emma looked at it as if she were trying to figure something out, which she was.  Miriam did both, because that is what Emma and Sierra were doing.  Suddenly, Emma jumped in the air,  “I’ve got it!” she said.  “M.E.S. stands for Miriam, Emma and Sierra.”

“You think so?” Sierra answered.

“Absolutely!” said Emma, jumping again, but this time landing on Sierra’s toe.  

“Ouch!” Sierra screeched.

“Sorry.” Emma mumbled.

“So if you think that is what the initials are for, let’s get the key and do exactly what the letter says.” said Sierra.

“Okay.” said Miriam who by now was groping around under the doormat looking for the house key.

“Gee, thanks Miriam.” said Emma, when five long minutes later Miriam emerged with the key.  Sierra put the key in the lock and the house’s front door swung open, revealing a lovely English style furnished inside.

“Well,” said Emma, “they said our room is upstairs, let’s go.”

The three girls raced up the stairs and down the corridor until they found an open bedroom door.  They all went into the room and unpacked their belongings.  Then they decided to go and explore the house.  Upstairs was mostly bedrooms and bathrooms, but downstairs there was a beautiful sky blue tiled kitchen and a lovely living room.  Then they found a formal dining room.  Down a corridor, they found an office, a bathroom and a baby room.  “Probably Lily’s”, Sierra thought.  Out of nowhere they heard an untuned voice warble.  

“Matt...Matt, sat on a cat...The cat spat at Matt...and then Matt spat at the Persian cat.”

Miriam and Emma’s hearts jumped to their throats and Sierra closed her eyes tight and leaned against a wall.  All of a sudden, Miriam managed to blurt out, “Maybe that’s a parrot, maybe it’s Maffew.”  Then Emma and Sierra looked at each other sheepishly as Miriam opened the door which revealed a master bedroom.  At the far end there was a table with a birdcage on it.  In the cage was a parrot.  Next to it was some food and a note that said how much food to give Matthew.  Sierra followed the instructions and gave Matt the food and some water.

“Thank you m’lady!” Said Matt when Sierra had finished with the food.  Miriam thought it was so funny that she collapsed on the floor in giggles.  

“I am going to go see what’s in the fridge for dinner,” said Sierra, “anyone hungry?”  

“Yes!” Miriam and Emma said at the same time.  Then all three girls went to the kitchen.  There they found some lettuce, shredded cheese, tomatoes, and other things you might use to make a salad.  They all helped make dinner and eat it.  Afterwards, they locked the doors, went to their bedroom and went to sleep.  

 

Sierra woke up with a start to hear Miriam’s voice in her ear.  “Ow! Ow! Ow!” shrieked Miriam.  “Get that tree stump off me!”.  

“What tree stump?”, Sierra muttered.  Then she looked over where Miriam’s scream came from and there, on the edge of the bed sat a woman.  She looked like she was in her early forties.  “Who are you?” Sierra asked.  

“Who are you?”   The woman asked.  “I am Ms. Eliza Smith, but everyone calls me Auntie Mess.  I am quite messy and my initials are M.E.S.”  

Suddenly, Sierra remembered the note that was taped to the door.  “Dear M.E.S.”  

“And why are you here in my room?  When did you get here?  Thank goodness you left a window unlocked because the key was not under the doormat as the note indicated.”  To Sierra’s surprise there was no tone of anger in the woman’s voice, only pure curiosity.  

“My sister and I, and the girl you were sitting on came here last night on two bicycles.  When we saw the note on the door, M.E.S., we thought it stood for Miriam, Emma, Sierra.  But in fact, it was really for you.”  

“Then I will go and make myself a bed in the other room.”  said Ms. Eliza Smith.  As she left the room, Sierra dozed off.

 

The three girls woke up the next morning to the smell of sausages, fried bread, tinned tomatoes and the rest of the goodies that make up a full English breakfast.  Once they were dressed, they went downstairs while Sierra and Miriam told Emma about Auntie Mess and the night before.  Once they got downstairs, they turned a corner to the kitchen where they were startled by Matthew singing, “Polly put the kettle on”, while sitting on Auntie Mess’ shoulder as she danced around the kitchen.  

 

While the girls ate their breakfast, Auntie Mess said that they could stay until Adelaide and Bob got home.  A week later, Adelaide and Bob came back from their trip, fell in love with the three girls and adopted them.  That night, everybody was in very good spirits, including Matthew.  It turned out that Lily and Miriam were the same age.  Once it got dark, Bob made a big bonfire and the whole family sat around it.  They all sang while he played the guitar.  Within the next week, Emma was becoming a professional cook because Auntie Mess was giving her cookery lessons.  Lily and Miriam played with paper dolls that Sierra made.  Whenever Miriam got sad, Matt would say something funny to make her laugh.  Emma opened a baking stand in front of the house while Sierra rode her bicycle into town and put up posters.  

 

Almost every night that summer, they had bonfires and sang songs.  Some days they would go on long hikes, but most of the time they just played games in the yard together and had fun.  One night, Emma said to Sierra, “Some dreams really do come true.”  

“Yep.” Sierra whispered back.