When I was three years old, my parents died in a car crash. Well, that’s what my counselor told me, he tells me every week, just to make me feel bad! For as long as I can remember, I have been living with strange children. Every day some come, and every day some leave. Every one of them is just another horrified face in the crowd. I’ve been living in an old building, slowly disintegrating, and surrounded by twenty-foot tall fences engulfed in barbwire. It is known as, the Detroit orphanage, on Marmock Street.
Anyway, my name is Annabelle, Annabelle Rose. I am fifteen, and in one month, on August fifth, I will be sixteen. Life in the orphanage has been dreadful. I have been here for twelve years, and all my friends have been adopted, except Xavier. Everyday I think about running away, the only things stopping me are those big barbwire fences, and my counselor, Mike Kandal.
Mike is the last thing I will miss once I get out of this living nightmare. He bullies me everyday and calls me names. He loves to call me ‘ugly’ when people say I am pretty. Mike’s life goal is to ruin MY life. The only thing I love about Mike is how he is so gullible. Every day I pull a prank on him. It is pretty much my only form of entertainment. Yesterday, I told him that Lady Chairfey, our head chef, was DESPERATELY in love with him. So, he goes up to her and starts to flirt, and the next thing you know, BOOM, a big slap in the face for Mike! He still has a red handprint on his left cheek! Soon, my best friend Xavier and I are going to play a great trick on Mike!
Xavier has been at the orphanage longer then I have. He is seventeen and has been here ever since he was born. Xavier helps me whenever I am down; he is always there, as a helping hand, and he will always encourage you to try new things. Life with out Xavier would be a horror story. Together we get through everything. We are always together, and consider each other as siblings. Together, we love to bother Mike. Mike bothers Xavier probably MORE then me! We always talk about how one day we will escape the orphanage. We will get a house and become millionaires. But we are both smart enough to realize our little dream will never come true.
Xavier and I are the best tricksters in our housing room. I come up with the pranks, and Xavier pulls them off. Today I suggested that we put sand on the top of Mike’s fan in his room. So when he walks in, the sand will fall on him!
The biggest contributor to our prank business is Lady Chairfey. She is the head chef for the orphanage. She makes … interesting food. But she has a great mind for the art of pranks! Lady Chairfey gets the materials and helps distract Mike. She gets a kick out of the funny look on Mike’s face once we pull off the joke! She starts cracking up like a hyena! Lady Chairfey is almost like a mother to me, even though I wouldn’t know what a real mother would be like. She knows how to cheer me up, tells great stories, of course pulls great pranks, and she treats me like I am family. She is always onboard with Xavier and my great plans, like running away and starting our new life.
One morning, I woke up, and got straight to work. Today was assigned to be my big workday to get a head start on our escape plan. It is a lot harder then you would think. We gave to get a blueprint of the entire orphanage including where the guards and workers roam. We have to make a plan in case we get caught. We have to make a plan to get around the big, barbwire fences, and a plan to get permission to go outside. WE HAVE TO MAKE A PLAN FOR EVERYTHING! Xavier is getting the blueprint, and and together we are organizing everything else.
We finally finished. But we realized that the consequences for such a risky plan could be, appalling. But, this has to be done. We can’t take anymore of this torturous life style. I realized that another month of living in the orphanage was something I couldn’t do. So I had to tell Xavier. “ We are leaving next week,” I told him. Xavier didn’t look pleased. He had an unexcited look on his face. “ This is a joke right?” he said. No, no it wasn’t, at least not to me. “Well, I'm starting to pack. It’s going to be a crazy journey so we need to plan ahead” I Knew Xavier wasn’t happy about my decision, but he would play along. We would do anything to get out of this orphanage.
Later that day we told Lady Chairfey. She wasn’t mad, or happy, or even surprised. She was sad. Xavier and I was the only good thing that she got out of her job, and she only had one more week to enjoy us. “ Are you two absolutely sure that you want to leave in a week? Why can’t you just stay for the month. Leave on your birthday Annabelle. Please stay.” She cried. We denied the suggestion, and continued on. I was sad to see lady Chairfey cry. She was the best thing at the orphanage for me too. But I will never learn to grow and I will never be free if I can’t make this happen. But Lady Chairfey understood. She understood completely, because that is who she is.
I spent my entire week with Lady Chairfey, and tomorrow Xavier and I will drop the bomb. We are leaving at 6:00 AM. Hopefully most of the guards will be asleep. The entire night I was thinking about all the bad things that could happen if we try to run away. We could be trapped at the orphanage forever; we could be thrown in the punishment box for months. All of it is too much for me to understand. I have nightmares the whole night through. About losing Xavier on our journey, about being alone without his help. It terrified me, the thought that i might never see my best friend ever again.
“ Get up Annabelle, we are leaving in 30 minutes” Xavier whispered to me. I slowly got up, extremely tired. My plan was finally unraveling, I was finally escaping the orphanage and by the end of the day, I would be free, free to soar. To run away and do whatever I want whenever I want. It is so close I can taste it. Xavier and I skipped breakfast and immediately went to say goodbye to Lady Chairfey.
She hugged us so tight our eyes were bulging out of your heads. She cried buckets, but realized her actions will only make it harder for us to go. We had to leave, and seeing Lady Chairfey crying on the kitchen table alone, brought tears to my eyes. When I turned around, I knew I would never see her again.
I saw tons of guards standing around the one and only exit of the orphanage. Xavier whispered, “ How are we going to get around those guards. It will never work!” But suddenly we felt a strong and heavy hand resting on our shoulders. We slowly turned our heads and Mike Kandal was sitting there with a smirk on his face.
Mike plunged us off of our feet into the air. “ You’re coming with me, and you aren’t going to escape this time you little monsters!” We were dragged down the hall until Xavier kicked Mike in the groin and we made a run for it. Mike was blowing his whistle while cradling on the floor like a baby. Xavier and I were laughing at Mike’s pain, and then when we heard the heavy footsteps of the guards running our way, we both ended with scared and worried expressions on our faces.
We ran out side, to see we were surrounded by guards, guards in front of us, guards in back of us, all getting ready to attack. The head guard yelled from the top of his lungs, “ Ready, set, and HUT!” Apparently that was the code signal to run and tackle. Xavier and I were holding hands while they all ran toward us. About 10 men jumped on us all at once, and the strike was so sudden everyone was grabbing the wrong person. I was crawling through all the guards, trying to reach away from the sweaty, stuffy air that was available to me. I finally reached the clean air and escaped the crowded pile of men. I ran, I ran as fast I could. Right before I reached the exit, I realized Xavier was still in the huddle.
It took me a few seconds to decide what to do. Keep running, and be free and find a job. Or go back, save my friend, and be trapped at the orphanage forever. By the time I had made up my mind to go back and save Xavier, the guards had him by the arms, and Xavier would never get to escape the orphanage. I began to run at the guards. Approaching the who men that held Xavier, I was about ready to begin punching and kicking. I was so close I could get caught. But Xavier had shouted three simple words to me before he was taken away from me forever. “ RUN ANNABELLE! RUN!” Those were the very last words I ever heard from Xavier, my best friend, who had been by my side forever, but never again. My nightmare was coming true.
I realized that this was my one and only chance to be free and live my dream, and live Xavier’s dream, our dream. I watched the guards take Xavier back into the building, and out of the corner of my eye I saw another ten men ready for another attack. They were running, more like sprinting, as if I was the last cookie in the jar. I turned around and ran as fast as I could. The only exit on campus was right in the palm of my hand. I had caught a slight view of the men behind me diving in the air to catch me by the foot, but they were too late. I sprinted right out of that orphanage, like a cheetah sprinting after her prey. I was free.