Jasmine The Orphan

• Isabella Burdan, Grade 5C
• Short Story
• 2017

Jasmine the Orphan

Hi, my name is Jasmine. I'm an orphan. At least I think. It's been 2 years since Dad left, and mum left last year. They both left on errands to the heart of my home the Forest. The Forest has been my home for 13 years, but now my parents are gone it doesn't feel the same.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Voices! I can hear voices. Oh! No! It can't be it's the Orphanage. The Orphanage is a secret organisation which takes kids from the forest as slaves. If the find any kid alone in the forest they take them! First the throw a sack over your head, then they take you struggling to their quarters. Stomp! Stomp! They're close. I struggled to keep quiet. I was quiet enough but I smelt of fruit. The Orphanage loves fruit, I was dead!

Omf! Brown material was thrown over my head, consuming my body. I struggled to stay conscious. Bang! I was bashed over the head, I started to slump. Blackness. That was all I could see. My eyes slowly drooped, my whole body slumped bending and twisting. Then nothing…

I woke up relishing that I had been knocked out cold. I was in the Orphanage’s orphanage. “Horrible.” That was the only word to describe it. “Horrible” I said again. I hated the place with a passion. Once they found me I would be put to work. “Dirty Work” was what they called it. But soon I would find out how bad it was. I had know idea! Seriously I really didn't know what I was in for.

Bang! Boom! Another black out. I was dumped on a hard concrete floor. Bang! Was the sound, as my companion and I hit the floor. Boom! Was the sound of my head and maybe theirs hitting the floor. I was so sore…

I woke up my body aching. Sitting up, I could see another girl. She told me she had just escaped out of the… her voice veered of, echoing in the stone room. “Mhmmhh” I couldn't speak. My mouth wouldn't move.

Slowly, I regained consciousness. The girl was called Mia. She said we were in the kitchen. It was the worst place to be. The work you had to do was enormous and you had to get it right or you were whipped. The rest of what Mia said was her story. But the only thing I remembered was the fact that she had escaped!

“Mia, how did you escape?” I asked. “Ohh! Jasmine, I found a crack in the wall that lead to a passage!” replied Mia trying to hush her excitement.

Soon, Mia and I were traveling down the passage towards more guards. As we saw the light from the evening sun, we ran. Mia didn’t make it. She was kidnapped, again!

It’s been 2 years and I have finally returned home. I stayed away because I was worried that my parents had come to find me and that my home would be wrecked.

When I returned home, it was a terrible sight. My home was in rewens and ruins, I didn’t understand where scratched on the wall. I realized my parents had come looking for me but had not made it out, but instead were put to DEATH. The thought just made me dizzy.