Familiar Face

• Jessica Magee, Grade 8
• Short Story
• 2009

The young woman stumbled along the overgrown path as the rain poured down, splashing at her feet. The moonlight was playing tricks on her eyes: she looked over her shoulder constantly, in fear that she was being followed. The woman carried a small bundle wrapped in a white cloth, holding it close to her to shield it from the cold. She stopped and pulled back the cloth. The baby inside it was still sleeping.
The woman looked up. Though her vision was impaired somewhat by the rain, she found what she was looking for. In the distance, warm, yellow lights shone out of the window of an old building. Again, the woman looked behind her, but saw no one, and kept walking.
Eventually, she reached the edge of the town. ‘Almost there,’ she whispered, leaving the path to avoid walking where she would easily be seen. She kept to the shadows and stayed away from the centre of the town.
By the time the woman reached her destination, the sky was streaked with red and yellow. It had stopped raining. Wearily, the woman climbed the steps at the front of the building. She lowered the baby onto the concrete. Somehow, the baby had remained asleep throughout the night, but she was now awake. Her olive green eyes narrowed into a frown, as if she knew exactly what was happening. A tear slid down her mother’s cheek.
There were voices in the street now, and the woman knew she had to leave. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and knocked on the door loudly, then ran back down the steps and around to the side of the building. She heard footsteps and the creak of the door opening, followed by a similar creak that meant the door had closed. The woman slowly crept backwards until she reached the path, and then ran, away from the orphanage, and away from the baby girl who would grow up to call it home.

* * *

Thirteen years later, the woman walked the path again, although the circumstances were different. It was a cool spring morning, and the ground was covered in orange leaves. The woman was no longer scared or worried; she was happy, and ready to find out what had happened to her daughter. She did not care if anyone was following her, or who was watching, and when she reached the edge of the village, she walked straight through.
Arriving at the orphanage, the woman did not hesitate. She ran up the concrete steps and knocked on the door. After a few moments, a girl opened it. She frowned at the sight of the unknown woman. ‘Can I help you?’ the girl asked.
The woman did not hear the question. She smiled as memories came flooding back to her, because she recognised the straight black hair, and the olive green eyes, and the frown that had not changed in thirteen years.