Old Friends

• Cindy Q, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2015

Old Friends
The little girl sighed as she cleaned the floor. Her foster parents were shouting at her again. Do this. Do that. She was tired of listening. Tomorrow, she was going to run away. She would disappear.
The little girl sighed and dreamed of living in a mansion, with her real parents. With all the members in her family, she would get a dog and a cat as well as other animals.
“Thunk!” The little girl’s thoughts were abruptly cut off as her foster father whipped her with the broomstick. She shrieked and whimpered. “Get back to work!” he shouted. She whimpered again and started scrubbing the floor.
The next day, early in the morning, she packed all her meagre possessions in a small suitcase, opened the door, and ran to her freedom. She ran and ran and ran till she got to the main road. She gazed at the shops lining the street and took in smells of spices and cooking foods drifting through the air. She was free.
“My my. What do we have here?!” the little girl turned around. There was a large woman wearing an apron staring at her. “You poor little ragamuffin, come with me,” she said gently, “There will be a place for you to stay and work.”
The girl obligingly followed. The large woman grabbed her hand and led her along the busy street. She kept on walking towards a small house at the end of the street. The woman knocked on the door. An elderly man opened it. The little girl peered around the large woman. Old men and women shuffled around and dozed. It was a nursing home.
The old man’s hand rested on the door knob. His eyes lit up as he saw the little girl. “Just like my own little lost granddaughter.” he mumbled, smiling. The woman bustled inside. She introduced herself. “My name is Donna,” “I am one of the very few nurses around here. I look after old people like Mr Jeff here. What is your name?” The little girl shook her head. She did not have a name. She never given a name. When her mother went away for a few days to go shopping, some men had come and taken her, telling her that both her parents were dead. They brought her to an orphanage and she lived there until she was four years old. Then the men came again. They just called her girl and took her away to her foster parents. They were cruel and mean. They whipped her and called her names.
The old man embraced her. “We will call you Emm, after my little lost grandchild.” Donna opened her mouth to protest, but the old man hushed her. “Now you are family.” The little girl smiled and hugged the old man. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had a family.
Written by: Cindy.Quocson