Emerald Tolmsea

• Charlotte Jackson, Grade 3, Prescott College - Southern Campus
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

1
My name is Emerald Tolmsea. Isn’t that a beautiful name? My dear old mother, Georgia Tolmsea, named me that but when I was christened at the old immigrant’s church, the horrible mean hospital women christened me Polly Hemmings. Isn’t that a boring name? Well I had to stick with it. And that’s how my story starts……

I was born at a hospital. My mother bore me out of wedlock so I didn’t see much of her. Of course, mother begged for mercy when she was confronted but no one listened. Dear mother didn’t know what to do. When I was only two she had another child, completely by accident. He was bore out of wedlock too so the judges gave her and her son the death penalty. They were going to give me the death penalty too, but a lovely family found me begging on the streets and quickly took me to their house. That was where I found my first true love, a boy one year older than me, John Edison.
2
John was a loving boy, and he cared for me. We shared a birthday and it was on my 8th and his 9th, when he kissed me and said he was sorry. I didn’t understand why at the time but I now know as the next day they took me to the orphanage and left me there. John promised to wait for me and marry me as soon as I left the orphanage and he did. That made me happy. I just wish he could have proposed to me sooner.
3
When I first got to the orphanage, I thought it was horrible, and I was right. It was a dirty grey colour and the paint was peeling. All the girls had to sleep in one dormitory and for breakfast, lunch and dinner we had yellow, sloppy, slime slush that tasted horrible. We weren’t allowed toys or books or any type of entertainment. If we got caught with them, they would be thrown in the fire. It was horrific to think how Mrs poo poo Pataroon and Mrs bum bum Beknam got away with it. I hated it and couldn’t wait until I got out of there, at the age of 18.
4
Finally, the great day came. I was told to go and claim a cottage in the country. I was sure that John and his family lived nearby. A young lad collected me in his carriage to take me there. His face was familiar. My face lit up when I realised. “Do you remember me, Emerald?” he asked, and he threw his arms around me in a tight embrace.
5
I now live with John in a modern house, and have everything I’ve ever dreamed of. I have two children, Paul (10) and Maddison (5). I love my life.