Family Trickery

• Jasmine Armistead , Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2019

I stood there, frozen with fear, letting soldiers drag me into their army vehicles. I had just witnessed my step-parents imprisonment, after being caught smuggling refugees into America. I had only moved here 6 months ago, after my new step-parents adopted me from the orphanage.
I had no idea where the soldiers would take me. Prison? Another foster family? Or back to the orphanage? I didn’t want to have to go back to the orphanage. The children there bullied me for being a girl, and being younger than all of them, as I was only 7.
If they took me to prison, I would basically be homeless, as I wouldn’t be able to afford a cell or food.
If I went to another foster family, I may be forced to be a slave, or they might actually be nice and take me in as their own child.

I thought I would be shoved into the back of the big army van, and be ignored, but instead, they took me to a row of seats, sat me down and gave me a blanket, and some food and water. One of them kneeled in front of me, and asked me some questions. “Were you involved in the smuggling, or did they just do it without telling you what they were doing each day?” he asked, in a voice that didn’t sound threatening to my little 7 year old self.
“Whenever I came home from school, they just said that they were going to the shops, or to meet up with friends, they never said anything about this,” I whispered back, not knowing if they would believe me.

The van took off, and one of the soldiers stayed with me in the back, cheering me up and making me feel safe. “Wh-where are you going to take me?” I whispered, shaking with fear.
“My wife has always wanted a daughter, but she can't, so me and my wife are going to adopt you and look after you, if that's okay with you?”
“O-okay, just as long as I don’t end up like this ever again.”