The Girls of Greenwood

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Wrote a story for a friend for fun. Thought I’d post it here. Warning: contains a mean lady...(but there’s a kitten) The Girls of Greenwood Chapter 1 “Wake up, you little Brats!” shouted Miss Galbreath as she yanked open the dusty curtains. The sun filtered through and spread across the old plank floors where it landed on the wall above Kristin’s head. Kristin squinted as the light warmed her face. Autumn nights in Manchester were nearly unbearable at Lady Greenwood’s Orphanage for Young Girls. The air was frigid and since her feet always peeked out from her small wool blanket, Kristin rubbed her bluish toes in the morning warmth. “After breakfast, I need you all to to clean this house from top to bottom! Tomorrow is Visitation Day. Emily and Grenadine, you’re cooking breakfast this morning. Now get dressed!” Miss Galbreath blew into her infamous whistle and pierced the ears of the drowsy girls. After she slammed the door behind her, Teresa threw her pajama top at the wall. “I’m sick of this crap and I’m sick of Cowbreath!” she grumbled. “Visitation Day...Ha! We’re all stuck here until we turn eighteen!” “Be positive, Teresa,” chimed Grenadine. “We all have the chance to get adopted one day. We all need hope and faith.” Teresa rolled her eyes. “Sure! I hope to God that you don’t overcook the scrambled eggs again!” Kristin pulled her blanket over her head and immediately popped it back out as her thawing brain remembered something. “Hey, Plum,” she whispered. “Is it still there?” Plum sat on her bed with a blanket pulled over her small frame like a fort. She pulled the blanket down from her head revealing a tiny black kitten. “Jesus,” replied Emily. “You’re going to get us in so much trouble. Imagine if Miss Galbreath finds out. She’d probably drown it! You have to get rid of it!” “If we kick it outside in this frigid cold, it’s going to die anyway,” replied Kristin. “It’s so young. We need to take care of it for now.” Emily sighed. “What do we feed it?” “I’ll probably feed it my share of Grenadine’s breakfast,” teased Teresa. Grenadine threw her pillow at Teresa’s head. “Warm milk and porridge perhaps,” said Kristin. “It’s better than nothing.” “What should we name it?!” perked Grenadine. “How about Whiskers,” said Teresa. “No, let’s name it Bunny,” replied Emily. “I think Plum should get to name it since she found it,” said Kristin. “Plum, what’s its name?” Plum blushed and shrunk from all the attention that was on her. Her neck seemed to disappear into her collarbone as her posture curved like a tortoise shell. She twirled a blonde braid around her finger. “Spooky?” she whispered. “I love it!” said Kristin. “Spooks, it is!” Plum smiled sheepishly. “I don’t,” mumbled Teresa. Plum’s lips disappeared as she sucked in the smile that she now regretted. The kitten hopped into her lap and played with her long braid. Plum’s smile quickly returned. “GIRLS!!!” shouted Miss Galbreath from downstairs. Emily gasped and quickly hopped from bed. The girls swiftly removed their pajamas and dressed in their plain blue uniform dresses. “Sh*t...” moaned Teresa as she struggled to get out of bed. Her feet thumped on the creaky plank flooring. “Who’s doing the bathrooms today ‘cause it ain’t gonna be me.” One by one, the thirteen girls of Greenwood’s Orphanage finished the last touches of their uniforms and proceeded downstairs. Plum swiftly placed the kitten in a box warmed by her flannel pajamas and slid it under her bed. Chapter 2 It was challenging to keep a little kitten secret from Miss Galbreath. Three times a day, someone had to sneak away from their duties to feed the kitten leftovers of the last meal which was stuffed in their uniform pocket. It seemed to work for now, but the kitten would get bigger—eventually too big to hide in the box under Plum’s bed. Everyone had the same worry. Spooky was the first pet that most of the girls had ever had and everyone loved having a kitten around. At night while Miss Galbreath slept, Spooky would race around the bedroom and play with the shoestrings the girls pulled out of their Oxford shoes. And once Spooky got enough exercise for the night, the kitten would curl up on a chosen girl’s bed and purr until drifting to sleep. Every Visitation Day that a girl wasn’t adopted was an upsetting reality that they were unwanted. Once Spooky arrived, however, the girls paid little attention to their harsh world, for they loved something and it loved them back. Spooky had a spooky effect on many of the girls as they changed before Kristin’s eyes. Emily, who was always afraid of getting into trouble, offered to sneak food into her pockets more often than some of the other girls in order to feed the kitten. Grenadine’s cooking improved as she cared more that a kitten would be eating it. Teresa was less of a grump whenever the kitten chose to sleep under her blanket at night. Plum...plum smiled more often, in fact, all the time now. The kitten favored Plum over the other girls and the two were inseparable. Kristin didn’t know much about Plum. She didn’t even know her birthday because Plum would never say. She was shy and seemingly timid, but that was actually incorrect. Anyone, who was willing to hide a kitten under Miss Galbreath’s extremely sensitive nose, was an incredibly brave person. One month went by and only two very young girls were adopted. Teresa was the oldest at the orphanage and would be turning seventeen next month. She had been at the orphanage since she was thirteen. A lot of the adults looking to adopt frequently remarked on her shaggy dark hair and poor attitude. Teresa was just counting down the days until she turned eighteen and could leave without being owned by anybody. Kristin was the second oldest at fifteen. She had earned the nickname of “mother hen” by the girls as she was the responsible one, not to mention wise beyond her years and always knew how to de-escalate a fight between two girls. Kristin always knew what to do in a sticky situation. She was born to be a mature, protective older sibling and she hoped one day a prospective parent would see that. It was mid December and the orphanage felt lonely around this time of year. The holidays were never celebrated—not like a typical child’s Christmas with the eight-foot tree adorned with mercury glass ornaments in charming depictions of Santa with his endearing chubby cheeks and cherry nose. There were no gifts to be exchanged. No romantic garland leading up the staircase. The girls had a tradition though. Every year, someone would cut a branch from the pine tree on the orphanage grounds and stick it in a cup of dirt. The girls would adorn the branch with newspaper snowflakes. It looked like crap, like an art project made from junk. But it was the closest thing to Christmas that the girls at Greenwood’s Orphanage had. It also had snowed the night before and the girls had forgotten how beautiful and pure the orphanage grounds could be. After a hard day of chores, the girls sat down for dinner with Miss Galbreath. Teresa was cooking soup that night and sometimes she would improvise while playing chef and add too many spices. She spooned the soup into everyone’s bowl. Grenadine sipped the soup from her spoon and then hesitated. It was incredibly spicy. Teresa noticed that no one was sipping the soup as she was ladling it. “Is there something wrong with the soup, Grenadine?” she scowled. “No, it’s just...hot,” Grenadine lied. The girls began to sip their soup slowly in-between gulps of water. Dinner was silent except for the clanging of spoons against porcelain bowls. Kristin was halfway finished her soup when suddenly something kicked her in the leg. It was Plum. She wondered why she had just been kicked but Plum stared straight ahead like she was watching a ghost. And then Kristin saw the black kitten climbing up the dining room curtains as Miss Galbreath ate nearby. Kristin’s eyes widened in fear and she glanced at Miss Galbreath who was looking down at her soup. Suddenly, the kitten lost its grip and fell with a hard thump. Emily gasped and Miss Galbreath’s head quickly popped up. At the sight of Spooky, Miss Galbreath stormed over to the kitten and grabbed the scruff of its neck. Spooky yelped out a cry. “Who let a kitten in here?!” she yelled. “Well, WHO?!” The girls sat like petrified gargoyles. “Well, you know what I’m going to do...?!” Miss Galbreath walked the kitten to the front door and tossed it out in the snow. Plum immediately stood up from her seat, accidentally tipping over her soup. “DON’T!!!” she shouted. “SPOOKY! Spooky is MINE!” Plum raced to the front door and Miss Galbreath grabbed her. Plum wailed. “Let me go!! You mean mean lady!!” She pushed Miss Galbreath aside and ran out into the dark cold night. “You get back here!” shouted Miss Galbreath. “Plum!” shouted Kristin as she rose from her seat. Plum was nowhere to be seen. “Girls! Upstairs! NOW!” shouted Miss Galbreath. “And someone clean that up!” she said pointing to Plum’s bowl. Chapter 3 “Do you think Plum would actually run away?” asked Grenadine who couldn’t sleep. “Sh*t, man...I’ve always wanted to run away from here. Never knew that Plum would have the guts to do it,” said Teresa. “The real question is though, which one of you morons left the bedroom door open, huh?” She fisted the palm of her hand. Kristin pulled a wool coat over her flannel pajamas. “Um, where are you going?!” asked private-eye, Emily. “I’m sneaking out,” replied Kristin. “Sweet...!” grinned Teresa. “You guys stay here. Cover for me. I have to find Plum and Spooky.” Kristin snuck quietly downstairs, careful not to trigger a squeaky floor noise hidden in locations she knew by heart. A gust of frigid air pierced Kristin’s face like tiny needles as she stepped out into the cold night. She could see footsteps in the snow belonging to Plum that headed towards the woods in the far distance. Red and blue lights flashed through the trees by the road. Miss Galbreath called the cops and they would be there any second. Kristin hurried across the snow following Plum’s tracks. As she stumbled through the snow, her feet throbbed from the cold and she clenched her chattering teeth in pain. Once she was a great distance from the orphanage, Kristin called Plum’s name. “Plum! Where are you?! It’s me, Kristin! Plum, you have to come back, okay?! It’s cold out here! It’s so cold...out here. Plum!” Kristin began to cry. Soon she reached a point where she could no longer see footprints. “I’m right here,” said a faint voice. Kristin found Plum clutching her bare arms trying to keep warm. Spooky was curled up in the warmth of Plum’s chest. “Here. Take my coat,” said Kristin wrapping it around plum’s dress. “I can’t go back,” said Plum shivering. “Not without Spooky.” “I know. I have a plan. You can trust me,” said Kristin taking Plum’s cold, bluish hand. Kristin and Plum stumbled through the snow back to the orphanage with Spooky in hand. As they got nearer, Kristin grabbed the kitten from Plum. “You head towards the front door, Plum. I’ll go to the back and sneak Spooky back upstairs while you and Miss Galbreath talk to the cops.” Plum nodded and parted ways. Kristin took the kitten out back behind the orphanage and threw snowballs at the bedroom window. Teresa opened the window. “Yo, what’s up?” she shouted quietly. “I have Spooky! I need you to get a box or something with string and somehow pull the kitten up to you!” said Kristin in a loud whisper. The nine girls put their thinking caps on and rushed around the bedroom looking for materials. They grabbed the shoelaces from their shoes, the metal hangers in the closet, and hooked their bras together to make a rope attached to a cardboard box. Kristin placed the tiny kitten in the box and the girls carefully pulled Spooky up. She then snuck around to the front door of the orphanage. Miss Galbreath was in the driveway talking to a cop and Kristin hurried by them without being seen. When she reached the bedroom, she saw Plum on her bed cuddling Spooky with the widest smile. Plum rushed over to Kristin and hugged her tightly. The girls cheered. Spooky was in their lives again. So was love. Chapter 4 It was four days until Christmas and the last Visitation Day of the year. To the girls, it was hard to say whether this was also the worst Visitation Day of the year. Either girls got the best Christmas present by being adopted or they were rejected and had to spend yet another holiday at Lady Greenwood’s Orphanage for Rejects and the Unloved. Kristin sat near the icy bedroom window and looked out into the glittering, white landscape while the sun beaming through warmed her cheeks. ‘Maybe I should’ve run away with Plum,’ she thought. Kristin sighed. Today was just a regular day and no one would be interested in taking her home with them. She’d be like Teresa. Eighteen and out—with no family. Maybe Teresa could do that, but to Kristin, that was scary. As the visitors arrived to the orphanage, all ten girls sat upright and perky except for Teresa, of course. Kristin put her head down as adults passed by her. Suddenly, a woman in her mid 40’s approached Kristin. “Hello, Kristin,” she spoke with a warm smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you from the other girls...” Kristin looked around and a grinning Teresa caught her eye. She winked and Kristin smiled back. She may have felt unwanted and unloved by adults for a long time, but she had the most amazing friends. They were family. Like sisters. And it was hard to part with them after all they’ve been through. Four girls were set to be adopted after that evening. Kristin got the Christmas present she was hoping for and would be heading north to live with Dr. Jane Clement and her family after the holidays. Plum got adopted too by one of the police officers whom she spoke to the night before. “He’s really nice,” said Plum. “I was talking with him yesterday and he and his wife were actually planning to adopt and attend Visitation Day. We talked about Spooky and he said he has a cat named Gus at home. He’s a Red Sox fan too.” “I never knew you liked baseball,” said Kristin. Plum smiled and cuddled Spooky under her blanket. “Will you write me and Spooky?” she asked. Kristin smiled. “I thought you’d never ask.” On Christmas morning, the girls awoke to a light snow shower and a family of deer trotting past the property. It was a beautiful, festive sight to end the year. Dr. Clement brought the girls a small tree with ornaments so Kristin could enjoy the holiday spirit before officially becoming adopted. Spooky played with the tinsel and batted the glass balls. “This is the best Christmas. With you guys.” said Kristin. The girls hugged. They never quite noticed it while yearning for something greater, but they always had family. That was the beautiful reality. The end. Happy Holidays!