‘I hate Saturdays,’ Daisy thought for the millionth time. Saturdays meant open house at the orphanage. Every weekend, prospective parents would come in to talk to or play with girls they thought might become their daughters. Nobody ever tried to talk to Daisy, so she would just read.
“Hey,” Anna, Daisy’s best friend, appeared. “What book did you pick out this week?” Daisy had no clue what she would do without Anna. Anna arrived at the orphanage only a couple of days before her. Though Anna was grieving over her parents’ deaths, she was still quick to comfort Daisy upon her arrival. The two girls often seemed inseparable.
“Just another love story,” Daisy quickly whispered as she noticed Ms. Hollar approaching.
“Anna, the couple over there would like to talk to you,” Ms. Hollar smiled. Ms. Hollar was the owner and primary caretaker of the girl’s home. She was always eager to find the girl loving homes, but she never forced a girl who did not want to leave to go.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Anna waved to Daisy as she walked over to the parent hopefuls.
‘Of course they want to talk to Anna,’ Daisy thought bitterly. ‘Anna is cute, and outgoing. Everyone would want her. Especially compared to plain, boring, me.’
Despite the front Daisy put up, she was not jealous. Daisy felt little need for parents after spending so many years without any. The people who came in looking to adopt often made her feel uncomfortable.
Daisy was scared. If Anna were adopted, she would be abandoned again.
* * *
“Did you hear the rumor?” Janie, the orphanage’s biggest gossip, whispered to Daisy as the girls prepared for dinner that night. Daisy shook her head disinterested. “Anna is going to be adopted.”
“What!” Daisy cried in disbelief.
“It’s true. The couple that was talking to her really wants her. They refuse take no for an answer. They promised her anything she wants.”
“Where did you hear this?”
“I heard Ms. Hollar talking to Anna in the hallway.” Janie paused. “I wonder if Carol knows,” Janie left Daisy at the table as she went to spread more gossip.
‘I don’t want Anna to leave! Everyone always wants Anna, her parents even died protecting her! My mother didn’t even want me!’ Daisy’s thoughts raced. She was sure she would be abandoned, just as her mother abandoned her nine years ago.
* * *
“Get in the car, you worthless girl.” The young woman did not even attempt to hide her disdain for the small girl.
“Sorry Mommy,” said a four-year-old Daisy timidly. The small child looked as if she had not been fed or bathed in days. She looked up at her mother as the car started. “Mommy, where are we going?”
“Shut up you ugly, little, brat.” Daisy’s mother turned around to slap her.
After an hour of silence, the car pulled up in front of the orphanage. “Get out,” the women said, giving Daisy no clue what would happen next. She obediently got out of the car and watched her mother drive away.
* * *
“Daisy, what’s wrong?” Anna was alarmed by her friend’s tears.
“Please, don’t leave me,” Daisy sobbed. “I don’t want to be alone again. Please don’t…”
“What are you talking about?”
“Janie said that the people who were talking to you earlier are going to adopt you.” Daisy sniffled. “She told me they are willing to give you anything.”
Anna grabbed Daisy and squeezed her into a tight hug. “They did offer me anything,” she loosed her grip on Daisy. “I told them I wasn’t going anywhere without you.”
“What?” Daisy could not believe her ears.
“I told them, the only way I’ll be their daughter, is if they adopt you too!”