A young girl with short brown hair was sitting on an adoption home staircase. Her name was Julie. She had a pretty good life except for the adoption home keeper, Ms. Gretchen. "Julie, come into the kitchen!" Julie gulped and walked into the kitchen. She saw Ms. Gretchen at the sink stabbing lettuce into bits. Ms. Gretchen was an old cruel lady. She was very picky and prejudice. No one could ever please her, not even herself. Others, who don't know her well enough like the children at the adoption home, would think Ms. Gretchen is just a sweet old lady who wants the best for her orphans.

"Yes, Ms. Gretchen?" Julie stayed feet away and watched as she stabbed the lettuce imagining it was herself.

"Today is your turn to make the supper. This time do burn yourself."

Julie shook her head, "What was the last thing you said, Ms. Gretchen?"

"I said, this time do not burn yourself." Ms. Gretchen repeated a little annoyed.

Julie nodded. Ms. Gretchen left the kitchen. After an hour, Julie had finished making supper. Everyone in the adoption home liked Julie's cooking. Ms. Gretchen, not so much. After supper the children, excluding Julie, went outside to play for an hour. Julie was kept inside by Ms. Gretchen to clean up after everyone. Her friend Cecilia offered to help but Ms. Gretchen did not allow it.

Julie finished washing the dishes. As she put them away she accidentally dropped one. It fell to the floor and shattered into many fragments. It left a scratch on the floor. Julie gasped, "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! I broke a dish. I scarred the floor! Ms. Gretchen is going to kill me! Oh no!" Julie quickly cleaned up the fragments of the dish and threw them out.

Ms. Gretchen slowly walked into the kitchen, "What was that noise, Julie?"

"Uh. Nothing, Ms. Gretchen." Julie replied.

Ms. Gretchen glared at her, "Tell me the truth.." She crossed her arms and started tapping the floor with her foot.

"I broke a dish.. Please I didn't mean too! Sorry!" Julie closed her eyes, covered her head, and bent her knees lowering herself hoping she wouldn't get strike. Ms. Gretchen grabbed her hair and pulled her up. Ms. Gretchen was old but she had a pretty strong arm. Julie shrieked as she was thrown to the ground. Ms. Gretchen stepped on her head and pushed it into the cold hard floor. Julie cried in pain but kept herself from trying to rebel against the old lady.

Ms. Gretchen shouted, "You know how expensive these dishes are!? I can't keep buying more and more dishes just because you 'didn't mean to' drop them!" Ms. Gretchen removed her foot from Julie's head and kicked her. She left the kitchen and went upstairs into her room. Julie sat up once she heard Ms. Gretchen's door close. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes. She had bruises all over her body from other times she angered Ms. Gretchen. Julie got up and grabbed a knife from off the sink counter. Her hand started shaking and her body wouldn't move. Cecilia came into the home with three other girls. They were giggling and making a lot of noises. Julie shook her head and her palm opened. She dropped the knife. The girls saw Julie in the kitchen and ran towards her.

"Ya done cleaning, Julie?" One said.
"Come on! Let's go outside!" Said another.

The three girls and Julie left the kitchen. Cecilia stayed. She saw a knife on the floor. She picked it up and frowned. "Oh Julie.. I hope you weren't planning to-"

"Cecilia, are you coming?" One girl called.

"Yeah! I'll be out soon." Cecilia put the knife away and ran outside. The rest of the day went fine. Everyone went to sleep once it was time to. The next day was bright and sunny. The birds were singing happily and peacefully. Nothing could ruin the day. DING! DING! DING! Ms. Gretchen had rung a bell to awaken the children. Cecilia woke up. She yawned and stretched. She looked at the bed beside her bed - Julie's bed. Julie was in the kitchen. She had to wake up early and do errands for Ms. Gretchen. Julie wiped her forehead and sighed in relief. She had just finished cleaning Truffles, Ms. Gretchen's cat.

"Julie!" Call Ms. Gretchen from outside. Julie hurriedly dried the cat. "Julie!!" Ms. Gretchen called even louder. Julie jumped a little. She ran outside as soon as she got off the gloves she cleaned Truffles with. Ms. Gretchen was on the porch speaking to a delivery man. "Ah.. Julie. Help this young man deliver this to Mr. Franklyn." She gave Julie a large package.

"Be careful with that package miss." Instructed the delivery man.

Julie nodded. "Can someone come along with me? Mr. Franklyn lives far." Ms. Gretchen nodded and went back inside.

Cecilia came running towards Julie and smiled, "Are you getting adopted?"

Julie shook her head, "No. You wanna come with me to Mr. Franklyn?" Cecilia nodded with a grin. She liked leaving the home. Even if it's for just a while. The two started towards Mr. Franklyn's house.

"It's a wonderful day!" Cecilia proclaimed. Julie giggled. "What do you think is in that package?"

Julie shrugged. She tagged Cecilia and started running with her hands tightly gripped onto the package. Cecilia ran after her. Julie laughed, "You can't catch me! I'm too fast!" They ran for fifteen minutes and stopped three blocks away from Mr. Franklyn's. They were out of breathe. "We almost there?"

"Yeah. Just three blocks away. That was fun! We got here quicker than usual." Cecilia said. "You wanna go to the park before we go back to the home?"

"Totally! I don't wanna go back to the home in the first place!" They dropped off the package to Mr. Franklyn and ran off to the park. They had an extra thirty minutes before Ms. Gretchen expected something. Julie smiled. She was in the park for the first time ever in years. Cecilia felt as much joy. Just that she never went to the park though. Cecilia jumped in the fountain and splashed Julie. Julie shrieked, "Ah!! How can you stay in that water? It's cold!" Cecilia laughed through her grinning smile. They played for fifteen minutes and left. "Today is the best day ever!! Until we go back to the home that is." Julie said. They walked through a trashy broken down neighborhood. People stared at them as they walked by. Julie and Cecilia could feel the cold bitterness the people had. It was unwelcoming. Julie saw a cat at the corner so she ran after it. A car was speeding into the neighborhood. Cecilia wasn't paying attention until Julie reached the corner. "A cat!" She shouted.

Cecilia gasped, "Wait for me!" Cecilia ran to the corner to be with Julie. She tripped on a stick and fell to the ground. The people in the car started shooting. Seconds passed and the sound of shooting disappeared. Cecilia looked up to check if Julie was still at the corner. She couldn't see anyone. Cecilia quickly stood up. She ran to the corner where she last saw her best friend. Julie was lying on the ground in a puddle of blood. Cecilia felled on her knees beside the body. Her mouth dropped open. Her eyes got watery. "Help!" She cried. "Help!" Her voice was cracking. Cecilia shook her best friend's body. Her hands got bloody. "Julie, please. Don't die. Don't die!" Cecilia's vision started to get blurry. Her breathing sounded weird. She was passing out but she heard an ambulance siren. 'They're coming.' Cecilia thought to herself.

A week later. Julie had a funeral - Cecilia begged people to donate money so they could have a funeral. A lot of people came to the funeral. A few of them came to see how useful their money was since they didn't know who Julie was. Most of the little kids were crying. Especially Cecilia. The funeral lasted for three hours. After everyone left, Cecilia stayed for a while. She stared at the gravestone.

The Special Friend
Julie D. Nickels
March 12, 1997 - June 13, 2007
Dear Precious child,
Our memory of you will never end.

"You got your wish, Julie. I told you.. Be careful of what you wish for." Cecilia stood up. She sniffled and left with the others.