Episode 5

Episode 5

Elizabeth was silent. She was remembering that fated day when the accident happened, those days running from the house to the hospital, those tears she shed sitting beside the dead bodies of her parents, and those hurtful days she spent weeping at night alone.

“How exactly did your parents die?” the teacher asked.

Elizabeth was looking at the floor, trying hard not to cry. No one knew about her parents, and so no one cared to even know their names. They were Margaret Shirley and James Shirley.

“Ma’am, my parents had gone to meet my grandma, who suddenly fell ill in the next city. They had gone late at night

when they received the sudden news, and went to my sick grandma in the next city without any hesitation, even though it was raining cats and dogs.”

“I was at home alone,” she continued, with heavy burden in her heart, “and so I sneaked out into the kitchen and stole the sugar candies, although I was instructed not to take them. The next morning, I came to know about that accident. I had nothing to do but shed my tears and say, ‘sorry’.”

She burst into tears. The teacher came close and hug her. “Elizabeth, you are not a little girl anymore. You should handle yourself. Come on, cheer up. I wanted to ask you this, because I wasn’t really sure that you missed your parents, and I have never seen any pain in your eyes or you even mentioning them. Now that I know you are missing your parents, or any loved one who would come to know how you are doing at the end of the terms, we have a surprise for you.”

She said, wiping her tears. “Even though we scold you, get mad at you, and call you the troublemaker of the school, we love and care for you a lot. You are not alone. You are a member of our school, which is kind of like a family, and it’s our duty to keep you happy and comfortable here, even if it’s just a boarding school. But we are seriously worried about your future. If you don’t know how to take care of yourself, how can you survive in this cruel world?”

Elizabeth looked at her teacher eye to eye. “But teacher, I have you all here,” she said, innocently.

“Yes, you have us, and never forget that,” she said, pinching her cheeks slightly, “But apart from that, you have someone special waiting for you.”

“Who can it be?” Elizabeth wondered. She was excited, but scared at the same time. Unable to hold her curiosity anymore, she asked her teacher, softly, “Mrs. Daily, is it someone I know…?”

“No, but she wants to take you,” was the short reply from her teacher.

Elizabeth did not really understand what her teacher meant. All she understood was that she’ll have to leave the boarding school soon. The dorm she lives in, her room buddies, classmates, and strict but somehow hilarious teachers, she was already missing them.

Getting no response from the student, and unable to hold on to this tensed atmosphere anymore, Mrs. Daily looked at her. Smiling, she pulled the poor girl closer and tried to give her warmth.

“Don’t be afraid little one,” said Mrs. Daily, with a big smile stuck to her lips, “As I said, you have a new parent now. We have found a good, old and harmless lady who would like to adopt you! She has no children, and that is his greatest pain in life. She lives alone, and is very excited to meet you.”

The words made Elizabeth shiver with fear. She was afraid to leave the school and all her old memories... Now, she just wants to delete everything she said earlier about her missing her parents, if possible. She wants nothing but a happy life at her boarding school!

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