Lucille barely dared to breath as she pressed against the wall. The dirt on her scuffed bare feet brought a dark hue that was a stark contract to her normal light skin tone. Skin even paler than usual at the moment, perhaps akin to the color of printing paper.
"Lucy!" the voice called, echoing through the cold, but warmly decorated halls of the orphanage. The various countryside scenes and finger paintings remained mute on the walls, unwilling to betray the young girl.
"Lucy!" the headmistress's voice called again.
Lucille sucked in a sharp breath and attempted to meld with the wall behind her. 'Please don't find me. Please don't find me.'
The clothes in the closet smelled a tad musty, the cramped space the most hidden one she could find. She stood on her tiptoes as she heard the bedroom door open, hoping that would make her feet less noticeable beneath the dress she was hiding behind.
"Lucy?"
"Where could she be?" it was the voice of Randy, the potential new father figure. But she didn't want to go with him, she couldn't go. Not without Margarette, her older sister by 8 years.
"I don't know," came the befuddled headmistress's response.
It wasn't right and it wasn't fair. How dare they ask her to live somewhere without Maggie. She could have broken down into tears again just at the thought if she wasn't so desperate to remain quiet and hidden. She'd never been so still in her life.
The conversation between the two adults continued in confused voices, eventually fading as they walked back down the hall.
Maggie had told Lucy not to hide. Randy was nice, so was his wife, Becky. And they were wealthy, unable to have kids of their own. Lucy should be grateful for the opportunity, according to Maggie.
Maggie, 13 almost 14, always the sensible one. Lucy's rock in times of trouble. How could she live without Maggie by her side?
"Lucy?" it was Maggie's voice.
Lucy rested back on the soles of her feet but held her breath, waiting.
"Lucy?" A pause. "I know you're there. Hiding. Behind the clothes."
Lucy didn't respond.
"Becky and Randy are nice, you should go meet with them.
There it was again. "They can't be that nice if they want to take me away from you," Lucy hardly held back tears as se uttered the words.
"I'm almost 14. You know chances of someone taking me on are slim at best."
"I don't want to go without you," Lucy couldn't keep the tremble out of her voice.
"I know, baby, but you're strong. You'll be fine."
"Not that strong."
"You are."
"How will I live without you?"
"I'll call you every day."
Lucy peaked out from behind the dresses. "Promise?"
"Promise," Maggie offered a hand out to her sister.
Lucy tentatively stepped forward, emerging from the closet.
"They have a little grey tabby."
"They do?"
"Smoke, they call him."
Lucy tiptoed forward and took her sister's extended hand.
Maggie quietly led her from the room, their footsteps echoing down the hall.
"Every day?" Lucy repeated.
"Every day," Maggie confirmed.
~G.G. Marshall
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