For month of December 2011

Whispering Oak Meadow Orphanage (W.O.M.O.)

Book One: Trouble in the Attic

Chapter One: Welcome to Whispering Oak Meadow

December 2, 2011

 

Clink clang thump thump bang squeak squeak!

    “What is that?” Tommy said in his clumsy Scottish ascent. He pointed toward the attic to a wooden door painted the same bird poop white as the ceiling. An odd sound indeed for Whispering Oak Meadows, which is normally quite a quiet orphanage.

    Eli had been innocently reading a book laying in bed. He looked to the mysterious door on the ceiling, the kind with stairs that fold down when you pull on a cord. Instead of a cord hanging down, the door had a black bolt lock with a funny shaped key hole. One of those old relics in this mansion that nobody thought to question. Eli sat up in his bed, and turned to Tommy sitting at their shared desk scratching his red hair with the eraser end of a pencil.

    “I don’t know what that was, but strange things have been happening ever since my weird dreams.” Eli said. Tommy gave him an curious look, tilting his head so his red hair fell into his green eyes.

THUD … THUd … THud … Thud … thud …

    A marble rolled from under Tommy’s bed. The boys watched the cloudy marble, three times the size of a “player” marble like the ones in Tommy’s prize collection. When Tommy’s parents took him to the orphanage, they left him a bag of marbles. Eight years old and he plays daily, a beautiful collection of marbles though, including a blood red “player”. This particular marble that rolled on the floor had a center of a cloudy cat’s eye, not a real cat’s eye mind you, but the type of marble. The ribbons inside this huge marble were gold leaves that folded into a spiral and lead symmetrically, meaning the same on each side, into a disappearing center.

    Eli tugged at Tommy’s forest green school sweater, “That’s one of yours, right?”

    “Nuh uh!” Tommy nodded no, perplexing over the enormous marble.

    Tommy and Eli shared the closed corner of the boys dorm to the door. Less boys to walk past. The boys dorm looked like office cubicles, where for every two beds and one desk there was a five foot wall with no door. At the end of each half wall rested a statue of a bass multi armed god a foot high.

    “Then, where did it come …” Eli began to ask.

    “ELIJAH!” Mrs. Greenwick yelled from three floors down. Mrs. Greenwick is the owner and facilitator of the orphanage. She doesn’t teach any subjects, which is a good thing because when she substitutes she clumsily breaks things and thumbs nervously through papers.  Holding her long black skirt in one hand, she climbed the windy staircase in the middle of the mansion top floor. The walls of the staircase were lined with shelves, where nicely crafted pots held plants that veined their way up and down the wall. The pots had peculiar and interesting  little paintings on them of the surrounding woods. The kids think Mrs. Greenwick planted them, but she claims she doesn’t know where they come from, but they do keep coming and growing. “That distracted boy …” she whispered under her tongue. “Elijah!” She called again.

    “Mrs. Greenwick, oh no … What time is it?” Eli asked rhetorically, meaning he knew exactly what time it was that’s why Mrs. Greenwich called. Eli is the head of the greeting party for new admittance into the orphanage, along with Jenny. Jenny was almost wound as tight as the huge bun of thick frizzy black hair. She made a bet that if Eli was late he would have to jumprope with her. After they shook hands to finalize their bet, Jenny stuck her tongue out at Eli, which isn’t very nice.

    Eli ran to the window, and with all the strength in his thin arms, slid the heavy old window up, and dangled over to see if the new kids waited. The old Volkswagen bus bounced on the rocks which scattered the road. Eli watched them drive between the large oak trees that lined the drive way. Eli let out a small chuckle at the cartoon like way Eatbugs, yes that’s his name, drove his rusty van. The new arrives were always dizzy after the ride. Once when Lynn arrived, she got out and puked on Mrs. Greenwick’ shoe, during her welcome to Whispering Oak speech.

    “Ahh,” screeched Eli. Someone grabbed his feet and he thought he was going to be thrown from the window. Mrs. Greenwick slowly lowed Eli’s feet to the ground and laughed. All the kids hated Mrs. Greenwick’s laugh, even Jenny the biggest suck up in the orphanage. Her laugh came alive, starting with a low deep chuckle you could feel at the bottom of your stomach then it turned in to a high pitch mouse sneeze. If you can imagine a growl and sneeze being a laugh, you’ve got it. Everyone plugs their ears. Mrs. Greenwick is not mean or scary, but stick and serious. Like her laugh, she has another side, a side where she wants fun, but it turns awkward and clumsy.

    “You are suu..pp..oo..sed to be downstairs with Jenny, now aren’t you!” When Mrs. Greenwick tried to be serious instead of putting her hands on her hips, she would clasp her hands behind her back and rock from her heals to her toes. “Now get down there as fast as you can.” She pointed with her overly long thin finger.

    “Leave it alone,” Eli whispered to Tommy, then run through the boys dorm door. He ran down the hallway toward the girls dorm. The top floor was arranged mirror image to itself. If looking from the front of the mansion, the girls dorms on the right then their washroom, then an locked room, then Mrs. Greenwicks corridors, then the boys washrooms and dorms. The stair case was directly to Mrs. Greenwicks door and the locked door. Eli slid down the round wood railings on all three floors. He swung open the huge wood carves celtic doors, when it suddenly opened itself.

    Back in the room, Mrs. Greenwick asked, “leave what alone?” Thomas tried hard not to look at the mesmerizing marble laying on the splintering wood floor. She followed his eyes, and when Mrs. Greenwick looked at the marble her face saw a ghost. She picked up the marble, oddly acted as though it was hot and sped downstairs.

    It was Miss Kimber, the event coordinator, religions class and outdoor actives teacher, who opened the door for Eli. She wore her usual yoga outfit and long sliver hair pulled back in an simple elastic. She touched her heart and gestured for Eli to join her and Jenny on the stairs. The stairs leading to the ten foot celtic front doors, looked like the stairs to a roman palace. The polished smooth white cement formed no edges only round corners.

    “I made it, you owe me.” Eli nudged Jenny. Eli stood beside Jenny while she looked as innocent as possible. The sunset light made her brown skin shine gold, exaggerating her angelic image.

    “Barely, and I owe you nothing.” Jenny said through her nose.

    “Little miss perfect can’t fulfill a bet, I knew you would chicken out!” Eli said while using his fingers to scruff up his short brown hair. He straightened his forest green school sweater, fixed the white collar of his shirt, and pulled his tan slacks down a bit, to give a relaxed look to his uniform.

    “I am not chickening out, … you only barely made it and Mrs. Greenwick had to get you!” Jenny sighed and tapped Eli on the leg just to annoy him. “It doesn’t count.”     The orange Volkswagen van pulled up just as Mrs. Greenwick appeared at the front door, with her awkward welcoming smile. The van bounced in place after it came to a stop, and the smell of hot metal entered the air. Eatbugs, an orphan himself who got the nickname by eating bugs over sweets as a treat, got out of the drivers door. He wore the school uniform today but normally he wears overalls and a flannel top. Eatbugs, though odd in nearly every way, his feet are what stand out the most, literally. They are so big that he is clumsy and hunches over slightly causing his long arms to hang down almost ape like. He has his own cabin and works in the fields or as a driver. He opened the sliding side door to let out the new arrivals.

    “You just owe me, I will decide later,” Eli said and watched the new arrives climb out of the van. Opening his mouth, he hoped to say “Welcome to Whispering Oak Meadow” in unison, at the same time as Jenny and Mrs. Greenwick, but nothing came out. His mouth remained open, and he could not believe his eyes.

Sasha Lovell

Chapter 1: Welcome to Whispering Oak Meadow