Original (crappy) Short Story
It was cold and storming the day she came.
All the children were held up inside, scattered about the house, paying no mind to the car that drove up the driveway, the headlights shining through the mist the rain created.
Madam Finch stood on the porch, her hair that had gone white too soon pulled into a tight bun, and her eyes like a hawk watched as the car pulled into the driveway. She took a step down off the porch to the base of the stairs, the black umbrella that was clutched in her hands blocked her from the downpour as the headlights of the car blinked off and a tall man exited the car, an umbrella similar to her own snapped up and the man scurried quickly to the other side of the car.
She held her breath as a tiny girl slid out of the car with the assistance of the man who now held the umbrella over her to prevent her lovely auburn curls from getting wet as she patted down her skirt before allowing herself to be led towards Madam Finch whose bright blue eyes seemed as sullen as the weather as she watched the pair walk towards her, slowly releasing the breath she realized she was still holding.
“Eloise,” The man greeted, his lips turning up to form more wrinkles at the corner of his mouth to reveal a mouth full of crooked teeth, “It’s good to see you again.”
“Of course Harold,” Madam Finch tried to suppress the cringe upon hearing her first name but her attention soon turned to the small girl who had taken to gazing up at the grey sky, her eyes reflecting the storm as it raged on, “I do wish it would have been on…” She paused, looking up at the older man before a small smile fleeted upon her face, “… better circumstances.”
“As do I Eloise,” Harold’s hand that was not holding tightly onto the umbrella settled onto the girl’s shoulders, gently pushing her forward, “Eloise, this is Juliet Harlow,” Juliet’s eyes finally turned towards Madam Finch and all of her undivided attention was now focused on her, “Juliet, this is Madam Finch.”
Madam Finch smiled at the little girl before her, kneeling down to meet her at eye-level trying not to let the smile drop as Juliet’s lips stayed in a fine line, making no notion to greet the older woman who held her hand out, waiting for Juliet to take it.
Hesitantly, Juliet’s hand left her side, letting the older woman grasp her tiny hand within Madam Finch’s with a gentle grip all the while Juliet’s gaze never left Madam Finch’s whose smile seemed to widen, “Welcome to St. Theresa’s Orphanage.”
~
No one seemed to notice the newest edition to the orphanage, and if they did, they spared her nothing more than a first glance.
Juliet didn’t seem to mind though. Taking to the room she shared with a few other girls who were all about her age, that was, they were all about nine years old.
For most of the day, besides meals where she ate silently and without complaint before returning to her room as fast as possible, she would settle herself onto her bed, the one closest to the window, and allow herself to drift into the world that her books had created for her and only her to enjoy.
She preferred it that way.
“Juliet,” Gray eyes slowly glanced up from the book clasped tenderly in her hands to look up at Madam Finch who stood in the doorway of the room, “Why don’t you go downstairs and play with the other children.”
It wasn’t so much of a request as it was a demand.
Juliet sucked in air through her nose as she snapped the book shut. With the book tucked under her arm, she walked past Madam Finch, eyes staring blankly ahead of her as she made her way down the long hallway.
~
The other children had never really bothered Juliet before.
Sure, there were a few that might have stumbled into her accidentally, or taken the last piece of bread she was eying, but they had never truly bothered her.
Until now that is.
As of Madam Finch’s request, Juliet had stalked her way downstairs, setting up fort in the chair by the window in the playroom where a few children had taken to playing board games and card games and other games of that sort while Juliet resumed her reading as quietly as the other children in the room.
Not even five minutes into her reading, a voice penetrated through the hush of the room.
“Hey…”
The voice belonged to a girl.
At least, that’s what Juliet thought.
“Hey, I’m talking to you.”
The voice was harsh and slightly deep.
There were undertones of arrogance that stood out almost obnoxiously so.
“Hey curly!” Juliet took notice of the shadow that had suddenly surrounded her and slowly looked up at the girl, who she guessed was the one making all the noise.
Juliet took in the girl’s appearance with a dull look noting the ugly look the girl had imprinted onto her face that looked like a mix between a snarl and a grin. Her hair was stringy and colored dirty blonde, well more like filthy blonde and Juliet would bet her arm to say the girl hadn’t washed her hair in quite a few days.
“Who are you?” The girl held a look of disgust as she stared at Juliet waiting for an answer and when she received none or the motion that she would ever get one, her face suddenly contorted into that of fury and she snatched Juliet’s book right out of her hands, flipping through it with a haughty air about her but Juliet knew full well the beast of a girl couldn’t understand a single sentence printed in that book.
The girl scoffed, “Useless.” She dropped the book to the floor, her muddy shoes stomping onto it in one defiant motion.
Juliet felt something swell through her like fire, heat spreading to every inch of her body as she stood up from the chair, hands clenched into a fist and the girl merely grinned in satisfaction. The other children in the room had by now stopped what they were doing, a few looking quite scared for the little curly-haired girl who looked as if you’d break her with a simple pat on the back.
“What’s a little bitty girl like you going to do?” She puffed her chest out as she stared down her nose at Juliet who was quite a bit shorter than her.
She started laughing.
The more she laughed, the more Juliet felt her body tremble.
“Are you going to cry now?” As she began to cackle again, Juliet reeled back her clenched fist, sending it soaring into the air and straight into the unbearable girl’s nose which let out a sickening crack.
Juliet stooped down to pick up her dirtied book and stormed out of the room, the rest of the children stared after her with a look that was none too identifiable, no one paid any mind to the other girl who was on the floor writhing in pain as she clutched her bloodied nose.
That was the first time any of the children had seen Juliet Harlow angry.
~
Juliet scrubbed at the grimy dishes, a bored look on her face as she handed the soaking wet dish to the boy to her right who dried it, placing it on top of the stack of dried dishes.
Madam Finch wasn’t pleased with her when she heard that Juliet had broken Fran Boris’ nose, although, when she first confronted her, Juliet hadn’t a clue as to who ‘Fran Boris’ was, though, it only took the mention of a broken nose for Juliet to quickly realize who Madam Finch was talking about.
So here she was washing dishes for the next month or so until Madam Finch finds Juliet has learned her lesson.
“You alright?” Juliet looked over at the older boy, who was probably around fourteen or fifteen, she blinked suddenly realizing she had gotten lost in her own thoughts and she hastily returned to her dish washing, completely ignoring the boy’s question.
“I’m Alex.” Juliet stopped her scrubbing just long enough to send him a sideways glance, examining his blacker than black hair that contrasted greatly with his pale skin, “Madam Finch said your name was Juliet, right?”
Juliet nodded, not feeling the need to look at him as she handed him another plate to dry.
“You’re the girl that knocked Franny for a loop right?” It wasn’t necessarily a question because Juliet had a feeling he already knew the answer to that, “Mighty brave of you, ‘specially since you’re such a tiny little thing.” He started to dry another plate Juliet had handed him still continuing with their one-sided conversation, “Couldn’t believe my ears when everyone kept saying it was you, couldn’t really understand why you’d sock old Fran right in the nose either, then I realized who I was talking about. Can’t believe someone didn’t do it sooner.” His laughter came out in a very boyish sort of snort and Juliet tried her best not to look at him, “So, why’d you acquaint your fist with Fran’s nose anyway?”
Juliet didn’t say anything, simply handing him another plate that he had to dry, the last one in the pile.
“Oh!” Madam Finch’s voice cut through the silence as she stepped into the doorway of the kitchen, “You’re done, are you? Better head up to bed, it’s almost lights out.” She turned on her heel, walking out of the kitchen to round up all the children who hadn’t yet gone off to bed.
Juliet took the plug out of the sink, allowing the filthy water to empty down into the sewers below the orphanage. Alex began piling all of the plates into the cupboard as Juliet stepped down from the stool she had to stand on in order to wash the dishes. She dried her hands off, making her way to the exit of the kitchen, before stopping and against her better judgment, she turned around.
“She stepped on my book.” It was quiet, probably inaudible, but Alex heard it, and he sent her a grin as she hurriedly shuffled out of the kitchen up to the safe haven of her room.
That was the first time anyone had heard Juliet Harlow speak.
~
If Juliet had known before that the result of her conversation with Alex, no matter how one-sided it seemed, would be his constant attempt to coax words out of her whenever he could, Juliet would have most certainly reconsidered her decision.
“So, you like to read, huh?” Juliet stared pointedly at Alex from behind her newest book she had borrowed from one of the younger caretakers in the orphanage, “Yeah that was a bit of a silly question.”
Juliet didn’t say anything, merely returning her attention to the book as the boy continued to chatter on about nonsense, all of which Juliet ignored, trying to immerse herself into the book.
“What are you reading anyway?” He turned his head sideways, trying to read the title on the spine of the book, seeing as how Juliet’s hands covered both the front and back cover, “The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet?”
Juliet remained silent as she watched Alex’s face twist up into a thoughtful look.
“That’s the book about those two kids, right? They fall in love or something?” Juliet nodded, about to return to her reading when she heard him suck in a breath, preparing to talk some more, “So, if you’re Juliet, does that make me Romeo?”
Her breath hitched in her throat as her heart pounded erratic rhythms against her ribs. Her already large gray eyes widened as she stared at him, dumbfounded.
“That’s a yes, right?”
Juliet couldn’t help but notice the spark of fire she felt light in her stomach. She could feel it spread through her body like the heat she felt only weeks previously during her altercation with Fran, but it was different.
Her cheeks grew hot and for once, Juliet had no idea what was going on and the only thing she could do was to stare at Alex whose boyish grin only made the swelling heat worse.
Slowly, her lips twitched up in an almost painful act and she smiled a crooked smile at the boy, whose grin seemed to widen.
That was the first time anyone had seen Juliet Harlow smile.
~
Lately, Juliet’s nights have been ridden with painful nightmares.
There was blood.
There was so much blood.
And screaming.
She could hear someone screaming, and another person would start and then another until screaming was all she could hear.
Then, a hand would latch down on her shoulder, and she’d turn around…
And then…
She’d wake up.
Juliet stared out at the backyard of the orphanage which had children running all around, playing happily with each other, not a care in the world.
Juliet’s sleep deprived eyes seemed to glower at the other children. They were too carefree. Eventually, the gripping truth of reality would bear down on them and what would they be left with? Broken little fantasies and shattered dreams that would never come true to begin with.
She was not stupid, nor ill informed.
She read stories of heroes on fantastical adventures and star-crossed lovers, but she knew better.
They weren’t real.
None of the stories she read were real.
There weren’t happily ever afters and there certainly wasn’t love at first sight.
But, when she read her books, she could forget about the horrors brought about by both reality and her nightmares.
She could forget everything that was wrong in the world for a few hours as she read.
And as she read about the little girl venturing down a rabbit hole and her journey in the most wondrous land, Juliet forgot about her nightmares.
And when a familiar boy sat down next to her, asking if she would read to him, Juliet forgot about everything around them.
Many of the children thought they saw a smile form onto Juliet’s lips as she read out loud to the boy, who sat there unmoving, listening to every word the younger girl said, but it was so small it was almost invisible.
None of them would know it, but that was the first time anyone ever saw Juliet Harlow truly happy.
~
“He’s sick.”
Juliet stared blankly at Madam Finch whose face was contorted into an expression of worry.
Juliet had been at the orphanage nearly a year now, her birthday had come and gone and to any onlooker, nothing seemed to change about the girl. Her hair was still curlier than ever and her eyes were still a stormy gray.
She was still quiet and that unnerving stare of hers was the same.
She still read whatever sort of book she could get her hands on.
But, there was something different, something in the way her eyes shone.
“What do you mean sick?”
“I’m sorry Juliet.” Madam Finch paused, looking down at the child, who was just that, a child, “The doctors don’t know if he’ll recover.”
When Juliet first arrived, she always had an air of maturity about her, something that made her unapproachable by the other children.
But, now, she looks very much like a child.
A stubborn child who is refusing to cry and unable to understand what exactly is going on.
“What do you mean…” Juliet looked up at the older woman, trying to make sense of everything, “He’s… he’s not going to die is he?”
“Alex has been sick for a long time Juliet. It’s been getting worse, and we just didn’t have the money for the treatment and now…”
Juliet’s bottom lip trembled, but tears never formed in her tears, “But… he’s never said anything…” The light in her eyes was gone.
“I’m sorry Juliet.” Madam Finch collapsed to her knees, bringing the girl into a tight hug.
That was the first time anyone has seen Juliet Harlow for what she was, a child.
~
Juliet stared at the shiny new tombstone, standing alone with her throat tightening so painfully she felt as though she couldn’t breathe.
All of the other children were quiet, huddled together a few feet away from her in a sea of black, many letting out silent tears, while the older children tried not to cry.
Madam Finch stood behind them, her face firm as she forced the tears back from her eyes, trying to keep her composure in front of the children, the other caretakers following in example.
Juliet bit her lip as tears threatened to spill and the longer she looked at the tombstone, the more her throat tightened.
And then she started to cry.
Tears now openly fell down her cold cheeks from her already reddened eyes as she choked back the sob that so desperately wanted to break free. Her heart hurt and she couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
That was the first time anyone had seen Juliet Harlow cry.