On The Other Side.
By: xfx1118 (Thats me, i_forgot...)
Miriam sat at the old wooden dinner table picking at her rare-cooked steak with the cheap plastic knife they used at the orphanage she had lived at for two years since the event that took her parents. The orphanage's Alaskan husky, Biscuit pranced into the room and put her chin on Miriam's lap, her eyes begging for food. Miriam stared into the dog's pleading eyes for a moment before throwing the last quarter of the steak for the dog.
How simple the mind of the dog, she thought. 'Give me food' and 'play with me,' so simple, so predictable. Miriam stood up and walked out of the room and up the stairs to the room she shared with three other girls. She dragged her feet on the carpeted floor of the hallway that was illuminated only by the faint light of a street lamp through an old fake-silk curtain. When she got to her room, Miriam was surprised to find the door was unlocked. Usually, the older girls in the room picked on her for being the 'short, shy and cute,' as the head of the orphanage, Ms. Campbell, would say.
Miriam opened the door slowly and quietly and slipped inside. The digital clock on her dresser read 11:11. Make a wish, Miri, she thought to herself. "I want to get out of here." She mumbled quietly as the clock changed suddenly to 11:12. Miriam threw the sheets to the foot of her bed and laid down. I really do want to get out of here, please God.
Miriam woke early in the morning as she had trained herself to do so that she could avoid any unnecessary pranks from her roommates. "One day", she promised looking at Beth, the apparent leader of the girls, "I’ll get back at you.” She turned and pointed to the other two girls in the room, "And you, and you," she said with an evil smirk.
Miriam dragged herself out of the room with her head bowed low and her hair covering her eyes. The bathroom was in use with was nothing new when you lived with fourteen other people, and the kitchen hadn't opened because Ms. Campbell was still sleeping after a long night with some guy who claimed to be a doctor but was probably nothing more then mall security. She yawned and sat down in the hallway hating the gross morning breath, and bright light through the window. Biscuit ran through the hallway, her tail wagging excitedly, exerting energy Miriam could hardly fathom at six-thirty in the morning.
The bathroom door opened and Wesley, the pretty boy, came out and looked at Miriam, "Good mornin' Miri!" He said merrily. What are you so happy about jackass? Miriam wanted to say, but instead just grunted an acknowledgment. Wesley nodded and left knowing that conversation with Miriam would get nowhere and waste time and energy. Miriam got up and did her usual morning routine, brush her teeth, shower and use the bathroom. It was so routine she could do it in her sleep and in less time then anyone else in the building. Re-entering her room and getting dressed Miriam glanced at her clock, she had a few minutes before Beth’s alarm clock went off. Miriam rushed and hurried downstairs to wait for breakfast, which would probably be skipped due to Ms. Campbell’s hangover. Biscuit came bounding around the corner as happily as before with her mouth open and tongue out. “Biscuit, that’s gross…” Miriam started, but realized she was talking to a dog. It probably interpreted that as ‘come here and hump my leg as I feed you and scratch your ears,’ what a pitiful creature.
As Miriam expected, Biscuit ran over with her tail wagging viciously, and stuck her face into Miriam’s. Miriam backed away and pushed the dog off of her. She stood up and walked off, there was no quiet in the old house, she thought sadly, wishing she could move out into her own place and live alone. Miriam cursed her parents for her being in the orphanage. She blamed her parents for all of her problems, especially her dad, who was the epitome of men she hated. She felt kind of glad her mother killed him the few years back, but dismissed the thought quickly. As much as her father angered her, death was something she didn’t like to wish or enjoy.
Miriam eventually headed to the small 'study' to re-read one of the fifteen books she'd already read. At the small nightstand with the few books sandwiched between a television set that could be no newer then ten years and the far corner of the small room, Miriam closed her eyes and picked a book at random. Outer Dark, one of her favorites. Miriam read for about an hour and a half when the service bell rang. As the only responsible person in the entire orphanage, Miriam rose and walked to the front counter. Opening the door, she saw a man and a women waiting patiently smiling like idiots. The man looked like he just stepped out of an old mafia movie in a black and white striped suit, and the woman was in a long white dress. Miriam half expected them to start dancing. She tried her best to smile for them as she approached the counter. "Can I help you?" She asked nicely.
"Yes, I'm Hank Malone, this is the orphanage, right?" The man said merrily, "There was no sign or anything, 'ya know?" Even the name fits, Miriam thought.
"Yes, this is the place. Are you here to see the kids?" Miriam asked hopeful that the 20's gangster and Marilyn Monroe would take her out of the damnable home.
The lady spoke up in a gentle voice, "Yes, a female is possible." Hank looked awkwardly at the floor.
"Right this way, then." Miriam said turning around, and immediately replacing her smile with an indifferent look.
Miriam led the two on a small tour praying that Ms. Campbell wouldn't come out of the bathroom with a man in a bathrobe like the last time. Miriam introduced the want-to-be parents to all of the girls, putting exceptionally good descriptions on the ones she hated in hopes they would be taken to some mafia hideout and forced to make drugs until busted by the police. After the thirty-minute tour was over, Miriam led the couple to the office where she was suppressed to the Ms. Campbell smiling and fully clothed. "Miriam, you can go back to what you where doing," she said. "I'll take care of the rest."
Miriam left the office and returned to the tiny study to find, much to her dismay, her roommates sitting on the couch watching MTV, and Outer Dark thrown recklessly to the floor, her page unmarked. Miriam picked up the book, disregarding the suppressed laughter of Beth and the Bitchy Bunch, as she referred to them. She scanned the book for her lost page in the hallway knowing by now, the kitchen was full, and so was every other room short of her own which was probably a total mess that she didn't want to be around to clean. She heard the old speakers click, it seems the odd balls have made a choice, Miriam thought. Ms Campbell's unpleasant voice echoes through the empty hallway. "Miriam, could you return to the office, please?"
Miriam took a moment to register the call. It can't be, me, of all people? That’s nonsense... Miriam walked to the office prepared to hear that she needed to find a different girl, but praying that she'd be leaving today. Opening the office door, Monroe and Hank where standing up smiling like their child just said its first word. “You wanted me for something?” Miriam asked curiously, hiding her excitement behind an indifferent stare. Ms. Campbell stood and smiled to Miriam.
“Meet your new parents, Mr. Hank and Mrs. Julian Malone!” Miriam was speechless, it was simply too much for her to comprehend at the moment, why pick her out of all the other girls? She was the oddball, the quiet, reserved intellectual who was always picked on. The worst choice!
Miriam nodded, “Please take care of me, Mr. and Mrs. Malone.”
“Call me papa,” Hank laughed. “Your one of us now!”
Ms. Campbell pulled Miriam aside and whispered for her to pack her bags. While she took care of all the paperwork with the Malones. Miriam smiled and backed out of the room, and off to her room to pack up, and maybe pull her final revenge. In her room, Miriam packed her bags with her clothes, books and various other belongings, and readied the bags outside the room. Before she went downstairs, Miriam took the shaving cream out of the bathroom and sprayed the walls of her room. “Have fun, ‘gals.” She muttered to herself.
Miriam bounded down the stairs excitedly with her medium sized luggage in her hand. Biscuit was waiting at the bottom of the steps with her tongue out, panting. “Hey girl, ‘ya gunna miss me when I’m gone?” Miriam said, bending over on the steps to pat Biscuit on the head gently. Miriam smiled; I guess these dogs aren’t all that bad in moderation, huh. Miriam walked out to the office and sat down on her suitcase, petting an excited Biscuit, anxious to be leaving with her new parents.
The door to the office opened quietly, and Mr. Malone walked out happily. “C’mon Miriam, let’s go home, shall we?”
“Yeah”
