Chapter 1 - The Orphan Boy

Cailen sat on the hard chair that is outside Ms. Willow’s office, his little legs hanging off the edge, not even coming close to the floor.

His arms were crossed over his chest, his face pointed at the ground in a scowl. He was listening to the words that were currently being shared between the adults inside the office because the walls of this place were very thin.

"He's too much to handle," the familiar voice of his current foster mother said.

Cailen huffed, he was not.

Everyone who was interested in adopting a child first went through the phase of being a foster parent, mostly to test how well they could take care of a child so the child wouldn't be left to an unsuitable home, but also to see how well they meshed together.

So far, he wasn't very good at that part.

"He's always getting into trouble at school and I can't afford to leave work every day to go and get him."

It wasn't everyday, Cailen thought to himself.

"What are you saying?" Ms. Willow’s voice asked, sounding very tired.

"I'm saying, maybe this wasn't a good idea for us," his foster mother, or what he was assuming was going to be his ex-foster mother, said with a sigh.

"You want to put him back in the orphanage?" Ms. Willow asked.

Cailen frowned. No matter how often this happened, it still hurt every time.

It still tore away a little piece of his heart and he wasn't sure how much more it could have taken away.

"Yes."

Cailen tuned out after that. He didn't need to pay attention to hear what happened next.

They would sign some papers, and Cailen would be sent off to his new room at the orphanage. He's done it before.

In fact, this is the sixth time he's been sent back into the care of the orphanage. He was only five. Cailen didn't think he was 'such a handful' as others have put it.

He was just energetic and got bored easily. Was there really something wrong with that?

Cailen wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there but soon enough, his ex-foster mother stepped out of the room with Ms. Willow right behind her. She smiled apologetically at Cailen, kneeling down in front of him.

"It was fun, Cailen," she said and Cailen rolled his eyes, not caring if he was being rude.

She was returning him to the orphanage like he was some sort of defective merchandise. Like some kind of a faulty wiring that needs repair, or a flawed toy car.

"I know someone will come for you soon," she said standing back up.

Cailen kept his mouth shut and didn't reply. Instead, he hoped off the tall chair, gave a 'hmmph' and started marching down the hall.

"Cailen. Come back here," Ms. Willow’s voice demanded.

Cailen froze in place and turned around slowly.

Ms. Willow gave him an expectant look and waited patiently for him to shuffle back. Cailen did, against his will, very slowly, and stopped in front of his former foster mother.

"Thank you for providing such a lovely home for me," Cailen spoke politely, a smile plastered on his face. "And thank you so much for dumping me on my arse," Cailen said in the same polite voice, then turned around again, noticing an angry Ms. Willow and the shock written on his ex-foster mother's face.

Cailen heard the apologies being exchanged between the adults but he didn't care.

Instead, he waddled his way down the hall, stopping in the playroom with the other orphans.

There was a mix of expressions when he returned, some were happy to see him, others not so much, but they all had that same sympathetic look on their faces.

He had been returned, again.

Cailen ignored all the piercing looks that he got and sat his bum down beside a little girl about his age who he had befriended while he was here.

Her name was Ella. She was sweet and kind and funny and really pretty.

Cailen didn't understand why no one wanted to adopt her. He assumed she would be adopted soon though, and he would be glad about that, but he sure would miss her.

"Toy car?" she offered, holding out her hand with a little toy car in it.

Cailen shook his head. He was never fond of cars or toys like that. He preferred to play with action figures and dolls.

Ella dropped the toy and picked up a doll and tossed it at him. She hadn't said a word about his return and he was thankful for it. He didn't want to talk about it.

Not right now. Not after what he was feeling, and not after what he did back at the hall. Ms. Willow will surely have a word with him later because of it. But he just couldn’t help it.

He smiled down at the doll and looked up to Ella. She was looking down at another doll in her hands. She looked up and saw him staring at her.

He gave a small smile towards her. Ella gave him a pretty toothy grin, and he snorted before giving her a full blown smile.

“You’re so pretty when you smile,” she said.

Cailen shook his head. “Boy’s aren’t pretty, Ella. I am a boy. So I’m not pretty,” he stared at her again. “But you, you’re a very pretty girl.”

She smiled at her before shaking his head. “I heard one of the volunteers said that the word pretty has no gender. It can refer to anyone, boys and girls, and to anything! She said that ‘pretty’ is an abjecting. Look!” Ella raised the doll that she was holding. “This doll is also pretty!”

Cailen laughed at her. “You mean adjective.”

Ella scrunched his forehead. “That’s what I said.”

Cailen shook his head and smiled, not brooding over what she said. Words aren’t his strongest suit. More often than not, he ended up saying things that he shouldn’t have said.

And most of the time, it causes trouble.