Seagull (My Little Orphan)

Part III: Everyone

Jacqueline was born in winter, as a large proportion of people in Seagull were. The winter in this part of Seagull was cold, quiet and can last for quite a while. She used to live in the part where there were beaches, sunshine and summer and left ever since she finished high school. She got into a college on the other side of the coast and travelled to the city where she got her graduate degree, found a job, and met Michelle.

To the north of the city lies the mountains where Michelle was born and raised. Michelle told Jacqueline that the first time she went to the city it took them three whole days of travelling on the bus. Even though it was such a long journey Riley was very excited, she even bought Michelle a vanilla milkshake and honey roasted peanuts which were only seen on the bus food cart at that time.

Thereafter, in this quiet, cold and long season of the year, Michelle moved in with Jacqueline, with an excuse that the heat in the college dorm was not working very well. After finishing high school, she moved out of the small place Jacqueline had helped her applied for and moved to the college dorm, where she decided to concentrate on making her portfolio so that she could apply for a major in illustration with several freshman courses she was taking. As the leaves turned orange and yellow and red, she missed the nights where she could snuggle under the same blanket and brushed her cold feet against the warm calves of Jackie's. Jackie would whine a little but never pull her leg away. College life was full of serious business to consider, and Michelle even made some friends. But still in the middle of the day in the library, or on the way when she was waiting for the bus, she thought she really missed Jackie. She spent her whole high school doing that basically. At first, she thought of her as someone she could never have but she pretended that she could have her so that she could just imagine things that they could do together to make her life feel better. And as they got closer, she thought of her as a pure miracle; she even wrote in a notebook about what they had done and what they talked about the first several times they hung out, in case these occasions never happened again so that she could read about them later when she was alone. And now she thought of her as a close friend and a great lover whom she really enjoyed spending time with. She finally wasn't afraid that someday she would wake up and found out that this was nothing but a dream, that she still was that helpless teenager, with no family, no friends, no place to stay in the city and no money so that she would have to beg like a homeless dog wagging its tail for sympathy and charity.

She called Jacqueline one afternoon and told her about her first two months in college. She told her that she had joined Swimmer's Club, volunteered as a faculty weekly journal editor and also told her about the people she met. She said that the school dorm was fine with such a price that she could afford given that she was still doing part-time at Harrison's Grocery and she had applied for a student loan. However, the heat wasn't working very well. To her surprise, Jacqueline asked her if she wanted to move in with her.

"Why don't you come to stay with me, Chelle? Where I worked is pretty close to yours, and I can probably pick you up every day after work or you can take a bus to my place, it's only 20 minutes! I hope you're not too busy with your new life in college Chelle, because when I was your age I got so caught up with all the lab reports and stuff I don't even remember how the sky looked like anymore!" She laughed.

"I would love to." Michelle answered quietly with a big smile, "I know what you're talking about Jackie. You remember Vic when I was in high school? She was now in chemistry and I hardly ever seen her since October." She chuckled.

"So, when are you coming? This Friday? Sounds great! I'll see you then and help you move, and I've got a surprise for you!"

"Me too." Michelle said, and she hung up the phone. She was also thrilled to see that after three days of continuous snowing the sun finally came out.