Change

Chapter Three

Two hours and forty-five minutes in, and I was still hopelessly cleaning. My whole body is sweating like crazy. Only fifteen minutes left until I get released from this dusty hell. I had coughed my lungs up by now. Its truly a surprise I am still breathing. How did these girls ever get through the day in here? I can not believe that this is actually happening. Am I really here? Me? Helping these people? The feeling was a new one... Maybe even a good one. But lets not jump to conclusions.

They were all too shy to speak, none ever came within arms reach of me. Sometimes I would catch them peaking in at me and once I would lock eyes with them, they would run away. I decided to try and speak up. Once a new pair of eyes slyly looks through the doorway, I wave. Her small eyebrows move towards each other in confusion.

"Um... Hi," I call. She doesnt say a word, just stares at me in bewilderment. Why isnt she saying anything back? Am I scaring her? Maybe she isnt used to having anyone besides Karen and the other people here speaking to her. "Whats your name?" She seems to understand my words, even being small and probably not having the best education for someone her age.

"Katie." She says so softly that I am not sure I heard her right. I nod and offer her a slight smile. God, I am bad at this whole "talking to the orphans" thing. What do I say now? 'How are you doing'? Obviously she isnt doing good, she is trapped here in this miserable looking place against her will.

"Thats.. Thats a really pretty name." I say, and immediately Im proud I did. That was definitely better than anything else I could have said. There really wasn't anything else to say. Katie's eyes light up a little, but nothing could hide the pain in them. So much darkness for such a little girl. I can tell she is shocked by my compliment, because she is silent for a little. But after a few moments, she whispers a small "Thank you." I smile a little more genuinely this time.

"Wanna help?" I ask her. Her mind flies as she tries to decide whether its a good idea or not. Her eyes meet mine as she nods.

I search through my backpack and pull out a rag, spray it with some window cleaner, and hand it to her. I slide something underneath the window to help her reach it. "Here, you can wipe the window off." Her small body climbs up onto the somewhat-of-a-stool and she rubs the window aimlessly with her rag. She does this as if its the most important job in the world, concentrating with every brain cell she has.

When my time here is up for the day, I turn towards Katie. You could finally see through the window, and she was very proud of her accomplishment. She looks at me and smiles brightly, brighter than I thought was possible for someone with as dark eyes as hers.

"Good job!" I say. I gently take the rag and place it in my backpack. I smile to her as I walk out the door. I didnt know it yet, but her smile was soon going to become the best thing to ever happen to me, and my number one favorite thing to see.