Keeper of the Eternal Flame

Chapter 1: Misfits

The kids at Silver Oaks Orphanage don't care what happens to them at this point. The kids have been taught that nobody wants them and that is why they all rot away here. They are no better than the mold that covers every inch of the place. Silver Oaks isn't like most orphanages. This is the orphanage that other orphanages around the United States dump the kids they can't handle. Amara has been here all her life.

They are the troubled ones that cause destruction everywhere they go. Or so Miss Eldora Wright says. She is the head of this run down excuse for a home. Imagine a portly frog with snaggle teeth and a long nose. You will have just seen the spitting image of Miss Eldora Wright. Her favorite hobby is telling everyone here how much they have failed and will continue to fail in life. She however isn't the worst person to encounter.

Ellie Davids has been in this orphanage longer than anyone else. Therefore she deemed herself the queen of the house. If queen meant raging she- devil, she finally has gotten something right. It is to everyone's belief that she lives off of other kids' fear and humiliation.

In fact not long ago Amara found herself locked into the janitors closet with Billy Motts. Nothing happened, but she would never live the humiliation down. All around the orphanage kids chanted " Billy and Amara sitting in a tree K I S S..." you know the rest. All thanks to Ellie Davids. Mrs. Wright was so angry it looked like she was about to croak. Billy got off with a warning because he only just arrived the day before. However Amara got the worst punishment. She would practice for her future job occupation... as a janitor. For a whole month! For a whole month she scrubbed pee stained toilets and wiped up barf from the cafeteria when kids got sick from the spoiled food.

Most days were like this. Ellie Davids thinks of new schemes everyday to cause Amara trouble. Lunch was perhaps the worst of all.

"Hey curly fry! What's that you are wearing? Must have gotten it out of the dumpster!" Ellie grinned and her posse broke out in laughter. Amara was just wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans. On Sunday's they were allowed to wear something other than the Orphanage slacks due to having no lessons.

"Yeah seems a little dirty to me." Ellie's best hench-girl Sophie Harlow laughed with her high pitched voice. She then proceeded to dump her tray of food onto Amara's lap. Today was spaghetti, if you could call it that. " There. Looks a little better," Amara's eyes watered. "Oh are you gonna cry Alien Eyes? Poor little Amara doesn't have clean clothes or a family to love her!" Amara did want to cry but she would never give them the satisfaction of seeing it. In all honesty, she doesn't know why Ellie and her friends torture her. Sure they pick on other kids, but Amara gets most of their crap.

Her "alien eyes" were one of her biggest insecurities. People always stared at them. They are regular almond shaped eyes, but it is the color that bewilders people. On her right is a regular forest green eye. Her left was more abnormal. It was a striking violet color. There was nothing she could do to change them, except gauge her eyes out. But only an insane person would go to such lengths over it. She didn't consider herself to be insane quite yet.

It seemed like forever until the girls went and bothered more unfortunate souls. She decided to head back up to her dorm and cry there. Her eyes did bother her, but most of all it bothered her that they all were right. She had nobody to love her. And she was all alone in the world.

All alone except for the little creatures that visit her from time to time. She calls them the "little ones." They must be from her most wild imagination. If she were to ever speak of them outloud or ask the other kids if they saw them too, she would be sent to an insane asylum. Every single one of the little creatures were unique in their own way. Most of them have pointed ears and some have wings. Some are short and stout, while others are tall and stick like. They come in all colors of the rainbow. They all have a uniqueness that intrigued Amara, as she was unique herself.

Most of the time they come at night when the moon is full and the stars shine above all the other street lights in downtown Cape Elizabeth, Maine. They would comfort her when she had a rough day. Or when Ellie and her friends went too far in one of their schemes.

Amara often thought of the little ones throughout the day. About when they would visit her next, or what they would bring her. Each time they visit they bring a gift. A couple days ago they brought her a little doll replica of herself. All of it was made from things Amara could find outside, except the colors never faded. It was like magic.

"What the hell are you wearing? You freakish child!" Mrs. Wright grabbed Amara by the arm and shook her till her brains rattled. She was almost to the girls dormitories. She almost escaped for the night. A dreadful feeling swam in Amara's gut."This will not go unpunished! You will sleep in the basement like the rat you are!" Mrs. Wright dragged Amara down the hall. Kids laughed and pointed as she passed. At the end of the hall is a rotten oak door that opens up to the basement steps. Mrs. Wright whipped the door open and threw Amara inside. "Now you are home little rat."

It is common knowledge around the orphanage that the basement has never been entered before. Not even by Mrs. Wright.

All around Amara was faced with darkness. No speck of light and no sound. She sunk to the floor and leaned against the door. Here was where she could cry, she could let it all out. The rats could witness all of her pain exploding out of her for all she cared. For hours she let it all fall out for them all to see. For seventeen years she has lived in this hell hole. For seventeen years she has been a prisoner. She would never escape.

"Amara," soft whispers called out from the darkness. Amara stood straight up in a panic. There was nobody there, nobody she could see through the darkness. "Amara," The voice was like one of a mother soothing her child. It sounds like honey and a warm Summer's day. The voice gently pulled Amara towards it. At the bottom of the stair lay a lantern and a set of matches. She quickly picked them up and lit the lantern. Amara's eyes took a minute to adjust. When she opened them she saw the opposite of what a basement should look like.

Even covered in cobwebs the room was breathtakingly beautiful. The whole room was covered in a huge mural. The whole room was filled with paintings of the little creatures. It was so beautiful Amara wanted to cry once again. To the right the painting was darker. It looked to be consumed by bitterness and hate. A part of her told her to stay away from that part of the painting.

"Amara," there was that voice once again. "Amara, come here my child." She turned to the other wall in the direction of the voice. An intricately painted door faced her. Next to the door pointing, was a woman with the same long curly red hair as Amara.

"She looks like me," Amara thought out loud.

She walked up to the door and reached her hand out as if to open it.