Divided Memories

Chapter 5

It had only been three months since Jimmy came to live in the orphanage. At first he didn't like it, and would often ask one of the caretakers if his mother would ever come for him. All of them were hesitate to answer the poor boy, as he had high hopes for his mother's return. The cold hard truth however came to light when Jimmy asked Madam Wilson about the woman that gave birth to him.

Turns out his mother lied about leaving him for a couple nights at the orphanage, claiming it to be her friend's house. She promised to come pick him up after her business has been completed. Her words however were false and empty. No matter how much the boy denied it, he can't get over the image of that wretched woman's smile. A smile that showed no love for her son, but a smile that is dark. The look on her face says it all too. No sense of remorse or guilt for her disgusting actions. To the caretaker's eyes, they see parents who show no love for their children and throw them aside like garbage are monsters.

Jimmy however, being naïve as he can be, gave his birth mother the benefit of a doubt. There has to be a reason why she decided to give him up at the orphanage. He vowed to himself that when he is old enough to understand, he will find his mother. Questions will be asked of course, but Jimmy also hoped that by talking things out with his mother as an adult, they would be a family again.

The boy told Julia his goal, to which girl can only respond with a sad nod. Truth to be told, Julia learned the truth from Jimmy's conversation with Madam Wilson behind the closed door of her office. He requested of her to lead him to the older woman who runs the orphanage, to which Julia did. Now that he got his answer, Jimmy became more sad and melancholy. Despite that, he is still determined to see his mother again when he's old enough to leave the orphanage.

During those three months, Julia kept Jimmy company when the other children, mainly the older ones, got fed up with the boy's constant crying and begging for his mother to return. They still find him odd as he is always quiet. Not even spoken a single word to anyone besides Julia, the only person he somehow came to trust and befriended. Mainly because she is the first who showed him kindness and is patient with him despite being a couple years older than her.

The two became inseparable. Even though he is very shy and timid, Jimmy muster up the courage to get out of his comfort zone in order to get to know the other orphans instead of being clingy to Julia all the time. The little girl that Julia introduced to, Hilda, really took a liking to him. The other younger children around her age also began to play with him, looking up to him as an older brother. Whether it's playing with dolls, hide-and-seek, or playing Fairy Tale related pretend with the youngsters, Jimmy slowly became less shy and homesick.

Today, the orphans are busying themselves with the caretakers in decorating the large Christmas tree in the main room as they can't play outside during the blizzard. All the fireplaces within the orphanage are kept burning in order to keep it warm and toasty. Four other caretakers are in charge of bringing in firewood to keep the copper baskets beside the fireplaces full. Madam Wilson was able to save enough money to at least have a Christmas feast prepared for the children. It's not too incredibly fancy like the nobles and other high class party had, but still hearty and filling. Thankfully there are quite a lot of people who are kind enough to donate toys to the orphanage as Christmas presents for the children as well.

"Hmph! I can't reach that branch!"

"Here, I'll give you a lift"

Gerald, now the oldest child in the orphanage at fourteen, picked the little girl up from behind in order to help her reach towards a specific branch to place her shiny green sphered ornament.

"Julia, dear" Miss Howard called from the ladder "Could you please hand me over the garlands please?"

"Yes ma'am!" Julia left her place beside Jimmy to grab the garland from the wooden crate that is still half full with other ornaments and stockings. She pulled out a very long garland that is mainly made of wooden beads and painted in red and white. Then she made her way over to the caretaker and handed over to her before coming back to the large tree to resume decorating with the children.