It was very early in the morning. All of the people in Gotham City were asleep. All except one.
At the Gotham City Orphanage for Kids and Teens, a young thirteen-year-old girl with long black hair in pigtails was looking out of a window. She was wearing dirty, torn blue pajamas. Her eyes were the most beautiful shade of light blue; a mix between sapphire and baby blue. She was sitting with her legs drawn to her chest while singing.
"Maybe far away,
Or maybe real nearby,
He may be pourin' her coffee,
She may be straight'nin' his tie.
Maybe in a house all hidden by a hill,
She's sittin', playin' piano,
He's sittin', payin' a bill," she sang.
"Betcha they're young,
Betcha they're smart,
Bet they collect things,
Like ashtrays and art.
Betcha they're good,
Why shouldn't they be?
Their one mistake
Was givin' up me," she continued singing softly.
"So, maybe now it's time,
And maybe when I wake,
They'll be there callin' me baby,
Maybe."
The other orphans were sleeping soundly, except for one. A small girl of six was tossing and turning in her bed. She had her thumb in her mouth and was whimpering loudly. She threw her stuffed robin on the floor, and continued to toss and turn.
Her whimpering alerted the thirteen-year-old, and she turned from her place at the window and began to descend the stairs. The young girl woke up, her periwinkle orbs staring up at the ceiling. "Dixie?" she called out. After a moment, she sat up and called out again, louder. "Dixie. Dixie! Dixie! Dixie!"
Dixie Grayson walked over to the young girl's bed, where she continued to call her name. "Dixie!" She sat down on the girl's bed and embraced her, stroking her dark brown locks gently. "Shhh, it's okay now, Timber. I'm here. Everything's gonna be okay," she said. "There, there." Dixie kissed Timber Drake on her cheek. "It was only a dream, Timmi. It's okay." Dixie continued to shush Timber.
"How am I supposed to get any sleep around here with that brat's noise?" Jayson Todd, a young girl of nine with strawberry blond locks, complained loudly. Dixie ignored her, continuing to stroke Timber's hair motherly. "It was only a dream," she repeated. "Everything's alright." Timber smiled at Dixie.
"Timber shouldn't be in the big kids' room," Jayson continued, standing in her bed. "She's a baby," she said, stepping on Willow West's stomach, who moaned in agony. "She cries about everything," Jayson said, stepping on Apollo Crock's face, who cried out in pain. She stopped on Morgan Morse's bed. "And she wets the bed every night," Jayson finished. "I do not!" Timber yelled, standing up in her bed.
"You're the one who shouldn't be in here, Todd," Apollo yelled, pushing Jayson down. Willow grabbed her pillow and started whacking Jayson with it, while Apollo and a girl named Connie Kent started punching her in the back. "Brat!" Connie yelled. A huge clamor rose.
"Stop! We are going to get in trouble," a girl named Kalise Ahm yelled. "Go, Jayson! Go!" Willow screamed. "Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!" Morgan exclaimed as the kids started arguing.
"Cut it out!" Dixie yelled, walking up to the beds and pulling Jayson of off Apollo. "I mean it!" she added, ripping the pillow out of Willow's hands. "Do you want Miss Zucco to come in here and beat us black and blue?" Dixie asked, throwing the pillow and shoving the ginger toward her bed. She glared at Connie, who shrank back. "Go back to bed," she said angrily.
Dixie glared at Jayson, who was standing on the bed. Jayson glared back, putting her hands on her hips. "Now, Jayson," she said, "or I'll make you." Dixie balled up her fists. "Aw, go shove it up your bread hole, Grayson," she said, walking back to her bed.
Dixie turned and sat on Timber's bed, pulling her down into a sitting position. "Close your eyes, Timber, and think about your parents," she said. "You're the one who actually has parents that love you," Timber said sadly. "Mine abandoned me." She fingered the locket Dixie had on, a circle with the initials 'DG' on it, given to her by her parents.
Dixie gave her a sad smile. "Then think about the people that will come to adopt you, 'cause they want a six-year-old girl with dark brown hair and pale blue eyes," she said, hugging Timber again. Dixie began to sing again.
"Betcha he reads,
Betcha she sews,
Maybe she's made me
A closet of clothes." The orphans listened to Dixie sing, thinking about their parents or would-be parents. "Oh, my goodness," Morgan murmured.
"Maybe they're strict,
As straight as a line.
Don't really care
As long as they're mine.
So, maybe now this prayer's
The last one of its kind.
Won't you please come get your baby..." Dixie never got to finish her song. Just then, the footsteps of Miss Toni Zucco were heard. The orphans closed their eyes and pretended to be asleep.
Miss Zucco staggered into the room, drinking a bottle of alcohol. She turned on the lights. "Did I hear... Singing in here?" she asked. She walked around the room and stopped at a bed. "Okay. Good. Well, since we're all so wide awake," she pulled the covers off of Zachary Zatarra. The orphans groaned.
"Get up! Get out of bed," she shouted, throwing the covers off of more orphans. "Clean up this mess! Get dressed! Now!" The orphans quickly scrambled for their torn and dirty clothes, wanting to avoid getting beaten by Miss Zucco.
"And this room had better be spotless before breakfast time, you little freaks, or kill, kill, kill!" Miss Zucco continued. Dixie let go of Timber and walked toward the edge of the bed, while Timber dragged herself out of it. "But it's midnight, Miss Zucco, and we're all tired," she complained.
"'But it's midnight, Miss Zucco, and we're all tired'," Miss Zucco said in a high pitched voice, making Dixie scowl lightly. She grabbed the collar of Dixie's torn pajama shirt and raised her up, turning her angry expression into a fearful one. "And if this floor don't shine, just like the lights on the top of Wayne Enterprises, I'll make sure your corpses do. Do I make myself clear?" Miss Zucco asked, swivelling around to face the kids.
"Yes, Miss Zucco," the orphans chorused. Miss Zucco turned back to Dixie. "What do we say, circus freak?" she asked. With a suppressed sigh, Dixie answered mechanically, "I love you, Miss Zucco." She smiled a fake smile. Miss Zucco just looked at her with a grimace.
"Why any child would want to be an orphan is beyond me," she said. She let Dixie go. Dixie jumped off the bed and onto Miss Zucco's foot, making her howl in pain. Dixie smirked at the sound, and rushed away with the other orphans to begin cleaning.
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So, this is my Annie parody, which focuses on, you guessed it, genderbent Dick Grayson. Finally, I'm done with the first chapter. Each chapter will have the same title as a song from the movie, and feature that same song. Also, to picture Dixie's singing/speaking voice, think of Andrea Libman, Pinkie Pie's singing voice.
Stay whelmed!
