A Child Called It - David
Briar Rose-Becca
The setting first takes place at an adoption agency in San Fransisco, but as the story changes, the two characters are at Becca's home in Holyoke Massachusetts.
As I walked down the hall, I could hear my heart pulsing and feel my hands shaking, for that would be the moment that my life changed. I had been at the adoption agency in San Francisco for two weeks and I had been told that I would be going home with my new mother that day. I knew that my life was about to change enormously, and all for the better. As I paced around the corner to the lobby, I saw my new mother, as she saw her new son. The first thing I could do was run to her as she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a warm motherly hug, which I have been longing for years.
“Hi David, my name is Rebecca, it is very nice to meet you,” her voice was so loving; it caught me by surprise, because what she said was real, and she actually did care about me, which was something I was not used to. I knew at this moment that I loved Rebecca, my new mom.
“Thank you, Rebecca… for everything. I do love you very much,” I knew that this was probably too soon to say, but I could not help myself, I had to tell Rebecca what I felt.
“I love you too David, now let’s go home,” my new mother gently took my hand, and led me out the door.
We arrived in Holyoke many hours later, just in time for dinner, and my mom said she had worked really hard on a special dinner for me before she left for California. I could only imagine what this could be, because anything more than one piece of bread was out of the ordinary in my normal food consumption. As I daydreamt in my mom’s car about what she could possibly have in store for me, I was interrupted by her voice.
“Here we are, home sweet home,” she spoke in a very gentle tone.
Right as I walked through the door of my new home, I felt the love and laughter I would encounter while living here. The delicious scent of apple pie filled the air, and the beautifully decorated house swept my off my feet. As we then made our way to the kitchen, my mom told me that she had recently bought this new home, mostly for my homecoming. As we approached the table, I could feel the saliva in my mouth start to crave this feast. My mom put an enormous plate of lasagna in front of me, and I could not believe my eyes; I immediately started to fill my empty stomach. I was embarrassed as I ate my supper ravenously, but it was just habit now, from my previous life. Thankfully, my mom did not seem offended by my manners, but excited that I enjoyed her cooking so much.
“I am very happy that you like my lasagna, were you hungry?” My mom was now very proud of her work.
“Well to be honest, every since Mother starved me for consecutive days, and only gave me a short time limit to eat, it has been habitual for me to shove any food down my throat that I got my hands on,” as I said this, memories of my old life came back to me, and I decided I wanted to share these with my new mother.
“You don’t have to tell me about your past if you don’t want to because I know it must be hard to talk about,” my mom said this with a very caring, sympathetic tone.
“Actually, I like to talk about it, because it reminds me about how lucky I am to be living my new life here with you. Would you like me to tell you more about my childhood?” I said this hoping that she would say yes.
“I would love you to tell me,” I could see tears starting to form in her eyes, from what I had just said.
“Well, in Mother’s eyes, my life was just a game. She would have fun abusing me, to points where I could have died. She would poison me with Clorox and ammonia, try to burn me, lock me in a gas chamber in our bathroom, starve me for as long as ten days, and one time she even accidently stabbed me. My life was basically a living hell, but I knew that I had to remain strong, because I never wanted her to feel satisfaction from my defeat,” by this point, my mom looked upset, so I didn’t want to continue.
“ I am deeply sorry about all that you went through, David. You are my idol for being so strong, and I want you to know that you will never have to go through any pain again,” as my mom spoke I could almost feel the love that she had for me, seep through my skin, and into my heart.
“Thank you, I really appreciate everything that you are doing for me. I do have one question for you though,” my curiosity about my mother was beginning to grow inside of me.
“Yes, anything,” she said, ready to answer anything I had to ask.
“Have you ever gone through anything really special?” I asked.
“ I have never gone through anything like you have, but I have recently solved a family mystery, if that counts,” she seemed to feel sorry for how uneventful her life was.
“That sounds very interesting. What did you solve?” I was very excited for this story.
“Well, my grandmother has recently passed away, and all she left a mysterious box that she never told anyone about. It had photographs and other memorabilia’s that related to a story she told me as a child. The story was called Briar Rose which was similar to Sleeping Beauty, and she was the princess. After traveling to Europe and researching a lot about my “Gemma’s” past, I found that she actually was the princess to her story. She was a holocaust survivor, and the story she told was a “fairy tale” version of what she went through. I know that this is nothing compared to your life, but it’s all I got,” we both chuckled.
“Actually, I thought that story was incredible, you should be very proud of yourself for what you did. I bet that your Gemma and I would have a lot in common with torture and the fight to stay alive,” I said.
“I bet you would David, I bet you would,” at this moment she reached to me, hugged me, and whispered, “Welcome home honey, welcome home.”
