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The Girl With Hope

Toree Q.

There is a girl. A girl with no name. We'll call her anonyme. Anonyme is French for nameless. A girl twelve years old. And we are about to tell you her story. Her story takes place in a town. There weren’t any very rich people. The girl was among few of the poor.

It was sunset. Though it was sunset, no one could see the sun disappear behind a neighboring mountain range, for a nasty storm was brewing.

In the middle of all this, our poor girl was sitting at the steps of a blacksmith, petting a stray brown cat. It had dark gray stripes in light gray fur. Its fur was soft as a cloud. Anonyme was friends with only this stray cat in the town. All the other cats only clawed and hissed at her. The cat was her friend, and she was the cat’s.

“Hey! Get off my steps, kid!” a janitor shouted with an accent that sounded like he didn’t have a nose. Anonyme sighed and stood up. The smell of an upcoming storm was strong. Even though it’s a pleasant smell, the rain is not. In the mountains, it only rains sometimes. But when it does rain, it’s like a mini hurricane. Anonyme started walking.

The wind started to blow. Anonyme picked up her pace. Then she felt a raindrop hit her head. She started to run. Though there was no shelter, let alone destination, she kept on running. She reached a house that looked promising. She dinged the bell.

Normally, she could sneak into a blacksmith, but this time, a janitor had caught her. A dog barked. Anonyme was soaking wet. She watched her clothes drip and make a puddle on the porch of the house.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice answered the bell. She opened the sky-blue door. “Oh, hi!” she said. She was carrying a baby in a pastel pink swaddle.

“Hi!” Anonyme answered shyly. “I was just wondering if I could spend the night at your house” then she gestured to the wind howling.

“I’m sorry, but my house is much too small for another companion.” Only then did she see that there was another child clinging onto the mother's back. Another was wrapped around her left ankle. It really was a small house.

Anonyme sighed and walked away. She heard the door close.

Anonym was determined to find a shelter for the night. She found another promising house. It still had its light on.

She knocked, for this house had no bell. Very peculiar, Anonyme had thought then. She heard loud footsteps coming from the house. An old woman opened the door.

“What do you think you are doing here!” screamed the old lady. She had her gray hair in a bun. She had a pearl necklace, and small, narrow oval glasses.

“I was just wondering if I could spend the night at your place.”

“Are you crazy! Why would I ever let a stranger into my house, let alone spend the night in my house!” the old woman exclaimed, slamming the door shut. The door was gray, just as her personality, Anonyme had thought.

She had enough of the rain. No one would care if I ran away, Anonyme had thought. and so she did. The rain hit her hard, and she got as soaked as she could get. She ran and ran and ran, until she could see the end of the town she lived in.

Then she turned to the town. Her cat friend was soaked and running after her.

“Oh! I almost forgot about you!” Anonyme said picking the cat up. She held the cat like a child.

Then, she really ran. She ran like the wind. She ran and ran and ran. She ran until she was in the mountain grasslands, not too far from the town. She ran until her long legs and cold, numb feet could not carry her. Finally, she found a small rock to sit on.

Anonyme sat on the rock for a few minutes, though to her, it felt like an eternity. The entire time she was on the rock, she was crying. Not quite weeping, but muted wails. Echoes brought her wails back to her.

Anonyme was holding the cat in her lap. Even though it was soaked like herself, Anonyme found comfort in petting its now clammy fur. Even though she could tell that the cat did not enjoy being wet, through her muted wails, she could hear its soft purring, as if the cat was telling her it would be alright.

Soon enough, Anonyme regained her strength and slowly started walking through the knee-high grass. This time, the cat had chosen to walk beside her.

After a bit of walking, Anonyme saw a distant light. As Anonyme came closer, she realized that the light was coming from a cabin. A log cabin. When Anonyme was close enough, she saw a middle-aged man. He looked at her and smiled. He waved his arms, as if to say, “Come in! Come in!”

Anonyme let go of a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. So, the nameless girl picked up her cat friend and took a step towards the cottage. She took a step towards the cottage, with a heart full of hope.

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