By Ariel
Rating: PG
Warnings: nothing really bad yet, just a child with amnesia.
Disclaimers: With the exception of the general mention of the boy who is supposed to be Darien, the rest of the story and characters are all mine.
It was early evening when the huge white and red Japanese Airlines plane touched ground at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. Another several moments passed and the passengers began gathering their belongings and deboarding. The crew wished everyone a wonderful stay in America, taking particular interest in the children since it was most likely their first trip to the United States.
I politely smiled and nodded when the senior pilot brushed back the long strands of hair framing my face. "Arigatou senpai," I whispered to the older man after he wished me a the best of luck in starting a new life in America. Apparently they were told of what had happened to me since they all had sympathetic looks deep in their eyes. I didn't let that bother me much since I still hadn't come to terms with a lot of things.
My social worker, Mrs. Sandra Siler, a middle-aged brunette with soft brown eyes, took my hand in one of hers and picked up her black leather briefcase in the other. She had been surprised that I was still quite intelligent, knowing Japanese and enough English to be able to communicate with others, despite having lost all my memories of my young life. I had grown quite fond of her during the entire trip to the West. I sensed that she could see the pain deep in my eyes mixed with a great feeling of loss and confusion and I was grateful for the comfort she offered me. She led me out of the terminal, amused at how I watched all the action of the airport with barely concealed surprise.
Mrs. Siler and I went to the baggage claims on the second floor, quickly locating her dark green bag and my small black duffel bag filled with some new clothes the staff at the hospital had given me as well as a brown bear with a black bow a young police officer in Japan said he had found in the car. I was surprised to find a tall man dressed in a black suit and sunglasses holding a sign with mine and Mrs. Siler's name written on it with a red marker. She quickly pulled out her social worker ID and the man, identifying himself as Brian, grabbed our bags and took us down the escalator and into the parking lot.
I stared in awe when Brian put the bags in the back of a shiny black limo and then opened the side back door, waving a hand for me to enter. Mrs. Siler laughed softly, whispering in my ear that it was okay to listen to him. I nodded at the elder and bowed slightly at the driver, speaking shyly in English, "Thank you, sir."
Brian removed his sunglasses and kneeled down in front of me, smiling. "No, thank you Ariel." He took a long look at my face and nodded slightly, his green eyes soft. "You're going to grow up to do great things sweetheart. No matter what anyone says or does to you, okay?"
I gasped at his words, reading into his eyes and somehow believing him. In a quick burst, I shot forward and hugged the chauffeur tightly, hearing the soft sound of surprise from Mrs. Siler behind me. I had not showed any true signs of affection other than the hug and kiss I gave as a thank you to the nurse and doctor who had attended me and that other boy with me at the hospital. Brian returned the hug, somehow realizing that I had considered him special enough to do such a thing before he picked me up, winked at Mrs. Siler and stepped into the limo, setting me down and buckling me up just as my social worker stepped inside. When we were all settled, Brian took his seat in the driver's side and drove off.
The ride had been rather silent for the most part. Brian occasionally telling us where we were since he had decided to take the long way around. It was when we were close to Manhattan that Mrs. Siler ran her fingers through the back of my hair, smiling at me. "Look outside Ariel. Look at how beautiful New York City is at night." She nodded her head to the window and I turned in my seat, gasping when I saw all the colorful lights of the place I would soon call my home.
"You're right, ma'am. It's so pretty," I stared out the tinted windows, my fingers lightly touching them. "It's always like this, ne," I turned my head, tearing my eyes away from the bright buildings to look at the woman. She nodded at me and I smiled happily. Already, the very few glimpses I had caught of Tokyo at night during my stay at the hospital had begun to fade. I sighed softly and turned to look as Brian lowered the dividing window and glanced over his shoulder.
"Mrs. Siler? Would you mind if I drive around for a little bit to show her some sites of the City before I take you both where you need to go?" He asked, his voice soft and serious at the same time. He stopped at a red stop light and turned in his seat to look back at us.
My social worker looked at her watch and after a couple of seconds, nodded. "Yes, I suppose we can. As long as we reach the orphanage before nine o'clock then we will be fine." She smiled when I let go of my breath, touching my cheek and smiling warmly.
Brian nodded, "That will be no problem, ma'am." He shifted his eyes and looked at me, winking and grinning. "Now lil' lady, in a few minutes we have to cross that bridge." He pointed out in front of him to show me what he was talking about. "That will lead us into Manhattan."
The light changed and Brian took a couple of turns and soon crossed the bridge, chuckling softly at the way he saw me looking all over. We left Brooklyn, crossing the Manhattan Bridge and making our way to the other side of the river into the City. I was amazed at the number of people that were outside, walking through the streets.
I barely noticed Mrs. Siler move out of her seat to speak to Brian. It was only when he stopped the limo and opened the door to allow her out and then held out a hand for me that I realized she had wanted him to stop to show me something special. I quickly unbuckled myself from my seat and took his hand as I got out, smiling brightly up at him. He led us down a path to the railing overlooking the Bay and pointed.
There stood the Statue of Liberty, glowing with radiance as she watched over us all. I gasped and stared in awe at the beautiful toga-bearing woman. "Wow... I... thank you." I didn't know what else to say as I looked up at Brian and Mrs. Siler. "She is amazing."
Brian nodded, bending down a little to pick me up. "That she is. Our symbol of freedom. And you're welcome, cutie." He smiled softly as I turned to look at Lady Liberty once more before he sighed. "I believe we should get going. I want to show you some things on our way up the island." He nodded at the social worker and turned back to the car, carrying me with him.
The chauffeur turned onto random streets after we were settled once again, pointing out important landmarks or buildings to me. I was fascinated by all of it and eagerly took all the information in. Mrs. Siler leaned back, looking outside on occasion but mostly focusing on me. I turned to look at her, noticing a flicker of something in her brown eyes. I wanted to ask her what was wrong but she just smiled and nodded outside when Brian stopped in front of an odd-shaped building, telling me it was Madison Square Garden.
I soon forgot to ask Mrs. Siler what was wrong and stared at the building. It was very different from the rest but I was drawn to it. I didn't know why but I was. Brian explained to me that many sporting and musical events were held there and it was the most famous arena in the world. He then got out of the limo again and opened the door, pulling me out. "Look up," he told me.
I did as I was told and my jaw dropped at what I saw. "That's the Empire State Building," I heard him say. "One of the tallest buildings ever." That made me smile. Perhaps someday I would be able to take a trip up to the top. I was going to be living in an incredible city and be near so many things I probably had never even imagined.
We then got back into the limo. Mrs. Siler pulled out a yellow notepad from her briefcase and began reading over the notes she had written about me since we first met the third day I was in the hospital. I watched her for a long moment, knowing that I wasn't going to be with her much longer. That deeply saddened me. I was in a new city after being orphaned and in a short amount of time, I wasn't going to be near anyone I recognized enough to trust.
It was then when it all hit me hard. I was completely alone. I had been told that my parents were dead and I had no living relatives. To make matters worse, I couldn't remember anything beyond the past few days when I woke up in the same room with an unfamiliar boy that had black hair and piercing blue eyes. Everything after that had gone by quickly. We weren't introduced to each other and we each had to meet several different social workers. Before I knew it, I had been taken in a taxi to the airport, glancing back at the hospital feeling a little bad that I had not said goodbye to the nameless boy.
Now I was in New York City with only a small duffel bag. I picked up the gold and blue topaz pendant that was on the golden chain around my neck and found comfort in playing with it. I shifted in my seat to look back out the window, the enthusiasm having left me. I began noticing the darker sides of the City: the homeless man holding out a paper cup apparently asking for money, the bunch of kids with tattered clothing huddled together to keep warm beside a building in an alley, the various women barely wearing any clothes and walking down the streets trying to pick up customers.
I was too busy taking everything, both good and bad, in, that I didn't notice when the limo parked and Brian got out and opened the door. He helped Mrs. Siler out who was carrying her briefcase before he grabbed my black duffel bag and slung it over his shoulder. He held out a hand for me, giving me a sorrowful look as I took it and got out.
"Hey pumpkin," he whispered to me as he knelt before me, not letting me look past him but not wanting Mrs. Siler to hear. "I guess this is it. For some reason, I don't really want to see you go but I know you must. Take care of yourself, sweetie." He touched my cheek and kissed my forehead, smiling a little. "I have never gotten attached to a kid so sweet in my entire life. You've got to have a lot of natural charm to be able to do that."
I blinked back a few tears, partly because I did not want him to see me cry and the other part because I vowed to myself that I was going to be strong. Instead, I hugged him, opening my eyes after a few seconds and then hugging him tighter at the beaten-down, dark two-story building that stood in front of me. "Just pray," was what I heard Brian whisper to me when he felt me tremble. I nodded and kissed his cheek, smiling shakily. "Thank you for showing me around, Brian-san." With that, he let me go and stood up, handing me my bag and then moved to sit in the limo to wait for Mrs. Siler.
The social worker moved over to me and took my hand, squeezing it gently. She led me up the front steps of the orphanage, stopping when a light flickered to life and the brown door creaked open. I saw a shadow move out from behind the door and when I took a look up at the woman that stepped through to stand in front of us, I found myself wishing that I died in that car accident.
TBC...
Back to Main
On to Chapter 2
My Creations
Home