The Wind and its Words

 There was a playground out back that everyone loved to go to, a place of freedom, but not for Ella. Ella knew about a warp in the fence, done by the rotting of the wood that time was responsible for weathering away. This knowledge of the damaged fence allowed her to escape into her haven, the woods. Ella was very familiar with the feeling of loneliness, living at an orphanage made sure of that.   

There was a crackle then a crunch. Ella didn’t flinch. It could be a little creature which was normal out in the woods, but then Ella started to feel like this this time was different. Ella could feel something watching her. But it wasn’t the trees and it wasn’t the birds. Ella quickly opens her eyes to see a most shocking site. Two blue eyes staring back at her. It was this little boy named Levi. Startled at first, Ella calmly closes her eyes again. The two sat criss-cross apple sauce facing each other with their eyes closed. Ella normally hated company, which was ironic because she was never fully alone. Ella was listening to the wind and Levi was crunching the leaves in his hand. The wind had something different to say today. Normally it offered Ella comfort by telling stories of the places it has gone, how it travels alone but sees so many things just like Ella. But instead today the wind was more quiet, harder to hear when only one of the two were listening to it. Frustrated with this, Ella opened her eyes, stood up angrily, and stomped her way back to the playground. Levi mimicked Ella and stomped back to the playground as well.

Ella was eight and both of her parents left when she was four. Mr. Carney, Ella’s dad, was a drunk with too many problems to stay around. He bolted the first chance he got. Mrs. Carney, Ella’s mom, was a victim in a freak car accident. There was a police chase and the runaway was going South on the Northbound highway. Mrs. Carney couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. Alone at four, Ella was brought into The Wayemouth Orphanage in Kingsbury, Maine. Ella had long light brown hair that she tied into a braid every morning. She wore a hammy down, baby blue, worn out dress and off white ruffle socks that poked out of her favorite shoes. Ella wore a pair of these Doc Marten’s. She got them from someone anonymous on her eighth birthday, that were addressed to her and left on the steps of Wayemouth Orphanage. She was too distracted by the beautiful lace up hazelnut boots that she never could have dreamed of wearing, to even think about who this anonymous gift giver was.

The clock struck 11:00 am and the two front doors swung open. Children of all ages poured out and down the steps, around back, and into the playground. There were kids playing tag and playing in the sandbox, swinging on the swings and wrapped up all in the monkey bars. None of this interested Ella so she escaped off to that warp in the fence. A little bit of a squiggle does the trick and she is through onto the other side. She scurried down the little grass hill and over and under many branches until Ella was so deep in the woods she couldn’t hear the laughter and screaming of the kids at play, but close enough to hear the bell ring when the time outside had come to an end. She whips her head around only to see Levi trailing behind. This time she lets it happen.

As Ella and Levi sit together, Ella decides she must teach Levi how to listen to the wind if he is going to insist on following her to her nook in the woods. “First you must close your eyes,” Ella whispers. She held out her hands to hold Levi’s. “You must remain completely still and you will start to feel it’s wonders,”she said. For Levi he could hear leaves and was picturing them waving in the trees but he wasn’t sure what he was particularly listening for. “You will feel the wind wrap it’s arms around you and make the hairs on your arm stick up, it will consume you before it will tell you it’s tales” she whispered, as if she could hear his thoughts. This was the first time Ella didn’t feel so lonely even though Levi still hasn’t spoke a word to her.

Around the corner of the building towards the front steps, they had notice a black Lexus car parked out front along the curb. This was a car they had not recognized. The only time cars were parked out front were when new adoptive families had come to visit. Sometime thee visits were good. Sometime these visits were bad. This time Ella knew it was a bad visit. Most kids would consider this a good visit but Ella didn’t like change and she didn’t like people really either. Ella followed Levi up the front steps. They crept, like they were sneaking to get a midnight snack and didn’t want to wake anyone up. They thought maybe in nobody heard them than nobody would see them and they couldn’t be broken apart. Ella and Levi knew it was one of them who was going to get dragged away. Life on the other side could be better, but neither of them wanted to find out. They were comfortable in their habits.

The two front doors swung open. “I’ve been looking for you!” Exclaimed Mrs. Penowski. Mrs. Penowski was the head maiden in charge. She looked after all the children and tucked them into bed at night. She was in charge of the adoptions too. First she meets with the prospect family  and does family profiling where she asks a series of question to better know the adoptive family. Then she has then fill out a background information pamphlet to ensure the family is suitable. The she does an actual background check. Next, the family fills out a personality and responsibility survey to match up parenting perspectives with good homes and to make sure the children are going into the right environment. Finally the family gets to meet with the child best fit determined by both what the family is looking for and by Mrs. Penowski’s judgement. “Are you ready to meet your new family?” Mrs. Penowski asked. Ella and Levi looked at each other, still unsure which of them she was talking to.

There were three people standing behind the doors. A tall man with brown hair, and a few grey, a few wrinkles by the crease of his eyes, and pants that were at a perfect cut length. A woman with curly dark brown hair, wide open eyes, and a freshly done manicure. A small little girl with the same dark brown curly hair as her mother, bright green eyes soon to be full of envy, and a pair of brand new doc martens. Ella noticed the shoes first, then the three strangers later. The little girl’s shoes were all nice and clean, unlike Ella’s that just got covered in mud from playing outside in the woods. The shoes were the exact same color and everything, some weird coincidence huh? Everything was pretty much a blur after that. The last thing Ella remembers was looking back at Levi as the two front doors closed in front of him and Ella was driving away in the black Lexus car that was pulled around front along the curb.

Ella was a part of the Peters family now. She had her own room and her own toys that she never touched, but most importantly she had a back yard with many acres of woods that she also called hers. Every Sunday Ella Peters had a guest. Soon to be a very special guest. Quinn, Ella’s new sister, called this guest “Gran”. Gran had pearly white hair, blue eyes that matched the sea, and always wore a pair of corduroys, a different color each Sunday. Gran was Ella’s new grandmother. She had never met one of these and she was unaware of what grandmothers were capable of. So much love and wisdom in one human being. Which Ella was going to need to compensate for her loss of her friend Levi, who she was prepared to most likely never see again. He would soon be off with a family of his own.

It was Sunday and it was time for brunch. Eggs and bacon, waffles and pancakes, bagels and muffins, orange juice and tomato juice, everything you could possibly dream of eating for breakfast. The doorbell rang and Gran had arrived, they were grey corduroys today. Gran sat next to Ella at the dining table, she looked down at her and whispered, “I’ve got the best seat in the house” and ended with a wink. Ella didn’t say anything all breakfast except after the feast she asked if she could be excused. Gran followed Ella out to the back yard and into the woods, slowly but surely. Ella has been followed into the woods before but this time was different, Gran already knew how to listen to the wind. Ella knew this by the silence in Grans thoughts, unlike the first time she was accompanied by Levi. There was a calmness in the wind, as though it was greeted by a long lost friend. The wind wrapped around the two as if it was in a big group hug. Gran went over to a big red oak next to wear they were standing and ran her hand around the trunk. She had a faint smile. Ella was so comforted by the connection between Gran and the wind and herself. It reminded her of the times she was in the woods with Levi.

That was the last memory Ella had of Gran. Gran didn’t make it through that Sunday night and Ella was deeply saddened. Ella knew that Gran wanted to connect with the outdoors before she fully let go, she needed to say her goodbyes. Ella wasn’t aware of this at the time.The whole family was very distraught. Ella had a quick visit into the backyard and then came inside to find her family all in the living room looking at old pictures. One of the photos on the table caught Ella’s eye, it was a little girl in the same Doc Martens that Ella and Quinn both had. “Who is this?” Ella asked her Mom. “That is Gran as a little girl!” She replied, “She always wore those boots as a little girl and she was always trying to get me to wear them too but I always refused, so I let her get a pair for you and Quinn instead.” Ella couldn’t believe it. Her favorite pair of boots from the mystery person were from Gran the whole time. That put a smile smile on Ella’s face and a single tear dropped from her eye. She was going to miss Gran a whole lot.

Ella notice something, it was 10:51 am. She asked her mom if she could bring her to the orphanage. “Why Ella?” Her mother was a little concerned. “I just have to go see something, it won’t take me very long.” Ella responded. Sure enough, her mother drove her to the Wayemouth Orphanage. Ella’s mom waited out front while Ella ran out back. All the kids were still at play just as she hoped. A slide and a squiggle got her on the other side of that fence that she always used to slip through, which she was glad still nobody had fixed. Down the hill and into the woods she went. Farther and farther she went until she was at the same exact spot that she alway used to go to. It looked different than she remembered. Gran taught her how it is important to visit old friends and say goodbye if you weren’t going to see them for awhile. Ella never really got the chance to tell Levi goodbye the day her new family picked her up and brought her home and she didn’t get to say goodbye the the trees that became such good friends over the years.

Ella was kind of hoping Levi would be in the woods, but she was sadly out of luck. She decided to stay a little longer though, so she sat criss-cross apple sauce and closed her eyes and sat completely still. The wind was already blowing, greeting her calmly, the same way it had greeted Gran. Ella heard a crunch and a exhale. She didn’t open her eyes, but she had a huge smile. She knew it was Levi who had found her. He joined her on the ground and the two of them sat together in silence. Anxious, Ella couldn’t take it anymore, she opened her eyes and sprung across to hug Levi. He opened his eyes and was stunned. This was very unlike Ella. “I just didn’t feel right not saying goodbye.” She said. “We’ve missed you.” He whispered. Ella knew exactly what Levi was talking about when he said “we” and flashed another quick smile as she looked up at him.

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