The Sad Tale of Gore Orphanage

My name is Elizabeth and I’m 6 years old. My mother and father died a few months ago, now I live on the streets of Vermillion, Ohio. It’s November and the nights are so cold. Right this moment I’m sitting under a tree with an old blanket I took from someone’s back yard. I had heard of the Orphanage in this town and that’s why I came to this town. I’m going to go check it out tomorrow but right now I’m completely exhausted.
In the morning I started walking quickly down the street trying to avoid people’s stares. My clothes must have looked a mess and my hair was tangled.
“Hey girl” A police officer said
“Y-Yes sir?” I asked
“Where are your parents?” he asked
“They died so I came here because of the orphanage.” I said
“You’re headed in the wrong direction, I’ll walk you there” he said
“Thank you sir” I said
“You seemed to be a very mannered child. I’m officer Fenton, What’s your name?” he asked
“I’m Elizabeth after my grandmother.” I said
We walked down the street and people waved to officer Fenton. After a while we came to a big two floor house. Officer Fenton knocked on the door and a lady opened the door.
“Hello officer, is something wrong?” she asked
“I have a young girl here who needs some shelter.” He said
“Oh well we can take her.” She said
“Her names Elizabeth, Both her parents have passed away” he said
“Come on in child, thank you very much officer” she said
“Have a nice day” he said a walked back towards town
I walked into the house.
“You there find this girl something to clean.” She told a boy
“Yes mommy Sprunger” the boy said
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to another room.
“You shouldn’t have come here.” The boy said
“What do you mean?” I asked
“This place is awful, you’ll see. By the way I’m Thomas.” He said
“Elizabeth.” I said
“Well Elizabeth you can help me with the floor.” Thomas said
“Okay” I said and grabbed a rag
We scrubbed the floor on our hand and knees with old rags. A big man came in and stared at us.
“Where is Richard?” the man asked after a wile
“In the kitchen cleaning windows sir” Thomas said
Then the man turned around and walked out of the room.
“Who was that?” I asked
“Mr. Sprunger, always call him sir and try to stay out of his way. If you don’t he’ll hit you with his leather strap until you bleed.” Thomas said
“W-what? I don’t want to be here.” I said starting to cry
“Calm down crying won’t help.” He said giving me a pat on the head
“One day we’ll be old enough to leave.” He said
After we finished the floor I followed Thomas up the stairs. It was all one room and there were old smelly blankets on the floor. A group of kids were huddled in a corner looking at something. Thomas ran over and pushed people out of his way. There was a boy laying there staring up at the ceiling. I walked closer and looked over Thomas’s shoulder. The boy was so thin and looked like he would brake if I touched him.
“He’s dead.” Thomas said
A few of the kids started to cry.
“Time to eat!” Mrs. Sprunger yelled up the stairs.
“Come on Elizabeth.” Thomas said and pulled me down the stairs.
“What happened to that boy.” I asked
“He wouldn’t, no matter what I said he just wouldn’t.” Thomas said
We walked into the kitchen and Mrs. Sprunger handed us bowls filled with horrible smelling stew. Then we went out to the back yard.
“W-what is this?” I asked
“It doesn’t matter just eat.” Thomas said
It was the worst food I’ve ever eaten but I didn’t want to die like that boy. I ate my stew as quick as could and tried not taste it.
“Good job.” Thomas said when I finished
When Thomas finished we went back up stairs. The boy was gone but a few kids were still crying. Thomas grabbed two blankets and went to the opposite corner. He laid down and handed me one of the blankets.
“Don’t go down stairs by yourself at night. Wake me up first.” He said
I nodded and laid down. There were so many kids that everyone was laying on each other. One girl’s legs went across my belly. I shut my eyes and fell right to sleep.

* * *

Now it December and I’ve gotten used to things around here. Thomas is always there to get me out of trouble. Like last week when I spilled my stew, Thomas told Mr. Sprunger it was him and got an awful beating. When he came back up stairs the back of his shirt was soaked with blood. From that day on I’ve been doing my best not to mess up again.
“Elizabeth we have to clean the windows today.” Thomas said
“Alright” I said
We go down to the kitchen and start cleaning.
“Elizabeth how old are you anyway?” Thomas asked
“6” I said
“That’s no good.” Thomas said shaking his head
“What do you mean” I asked
“I’m eight that means I’ll get out of here two years before you” he said
“I’ll be fine” I said
“No way, I guess I’ll just have to stay with you. Plus you’re the only family I have.” He said messing up my hair.
“Family?” I asked
“Yes I’ve decided to adopt you as my sister.” He said with a small laugh.
I smile then go back to cleaning.
“You two get up to bed.” Mrs. Sprunger
We get stand and hurry up the stairs. She has never let us stopped cleaning early. We laid down in our normal spots. I shut my eyes and fell asleep quickly. I got woken by a girl screaming. There was black smoke come in from under the door.
“There’s a fire!” Thomas yelled
One boy went to open the door but it blistered his hand and he screamed. Soon the fire over took the door and was in the room.
“Thomas what’ll we do?” I asked
Thomas just stared and the fire. It was coming close. A girl’s night gown caught fire. She ran around the room and the fire got bigger. Her running had made it worse and it caught others on fire too. Everyone was screaming so loud. My ears hurt and I started to cry. The small was horrifying; it was the smell of death.
“Thomas!” I yell again
“Get in the corner and cover your ears!” Thomas yelled
I backed up as far in the corner as possible and pulled my knees to my chest. Thomas sat down and covered me with a blanket and then wrapped his arms around me.
“I’m scared.” I cried
“Just cover your ears and keep your eyes shut.” Thomas said
It was getting hotter and I knew the fire was close. Thomas squeaked me tighter and I could hear him scream through my hands. I kept my eyes shuts. Then it was on me. I screamed and cried for help. It hurts! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts…
Then the pain stopped and I looked down. I saw my body burnt to a crisp and Thomas’s also burnt body draped over mine.
“Over her Elizabeth” Thomas said
“W-what’s going on?” I asked
“We’re free now! We can go where ever we want.” Thomas said with a big grin.
“Can we go to the sea?” I asked
“Yeah, I’ll race you there.” He said
We ran out the door and down the stairs and through the fire. Now of the people outside could see us run around them. I looked back at the orphanage.
“Come on!” Thomas yelled and started running again.
I laughed and chased after him. We are free now and I was never going to go back to this place again.