Lost and Found

Dear Diary,

So, here I am, sitting on my wooden floor which, by the way, was scrubbed from top to bottom! You should have seen the dirt of this place yesterday when I moved in. I shiver just thinking about it! Anyway, I've unpacked all of my stuff. It was the quickest unpacking anyone ever could have done! All of my prized possessions were able to fit into my massive pocket of my skirt!

Well, I think I'll tell you all about today. I was sitting down on my plastic fold-up chair when someone knocked on the door. I jumped. All sorts of thoughts ran through my head. Was somebody looking for me? I mean, I had just quit my last job and they could be after me! Not my medical career. My job as a dishwasher in Halogens. I got up out of my chair and ran to the door. It was a guy. I felt a wave of relief pass through my body. It was my first visitor.

His name was Patrick. He looks a bit of a nerd. No chance of a boyfriend in that department anyway, thank God!!! Two more people came after that: Sophie Miguel and Simon Thayer. I got on well with Sophie and Simon but Patrick was a bit too much of a nerd for any sign of friendship! Every time I started up a conversation he'd block his ears and walk away. FREAK! Anyway, (I say "anyway" a lot, don't I!), we were all sitting down on the decking outside my house and talking about our interests and jobs - well, Sophie didn't join us in the jobs topic because she's still in High School - when this woman came out of nowhere. "That's Marisa," whispered Sophie, "she moved here a year ago. She's a lovely person." This Marisa person walked along the footpath without even looking at us. She was walking quite slowly and was looking down at here feet with here arms folded. Then she looked straight ahead of her at my mailbox. She stared at it for a second or so until she finally turned in my direction.

"Oh," she said, "hello. You're new, are you?"

"Yeah, Lucy Enrobes," I said, as I put out my hand to shake hers.

"I'm terribly sorry. I never knew we had a new arrival to the neighborhood. I was on holidays for a few weeks and only came back this morning. Sorry, I didn't bring anything."

"Oh, it's fine," I said, taking down my hand as I realized she was keeping her arms folded.

She came closer and walked up the steps and onto the decking to greet me. I looked at her and she looked back at me.

She looks vaguely familiar, I thought and right after that, Marisa said, "have I seen you somewhere before? What was your name again?"

"Lucy Enrobes," I said.

She thought for a moment before saying "I don't mean to be nosy or anything but, did you go to St. Ita�s school in Primston City?"

"Yeah, but I, er, left when I was eleven."

"H MY GOD! LUCY! I'mMarisa Stokes. We went to St. Ita's together. I was your best friend!"screamed Marisa, who was jumping up and down.

I suddenly had a flashback. I suddenly remembered who Marisa Stokes was. "Marisa," I said, "it's you? I haven't seen you since the -." I had remembered way too much and burst in to tears. It was the first time I had cried since Mum and Dad's funeral. Everything came flooding back into my memory: the crash, the hospital, the funeral, the orphanage. Everything that had happened to me I imagined as if it had just happened right then, when I was crying. I ran inside and shut the door behind me. Marisa started banging at the door and asking if she could come in and have a chat. It had been so long since I'd seen her. That made me cry even more. Why hadn't she come to see me in the orphanage, like she had promised? Why hadn't she written to me, like she promised? Why hadn't she helped me get out of that horrible place, like she PROMISED? I didn't let her in. I couldn't. I must have been crying a long time because I heard everyone walking off. Marisa stayed outside the door, pleading with me to let her in.

"Why didn�t you help me?" I screamed, still crying, "WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP?"

Marisa started to cry then, but a lot softer then me.

"I DID," she cried, "I did." Then, I heard her footsteps climb softly down the steps and walk away.

So here I am now. Still sitting silently on my wooden floor. Still wondering whether she had helped me or not. Still trying to figure out why I've had such bad luck for the past nine years of my life. Still wondering why I had no grandparents, aunts and uncles or brothers and sisters to help me through that terrible point of my life and keep me from that bloody orphanage. Still crying.