Not too long ago, a friend of mine showed up unexpectedly at my door in the middle of the night. I don't quite recall anything else that had happened that night except that I woke up to a loud banging against my door and that there were candy wrappers everywhere. I guess I passed out after a sugar rush.When I first heard the knocking, I didn't know that someone was knocking at the door. I thought I was just dreaming it. Weird, huh? So I ignored it for a few minutes. When I realized I wasn't dreaming the noise, I bolted upright and ran to open the door. I heard crying as I got closer and some other muffled voices. I fumbled with the lock and looked at the time. It was almost midnight. Who in the world could be bothering her at this time of night? I was shocked to see who it was.
My friend Etira looked absolutely awful. Her hair was unruly and she was wearing pajamas. She was barefoot and she kept her eyes averted. Behind her was a young pink-haired girl. Except she wasn't a human child. In fact, I had no idea what she was at first other than a child around 11 or 12. I started to say something, but Etira covered my mouth and shoved papers into my hands. She was in a rush from the way she kept looking behind her at a car. Someone was in it, but I didn't know who.
I looked down at the papers and saw they were all official papers from some company called "D-Corp". I've never heard of this company before, but by the looks of things, I guessed it was where Etira might have gotten the girl. I had a bad feeling where this was leading to. As my hunch guessed, they were legal adoption forms and contracts. Etira was in no situation to care for the girl so she decided to hand her to me. She told me to sign those papers and contact D-Corp later to make the deal final. She hesitated for a second then ran back towards the car without saying goodbye. I saw the girl run after her mother, but a dragon, who was hiding behind the bushes, came and stopped her. I was shocked to see such a creature pop out of nowhere and grab her like that. I instinctively ran to grab her to safety, but I stopped as she starting screaming at it and calling it "Sephayr" and crude names. Was that dragon hers?
Suddenly it clicked. Hadn't I heard of some company working with children and dragons somewhere? I believe I heard some rumors of it while shopping for furniture in Aekea. I didn't know it was an actual company. All I knew was that there is a huge building facility east of Aekea near a canyon where it is said to be private property. Some people who stare at the desert between the gates and the facility claim to see flying creatures in the sky around the area. Were these the dragons?
I looked back down at the papers and read it quickly. It was an adoption form alright. My information was scribbled on there already by Etira. All that was missing was my signature and approval by some guy named Alan. I guessed he was the head of D-Corp. I would have to fill this out in the morning. It was a good thing I had to go shopping in Aekea again. Although I live in Barton, Aekea is still far away if your only mode of transportation is walking. I don't want to get there just to send a letter.
I sighed and stuffed the papers into my pocket and walked over to the dragon. I looked up at it and spoke hesitantly to it. I asked if it could bring the girl inside and it nodded. I told it to go around the back since my door was too small to let a dragon enter. Thank goodness for large sliding glass doors! After a few minutes, the girl was fast asleep, exhausted from crying. Poor little thing. Her mother had left her without even saying good bye. She didn't even tell me what was wrong. Well, whatever. s**t happens, and I have to be the one to clean it up.
The next day I found that the girl had locked herself up in a room to cry again. The dragon was in the back room staring outside at some flowers. I went up to it and told it to take care of the girl until I got back. I left and ran most of the way to Aekea. I took the shortest route to D-Corp and stopped only when I got to the gate. Before I could think of a way to get in, the gates opened automatically. Two lab techs were waiting for me and they led me to the building. Within moments, I was sent to the boss's room where I was told of all the necessary details of caring for a D-Corp child. I found out her name was Vivina and that her dragon was an amphithere named Sephayr. I found out a lot of other stuff, and within an hour, I was back outside the gates with a packet up stuff to read. I spent the rest of the morning shopping and got back to my house after lunch. Vivina was still in her room. Sephayr was sleeping outside.
The next few weeks were monotonous. Vivina would not come out of the room, and if she ever did, it was when I was out shopping or working. I believe she did come out because I'd find food missing once in a while. In this time, I bought new furniture and made Vivina's room. I also rearranged the back room so that Sephayr could sleep in there.
More weeks went by and by the end of October, Vivina finally came out of the room. She decided to look around the house, but she did not bother to take notice of anyone, not even Sephayr. Finally, she found her room and locked herself in again. I sighed and went to spend time with Sephayr. He was sort of like the person who would just listen and not respond. Of course, I didn't know he could speak at the time. I told him a lot things about what was going through my mind.
Another month went by and Vivina once again came out of her room. This time, however, she left the house completely. Sephayr was gone as well, but it seemed he had left a note. I don't know how he did it, but he ended up scribbling a few words on the note card telling me she left to go visit D-Corp. The entire day went by and Vivina did not come home. What was she doing there? That night I sat out side of her room and cried. I can't take care of a child! I'm not even old enough to legally drink for goodness sakes! Life is hard, but I guess I'll have to try harder then. I want Vivina to be happy, and I'll do what I can to make her smile.
