It was a frigid winter morning when a young man picked me up from the cardboard box I was in and transported me to the nearest orphanage. When he arrived at his destination he walked inside, talked to the person in charge, and then handed me off to a lady.  Once I was in her arms, she held me close to her chest, as if I were her own. As she walked down the long dark hallway, her footsteps were quiet, accompanied only by the faint cries of the other babies in the orphanage; it was disheartening. As she approached the end of the corridor, another lady appeared, but her face appeared to be fairer, and she seemed more timid than the woman who was holding me. I was handed off to the younger girl who had a satisfying scent of pine with a hint of lemon, and she held me differently. I was held close to her chest, just as the older woman had done, but I could also feel myself slipping slowly towards the ground, which resulted in her having to lift me up, every so often, while she continued to walk down the rest of the hallway. While in her arms,  a shiny golden tag caught my attention, so I shifted my head closer to the tag and saw black all over it.  She then entered a small room with over a dozen cribs crammed into it, and laid me down in a crib with another baby who was fast asleep. I opened my arms out to the fair lady who had placed me in this bed, but all I saw was her back moving towards the door. It suddenly dawned on me that I was being left to sleep with this strange baby alongside me, and that we were meant to be quiet and just sleep.  I looked up at the blank ceiling until I felt my eyes gently close and then started to dream.

When I awoke the next morning, the sunlight shined upon the blank, white walls surrounding me. As I lay helplessly in my crib, the light beams bounced off the walls rapidly, and I was fascinated with the glowing patterns dancing all around me. Time passed by as I watched, with fascination, the light beams moving in all different directions.  Later on, I knew that the younger woman had returned because I could smell the distinct smell of pine mixed with lemon which I had associated with her person.  I tried moving my head to catch a glimpse, but I was on my back, so I could not move as much as I had wanted to. Suddenly, I found that I was able to flip my body over and landed on my stomach.  I saw that she was holding another baby like she had held me, yet, her mouth was opening and she kept putting her lips to the baby’s head. Finally, she made it to me and reached her arms out, signaling to me that I was going to be in her care. I responded by extending my arms out to her after which she swooped me up into her chest and just held me, but again, I seemed to keep slipping out of her grasp,  and she, once again, had to keep pulling me up. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and I just stared at it.  Her mouth was moving up and down and then she moved her lips closer to me and then just hit my head. I wasn’t sure what to necessarily think, but I came to the conclusion that what she was doing never harmed me. She briskly took me out of the white room, and again, walked down a long, dark hallway, until she reached another room. This place was different from the other room that I had slept in because there were bright, colorful objects, lying all over a big colorful mat. I was set down gently on the mat and tried to grab one of the bright objects, but when I reached my hand out to grip the object, it slipped out of my grasp. I tried to pick up a different one, but my attempt  failed once more. I kept trying and trying to grab at least something and not have it slip out, but the outcome was always the same; the toy would slip out of my grasp. I was confused as to why I couldn’t play with the bright object, and the confusion became frustration. After more unsuccessful attempts, the young girl put he
r hand behind me and used her other hand to guide my head to look towards the lady who had held me close to her chest.  I looked at the lady with confusion, but then a bright, big light, flashed before me, causing my eyes to hurt inside. A couple more bright, big lights, flashed in front of me before I felt my eyes fill up with water. Little did I know that facing those bright, big lights, would give me a beautiful family.