Orphaned.

A short story I had to write for my English class a few years ago.

Hot summer sun made sweat trickle down my forehead. The ground burnt hot as I took my shovel and pushed it into the red dirt. The place was deserted all except for the boy. He stood behind me; tears welled in his eyes as sobs broke free from his throat. My lips where cracked from the heat so I found it difficult to comfort him,
‘Dennis please don’t cry. It’ll be alright! I don’t know how but we’ll get through it.’
‘Amelie… how… can… we… they’re… gone!’ Dennis replied through his sobs. I dropped my shovel on the ground and walked over to him. Placing my arms around him I sighed.
‘look Den, they aren’t coming back. No matter what we do or say they can’t come back!’ he looked upsettingly at me, ‘please, just help me plant this tree.’
It was dark by the time that we finally got back to the foster home; Margie was sitting on the front step with a bottle in her hand. ‘Where have you to been?’ she asked. She was drunk, ‘leave it Margie, you’re obviously pissed. We’ll talk about this when you’re sober!’ I said rushing past her into the rundown house.
‘Oi’ she bellowed after us. Harry looked at me when I walked past, his eyes searching for some forgotten meaning in my shattered soul.
‘Mums angry with you two,’ he sneered. I ignored him and walked into the room that was temporarily mine. Dumping my bag on the floor, I flopped onto the lumpy bed. Dennis had followed me in and he sat motionless on the floor.
After a minute he spoke, ‘you know, Amelie I hate Margie, I hate Harry, I hate Lauren, I hate this hell hole!’
‘Dennis I couldn’t agree more, we need to get out of here!’ I said sitting up. ‘Tomorrow let’s leave, let’s take Harry’s bike and leave!’
Dennis looked up at me and stared astonished, ‘but Ame, we can’t, we can’t just leave Margie and Harry and Lauren!’
‘But Dennis just a second ago you said how much you hate them, ‘I looked into his eyes trying to find the meaning of his upset.
‘After mum died, Gram took us in; she had little money but took the two of us in anyway. When Gram died we had nobody! The people at the agency found us this place with Margie. Margie, I know she gets drunk but really Ame, she is a nice person! Harry is just a little git bullies others because of the way people are, but Lauren; I thought the two of you were close.’
‘Oh, Dennis, I am so confused, I did really like Lauren but she changed, she got in with the wrong type of crowd. And Harry well, he started bullying kids, poor innocent year sevens because his friends ditched him because of us. We ruined Lauren and Harry’s lives all because we moved in!’ I said as tears dripped from my eyes.
‘Look, Margie fosters teenagers all the time, Lauren and Harry probably would have gone off the rails anyway. They just happened to do it this time.’
‘You’re probably right,’ I reluctantly agreed as Dennis walked out of my room.
That night I lay awake in bed, the wind rustled in the eucalyptus trees outside my window. I began to drift in and out of consciousness until I finally began to dream.
Shadows crept down the back of her aged neck. She looked so restless. I couldn’t bare to see her like this and I know Dennis couldn’t either! He sat next to me, he was so silent and his eyes seemed dead, I began to worry about him. When a sob broke free from his throat it was I who comforted him murmuring soft words of encouragement. We were practically all alone in that big musty church; all except for grandma Elsie. She sat on my other side with her gnarled hands clasped in her lap.
‘Amelie, Dennis,’ she whispered in her wonderful gravelly voice that had comforted my midnight outburst each night for the past couple of weeks.
‘Oh gram,’ I replied resting my head on her frail shoulder.
‘It’s alright now my darlings,’ her voice seemed weak.
Mum’s coffin was a big oak casket painted with the golden designs she had created herself. She said she wanted everyone to remember how much she loved her art. And we did. No one could ever forget the splattered walls in her bedroom or the smell of paint on her skin, or how she always seemed to have led smudges on her hands. I wished with all my might that I had her talents, but unfortunately Dennis got them, at least gram says how much I remind her of mum each day. We have the same messy brown hair and soft green eyes. Remembering mum made me feel upset, we would never see mum or Gram again.
Even though I knew I was dreaming the emotions I felt were real. I dreamt about Gram’s death. We were sitting in the pew at the front of the church where mum’s funeral was. The reverend was talking about David and Goliath, but as usual my head was somewhere else. It was quiet except for his nasally voice, then all of a sudden Gram began to go into a coughing frenzy. The reverend stopped and looked sharply towards where Gram, Dennis and I were sitting.
‘Gram, are you alright?’ I remember asking under my breath. She didn’t respond; I could see Dennis becoming worried next to me. She began to cough louder as I rubbed her back. Now I was beginning to get worried. The young lady that was sitting on Grams other side began to help comfort Gram. She asked me if Gram usually began coughing like this. I shook my head as tears began to well in my eyes.
‘That’s it,’ the lady said taking Gram’s arm, ‘I’m taking you three to the hospital.’ Dennis and I stood automatically and helped Gram out of the church. The lady took us in her fancy car and drove us to the local hospital. It wasn’t a fancy hospital; it had large white walls and felt as homey as a hospital could ever feel. We sat, the three of us in the emergency room until a tall doctor in a white coat motioned for us to follow him. He made Gram sit in a chair and attempted to take her blood pressure. After a few minutes of examining her he shook his head and looked carefully in our eyes.
‘We need to take your Grandmother to a bed, she needs rest. I believe she has a collapsed lung.’ He said. Dennis and I looked worriedly at each other. It was mum all over again. Sobs ripped free from both of our throats and tears stung my eyes. If Gram died we had nobody.
I woke, sweat was pouring down my face, rolling over I sat up. The clock said that it was three am. My heart said that it was too late. Fear gripped me tugging at my insides. I had to pee. Walking out of my room I made my way to the bathroom. Light loomed out from underneath Dennis’s bedroom door. I walked slowly towards the door. Lightly I knocked.
‘Ame, is that you?’ Dennis asked me quietly.
‘Uhuh,’ I replied making my way over and sitting on his bed.
He looked into my eyes, ‘promise me Amelie,’ he said ‘that we shall never be apart,’
‘I promise,’ I replied putting my arms around my one and only twin brother.