Many people who have babies will tell you that things can be trying at times. It takes a special kind of person to choose to raise a baby. It takes an even more special person to not run away screaming when they find out what it is really like. Considering that there is a biological imperative to have children in all of us, it is even more impressive when someone chooses to adopt a child. Given the events of that fateful night eight years ago, there was no other option.The young boy, who is called Michael, had insisted on it. It was, after all, he who found her. While he walked through the doorway and retrieved the baby, everyone else stood around staring at each other. To him, he had found his sister. To his parents, however, the baby was a constant reminder of what had happened.
Michael didn’t know exactly what had occurred. He heard a lot of screaming and yelling, but when he was finally released from his bond, all he saw was a group of the townspeople covered in red paint. He had assumed that Evelyn had dumped a bucket of it on them before she ran away and his parents were not about to correct his assumptions.
Even at the young age of 8, Michael could tell that this little girl was in need of protection. He, being a brave and wonderful child, had taken it upon himself to be her protector. Initially, his father and the town’s people planned to leave the baby in the ruins under the theory that “Evelyn will come back for her baby.†Michael wouldn’t leave the spot. Even with several people trying to drag him, he struggled and squirmed his way free and back to the baby’s side. After a couple days back to a “normal life,†his parents had decided to bring her to an orphanage that was several days travel from the village. In response, he took her from her bassinet and locked himself inside a closet until they agreed to not to send her away. After several more attempts to “get rid of her,†they decided to accept Michael’s resolve to protect her.
The adoption raised many eyebrows in town. People were always mumbling things under their breath as they walked past. The clerk who recorded the adoption must have asked half a dozen times if they were sure they really wanted to do this. One glance at Michael told them that, in fact, they must. For the adoption, it was necessary to select a name. The clerk who was recording the adoption suggested, “Arvonia, after her mother… to remind us all where she came from.†As painful as this was to the parents, it also had a certain degree of logic to it so they agreed.
The name ‘Arvonia’ was a good suggestion. Her eyes were the same brilliant green that her mother had. When it grew in, her hair was a shocking red that filled in to the same perfect auburn colored hair too. Her personality, on the other hand, was perfectly pleasant. Like all babies, she cried when she wanted something and didn’t do much other than eat, sleep and poop. She was a completely normal with one exception. When she was quite upset, and a consoling parent would carry her past a lamp, the light would go out. As soon as Arvonia was consoled, the light would return.
Arvonia had an interesting childhood. Her solitary abnormality was joined by additional “abilities†over which she had no control. When she was two, she developed the ability to cause water to turn bright green like her eyes. When she was three, she found that she could have perfectly pleasant conversations with squirrels about all things nut and tree related.
One particular day at the tender age of seven, she discovered the unfortunate fact that if she swirled her left index finger in a pool, frogs would swim to the edge and leap out at her, clinging to her like a frog coat. That proved to be an interesting day when she walked home covered in frogs. She had to explain that it was a costume for a school play. She didn’t think that the passers-by believed her. Most likely because they couldn’t imagine a school play that involved a girl covered in live frogs.
By her eighth birthday, she was becoming a danger to those around her. A tree branch broke and fell at the feet of another child with whom she had been arguing at the time. Another time, a water barrel burst flooding water into the neighbor’s kitchen when he caught her sneaking apples from his tree. The worst thing, though, happened when Uncle Joe, feeling parental, decided to punish Arvonia, for a minor disobedience, with a belt. He somehow tripped in a hole that hadn’t been there a moment earlier and broke his ankle. He was incapacitated for eight weeks while it healed and the whole time, he would insist that people listen to him talk about how Arvonia was evil.
Of course, her parents knew that Arvonia was not evil in any way. Even with this, they felt they had to do something to make sure she wasn’t a danger to herself or others. They decided to task Michael, still her protector even though he was now sixteen, to take her to a ’special’ doctor in a town that was fifty miles away over moderate terrain. Walking with his sister, this would likely take at least ten days so they would need food and provisions to last them a while. All this time, Michael had been developing into a strong and able young man, so this was a perfectly fine opportunity for him to be able to prove himself to his parents.
Three weeks after her eighth birthday, they packed one large pack for Michael and one small pack for Arvonia. Their parents kissed each of them on the cheeks so many times that both children were thoroughly moist. Finally, with many tears from their parents, Michael and Arvonia set off together up the winding path through the forest and onto their journey.
Michael didn’t know exactly what had occurred. He heard a lot of screaming and yelling, but when he was finally released from his bond, all he saw was a group of the townspeople covered in red paint. He had assumed that Evelyn had dumped a bucket of it on them before she ran away and his parents were not about to correct his assumptions.
Even at the young age of 8, Michael could tell that this little girl was in need of protection. He, being a brave and wonderful child, had taken it upon himself to be her protector. Initially, his father and the town’s people planned to leave the baby in the ruins under the theory that “Evelyn will come back for her baby.†Michael wouldn’t leave the spot. Even with several people trying to drag him, he struggled and squirmed his way free and back to the baby’s side. After a couple days back to a “normal life,†his parents had decided to bring her to an orphanage that was several days travel from the village. In response, he took her from her bassinet and locked himself inside a closet until they agreed to not to send her away. After several more attempts to “get rid of her,†they decided to accept Michael’s resolve to protect her.
The adoption raised many eyebrows in town. People were always mumbling things under their breath as they walked past. The clerk who recorded the adoption must have asked half a dozen times if they were sure they really wanted to do this. One glance at Michael told them that, in fact, they must. For the adoption, it was necessary to select a name. The clerk who was recording the adoption suggested, “Arvonia, after her mother… to remind us all where she came from.†As painful as this was to the parents, it also had a certain degree of logic to it so they agreed.
The name ‘Arvonia’ was a good suggestion. Her eyes were the same brilliant green that her mother had. When it grew in, her hair was a shocking red that filled in to the same perfect auburn colored hair too. Her personality, on the other hand, was perfectly pleasant. Like all babies, she cried when she wanted something and didn’t do much other than eat, sleep and poop. She was a completely normal with one exception. When she was quite upset, and a consoling parent would carry her past a lamp, the light would go out. As soon as Arvonia was consoled, the light would return.
Arvonia had an interesting childhood. Her solitary abnormality was joined by additional “abilities†over which she had no control. When she was two, she developed the ability to cause water to turn bright green like her eyes. When she was three, she found that she could have perfectly pleasant conversations with squirrels about all things nut and tree related.
One particular day at the tender age of seven, she discovered the unfortunate fact that if she swirled her left index finger in a pool, frogs would swim to the edge and leap out at her, clinging to her like a frog coat. That proved to be an interesting day when she walked home covered in frogs. She had to explain that it was a costume for a school play. She didn’t think that the passers-by believed her. Most likely because they couldn’t imagine a school play that involved a girl covered in live frogs.
By her eighth birthday, she was becoming a danger to those around her. A tree branch broke and fell at the feet of another child with whom she had been arguing at the time. Another time, a water barrel burst flooding water into the neighbor’s kitchen when he caught her sneaking apples from his tree. The worst thing, though, happened when Uncle Joe, feeling parental, decided to punish Arvonia, for a minor disobedience, with a belt. He somehow tripped in a hole that hadn’t been there a moment earlier and broke his ankle. He was incapacitated for eight weeks while it healed and the whole time, he would insist that people listen to him talk about how Arvonia was evil.
Of course, her parents knew that Arvonia was not evil in any way. Even with this, they felt they had to do something to make sure she wasn’t a danger to herself or others. They decided to task Michael, still her protector even though he was now sixteen, to take her to a ’special’ doctor in a town that was fifty miles away over moderate terrain. Walking with his sister, this would likely take at least ten days so they would need food and provisions to last them a while. All this time, Michael had been developing into a strong and able young man, so this was a perfectly fine opportunity for him to be able to prove himself to his parents.
Three weeks after her eighth birthday, they packed one large pack for Michael and one small pack for Arvonia. Their parents kissed each of them on the cheeks so many times that both children were thoroughly moist. Finally, with many tears from their parents, Michael and Arvonia set off together up the winding path through the forest and onto their journey.
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