A Rare Smile

Karlee looked out the frostbitten window with a sigh. Just another Christmas Eve. Not a fantastic one, or a miserable one, just another one. Every year for as long as she could remember she had been stuck here in this hell-hole of an orphanage. They always bought a tree that didn't really resemble a tree. They decorated baked cookies "to get into the Christmas spirit". Of course it always did get her into the Christmas spirit. It made her hopes soar it made her think that maybe this Christmas she would have a home, parents, and presents. But alas, her hopes dimmed on Christmas morning every year. When she ran into the room with the tree that is not a tree, her faith died. And every year she died with it a little more. Every year her smile became more and more rare until it was nearly extinct. This year just might kill that smile once and for all.

Karlee was startled as a soft hand touched her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to see Ms. Gradey standing there unsmiling. Ms. Gradey was the orphanage's owner. A grumpy old lady that had wrinkles upon wrinkles. Her smile was as rare as Karlee's had become. She wasn't mean or rude in anyway, Karlee believed that she merely hated children. Not enough to beat them when they were naughty of course. No, Ms. Gradey had never so much as yelled at them. Yet, all the children feared her. They feared that one day she would crack and just make their lives more miserable than they already were.

"Time for bed sweetie." Ms. Gradey said with a sickeningly sweet voice that was as rare as Karlee's smile as well.

Karlee merely nodded in acknowledgment, slipped out of her grasp, and headed for bed. She climbed the nearly broken ladder to the top of her bunk-bed. Snores filled the room, and as usual, she could not sleep. She rolled onto her side, the scratchy covers shifting under her arms. She glanced across the room to the frosted window one more time, while wishing with the last bit of hope in her body that Christmas this year might not be like all the others. Then with that, she fell into a fitful sleep.

*
Karlee woke with dread filling her. At first she couldn't figure out why, but then she realized that it was Christmas. 'The worst time of the year.' she thought bitterly as she threw the scratchy covers off and stepped carefully down the broken ladder. All the other beds were empty which meant all the other kids would have already finished opening their presents. If there were presents that is.

She walked out of the room and opened the door. There before her was the pathetic little tree and below it lay... a whole lot of nothing. The only thing that lay beneath it was its pine needles. She frowned, this was something that was common, as she sat down in front of the tree trying not to let the tears fall. She sighed and poked at one of the pine needles that were lying away from all the other pine needles. She thought it sort of resembled her in some sick bitter way. Alone.

She brought her knees up too her chest and buried her face in them. She was about to let the tears willingly fall from her eyes when Ms. Gradey called her name. She sighed and decided that the tears could wait a few more minutes, as she got up.

Ms. Gradey was standing inside her office with a young couple. They were an odd looking couple if you asked her. The woman was more beautiful than any other woman Karlee had met. Her eyes seemed to sparkle in the lamp light. The man however, looked studious with glasses and a nervous smile. They didn't seem to match in any way, but the woman sent loving looks his way as she clutched onto his arm.

This was not the first time that Karlee had seen this couple. Oh no, she remembered well.

They had visited only a few weeks earlier. They spent nearly their whole visit asking her questions, quizzing her about her miserable life. Things like 'how long have you lived here?' and 'what is your favorite color?'. That day, she had really thought she was going to be adopted but then after all the quizzing was over, they left. Karlee was used to this. It was what all the adoptive parents did when they saw that the child was unfit to be their child. So now Karlee was puzzled. Why did this odd couple come back?

"Karlee, this is Mrs. And Mr. Bernstein. Your new mother and father." Karlee's heart lifted as she stared at them. This wasn't a joke? "They visited a few weeks ago, remember? They wanted it to be a Christmas surprise."

But Karlee didn't hear what Ms. Gradey was saying as she stepped towards her new mother. Her only mother. Her mother. All for her. Her mother took her into a hug and Karlee let the tears finally fall. But they were no longer tears of sorrow but tears of joy. Overwhelming joy.

Then her mother leant down and whispered "Merry Christmas." in her ear.

And Karlee smiled.