Finding My Way

Finding My Way

by Simon Atkinson

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Dedicated to my mother and father who support me so much. Without their support, I wouldn’t have had the courage to step up and write this story.

Maple Leaf Writing Project

Brattleboro, Vermont

Copyright 2017

“Ethan, get in the car” called Mrs. Greiner. I was headed to northern Maine. I was going to live with a new family. Moving again. My parents died in a plane accident when I was three years old. It was the year 1997. I was sixteen, throughout my life I’ve been fostered out from home to home. Every time I got fostered out, I got sent back to the orphanage. You see, I have a thing where I overreact about most things and get really mad about everything. Technically I have anger issues but it’s hard to face it. Most of the people who took care of me have a lot of money and a nice house but 90% of the time they are really mean. One of the worst homes I’d been in was in Portland, Maine. The people there made me work all the time. They barely let me have any free time to do anything. They were really messy so there was always, and I mean always, messes to clean up. I got kicked out when I refused to clean the bathroom and tipped a table over and spilled their son’s grape juice all over the carpet. The carpet was ruined and they sent me back to the orphanage.

Ever since I was young I wanted to play the guitar. I’ve only told a few friends at the orphanage, although I only had a few friends. I always wanted to play because I know that my dad was The lead guitarist in a band. I never really got the chance to learn. I also like reading. If there was any book I could get my hands on in the orphanage I would read it over and over.

I got in the smelly old car with Mrs. Greiner, about my least favorite person in the world. She was always really mean and when new orphans came to the orphanage she would confiscate all of their things. I was going to Machias, Maine. It was close to the ocean so that would be great. I love the ocean because one of the first homes I went to had a really nice family with a daughter and son who were nice to me. We used to play at the beach all the time. I got kicked out because when the brother and I were having an arguement I pushed him out of the boat and we had to go and get him out of the water. His new phone was ruined. I didn’t mean to wreck his phone or even push him out of the boat. I was younger then.

It was a long drive north. On the way there I made a promise to myself. I wasn’t going to explode at anybody. I was going to keep the anger in and conceal it. This time I needed to stay no matter how long the chore list was or how mean the people will be. Still, I hoped for a good home.

When we got there, it seemed it was going to be one of the better homes I’d been to, but based on past experience, I was skeptical. I got out of the car and looked around. It was a pretty big house on a lake. The house was off the main road and in the woods. There was a long dirt road going from the main road and up to the house. You couldn’t see the house from the road so there was a lot of privacy. Mrs. Beal walked out of the house. She looked the way I remembered, to be in her late forties, with curly brown hair with traces of gray. She had deep blue eyes. Following her was a girl who looked like she was about a couple years older than me. She also had brown hair but it was lighter and straight. She had the same blue eyes.

“Hello. I’m Mrs. Beal. This is my daughter. Her name is Sara,” said Mrs.Beal.

“Hi,” I mumbled.

“Speak up!” said Mrs.Greiner.

That had made me really mad. I didn’t need to speak up if I didn’t want to. I was about to explode but then I told myself Push it down. No more anger, remember. And said more clearly “Hello”

“Hi, I’m Sara,” said Sara.

I didn’t say anything else. Right when I got inside two big dogs jumped at me. They were both Bernese Mountain Dogs. I was a little freaked out. They were enormous.

“They are very friendly and playful. They won’t bite. Her name is Sophie, and her name is Heidi” said Mrs. Beal.

Mrs. Beal showed me the house. The dogs followed us everywhere. The house was surprisingly clean and nice compared to the last place I was at. I was very glad for that! The last house was always a mess! It seemed like a lot of chaos because of the dogs. Mrs. Beal showed me where I was going to sleep and where everything else was on the first floor. She didn’t have time to show me the second floor. She had to make dinner.

My new bedroom was really kind of small. All there was was a small bed and a dresser. It wasn’t much, but I was grateful for it.

“My husband is going to be home soon” said Mrs. Beal. “I’m going to start on dinner so you can go explore the house some more. Just stay out of the attic. I really hope you like it here!”

This family seemed nice but you never know. Maybe they’re waiting till tomorrow to bust out the chore list and get to do hours of work. I decided I would go upstairs and see what was up there. At the top of the stairs was the attic door with a big padlock on it. I thought why would there be such a big lock on the attic door? I dismissed the thought. I found the second bathroom, a room with a pool table. Suddenly I heard something from the back of the room. When I went over to go see what it was I was surprised to see it was a kitten. I also found Mr. and Mrs. Beal’s and Sara’s rooms.

Then I heard the door open downstairs. “Ethan, my husband is here, why don’t you come and meet him,” said Mrs. Beal.

Mr. Beal was tall and strong, his face was tense, he didn’t look very happy. I decided that I definitely didn’t want to be on his bad side. I politely said, “Hi, I’m Ethan”

“Hello, I’m Mr. Beal,,” he said in a deep voice.

“Let’s go and sit at the table for dinner,” said Mrs. Beal.

Dinner was chicken and cauliflower. It was one of the best meals of my life. There was a lot of conversation at the dinner table.

“So, how do you like it here so far?”said Mrs. Beal

“I like it here a lot! Thank you again for taking me in,”

“How did work go today, Dad?” asked Sara.

“It didn’t go so well. I didn’t get many sales today,”

“My husband is the manager of a music store downtown,” Mrs. Beal said to me.

“Really? That must be a fun job,” I said

This kind of got me excited. I thought I might finally get a chance to learn to play guitar. Maybe even … no. I was getting my hopes up. But maybe. I decided to think about something else.

“What is the cat’s name? I saw him upstairs,” I said.

“Oh, you saw Walter.” said Sara.

After dinner I went to bed early.

That night I didn’t sleep that well. The mattress was so lumpy. I mean, if they were going to get an orphaned boy, couldn’t they have given me some better sleeping conditions? I wasn’t sure if this was going to one of the better places I’ve gone through. Also I was wondering what was in that attic. I didn’t plan on trying to take a peek at what was in there though. I definitely don’t want to get kicked out! Still, I wasn’t sure I trusted these people.

In the morning I woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. Mrs.Beal was in the kitchen cooking with Sara. I could hear the television on in the other room. Mr. Beal was watching the news. I went to the kitchen.

“Good morning Ethan! Did you sleep good?” Mrs.Beal asked.

“Not too good. I eventually fell asleep though,” I said. “Breakfast smells good!” I added.

“How about you set the table. The plates are over there. And the silverware is in the drawer in front of me,” said Mrs.Beal.

The breakfast was really good. During breakfast there wasn’t much conversation.

After breakfast Mr. Beal went to work.

“Sara can take you down to the lake to see it today,” said Mrs. Beal.

“Okay. When should we go?” I said.

“You can leave now!” she said. “You can borrow Mr. Beal’s old boots. They’re probably too big for you, but they might fit you enough …. unless, of course, you brought your own boots. It’s muddy at the lake,”

It seemed like Mrs. Beal was trying to get me out of the house. My suspicions rose some more. Of course I didn’t have a pair of boots. I only brought my shoes and two pairs of clothes

There was a path that goes from the driveway to the lake. There were other paths going from it. I noticed that there were a lot of blueberry bushes along the path. I picked some. They were some of the best blueberries I’ve ever had!

The dogs followed us. At the lake there was a platform on the land with a rickety old dock coming off of it into the water. The dogs ran off the dock and into the water. Then right away they came out and shook off all the water on us.

“Aw ew, stop it,” said Sara. “They always do that!” We both laughed.

There was a small fire pit behind the wooden platform. Mrs. Beal was right. It was really mucky and muddy at the lake. I saw some canoes by the shore. There was a small cabin by the lake. It had a small deck.

“We sometimes have friends over at the lake,” Sara said. “We can go see the garden next.”

“Ok,” I said more enthusiastically than I felt.

I was still suspicious about why Mrs. Beal was trying to get me out of the house. There was something strange about this place.

The garden was on the north end of the house. It pretty big. There was ten raised garden beds. Sara told me what was in every one of them. There were tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, beets, peas,cauliflower, and there was even some strawberries.

“We can pick whatever is ripe” said Sara. “There is a basket over there.”

There wasn’t actually much that was ripe. It was still fun.I was hot out that day. I was getting a little tired. Sara came over.

“Here eat some strawberries, Ethan,” she said. She handed me a little handful of them.

“Thank you,” I said. “They’re delicious. Do you grow strawberries every year?”

“Yeah. My parents are really with the garden thing. They grow plants in the garden every year. They say there just isn’t enough garden beds to grow everything they want. One year they planted lettuce in between a few of the raised garden beds. It was impossible to go through that area without stepping on lettuce plants,” she said. We both laughed.

We brought the vegetables we had picked back. We had been a couple hours. When we walked in the door Mrs. Beal came running down stairs.

“Oh, so you brought some vegetables from my garden. I have a chore for you, Ethan. Do you know how to use a lawn mower?”

I hated lawn mowing. One foster home I went to, the people there made me mow the lawn every two days. Even when it didn’t need mowing. And anyway, I was tired and wasn’t in the mood. I was annoyed at this. I was about to let the anger out and say something stupid but then I remembered my promise.“Yes. I’ll go do it right now. Do you want me to do the front or the back?” I said.

“Are you up to both the front and back?” Mrs. Beal said

“I can do both,” I sighed

“Okay. It's in the shed,” she said.

I went to the shed and got the lawn mower. The shed was kind of dark and foreboding. There were a lot of sharp tools and it was really dark compared to the sunny day outside.

I started mowing the lawn. It took about an hour to do both the front and back lawns of the house. When I got back, Mrs. Beal was in the kitchen. She asked if I wanted some lunch. I said yes. I was starving! I gladly took the sandwitch.

“After lunch can you sweep the deck? It needs it. The broom is in the closet over there,” said Mrs. Beal.

It seemed like she was trying to keep me busy. I was sure something was up, and right when Sara and I got back, she went upstairs. It all seemed so strange. Though I was sure that everything would become clear soon enough.

I ate lunch with Mrs. Beal at the island in the kitchen. The sandwich was great, but it seemed everything here was great compared to the orphanage food.

“How is the food Ethan?” Mrs. Beal asked.

“It’s great. Thank you for making me lunch,” I said.

“How much money do you think mowing the lawn would be?” said Mrs. Beal.

“Excuse me?” I said.

“For mowing the lawn. How much money do you want for it?” she said.

“I … well I’ve never been paid for doing chores before. Usually no one bothers paying me,” I said.

“Oh. Really. If you do work you get paid for it. How about five dollars?” said Mrs. Beal.

“Oh. That much? I really didn’t think that you would pay me. You don’t need to. I don’t even have any money except for a few dimes,” I said.

“No. Why wouldn’t I pay you? I’ll go get my wallet,” said Mrs. Beal.

It seemed strange to get paid for doing work. Mrs. Beal gave me a five dollar bill. I stuffed it in my pocket and said thank you, again

I swept the deck after lunch. It didn’t take to long. The deck was small. There was a little sunroom that leads out to the deck. It had a glass table and a set of chairs.

When I went back inside I noticed Mr. and Mrs. Beal were sitting on the couch with Sara.

“I didn’t notice that you were back, Mr. Beal,” I said.

“Ethan, we have a surprise for you in the attic,” said Mrs. Beal. I was really worried that there was something bad in the attic. Mr. and Mrs. Beal and Sara walked me up to the room. It felt like they were escorting me. When we got to the attic door, it was open. A ladder was out. They just stood there watching me. “Go on up!” said Sara. When I got up in the attic it was confusing. It was a bedroom. Not just any bedroom. It was a really nice one. A nice big dresser and bed. There was a big comfortable chair, and next to it was a big bookshelf with all the books I’d ever want to read. The walls were newly painted. On the wall there was a poster of my favorite band. But the best thing of all was a shiny new electric guitar next to an amplifier. There was a chord and tuner and a pick and everything else I would need for playing the guitar. It was my dream.

“Is this… for me?” I said.

“Do you like it?” said Mr. Beal.

“Yes! Thankyou so much!” I said.

“We heard from the orphanage that you had gone through a lot. You got kicked out of so many homes. We decided to give you a better place to stay,” said Mrs. Beal.

“So I’m here to stay!?!” I said.

“Yes, you’re here to stay!”

“How did you know that I always wanted to play guitar? And that I loved to read?” I said.

“We asked at the orphanage. Your friends told us. That’s why we were trying to get you out of the house,” said Mrs Beal.

“And I never left for work. I just drove down the road a little and waited for you to leave to go to the lake,” said Mr Beal.

“I don’t know what to say,” I said

“Oh, and we got you guitar lessons,” said Mrs. Beal.

That day was and will always be the happiest day of my life. I had finally found a home. A place where I belonged. A family to take care of me. A house to live in. A good place to stay. I found my way.