CHAPTER 1

Run, run, run.

No time to stop, no time to think – no need to.  Just run.  So the girl runs.  “Faster,” a hoarse voice says in her head, “faster.”  She goes faster.  She doesn’t think, she doesn’t see, she just runs.  Suddenly, she stops.  She looks up and registers the building before her.  She nods.  Then, she falls to the floor.

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Akron, Ohio
2010

It was an exciting day at the Fuller Home for Displaced Children. Young Rivka Berg was being adopted. The adoption had been processing for about a year, and today Rivka was leaving.  There was a lot of chatter going around.  Everyone was sad to see her go.  She had only been there for a bit more than a year, but that four-year-old had become everyone’s favorite. The younger girls played with her and dressed her up, while the older girls spoiled her. They were all going to miss her, but many of the girls were happy for her.

“After all,” said Myra, a twelve-year-old girl, “it’s better for her to be taken when she is younger; she will be able to adjust better.”  Myra had been taken into foster care twice already, and given back both times, with complaints of her anger, how spoiled she was, and that she didn’t get along with anyone.  Once she returned, she was suddenly much better-behaved, and well -mannered. Myra had confided in her friend Lisa, that she just didn’t want to leave the home.

“Yes, and the older you get, the less likely you will be taken,” said Clara. Clara was fourteen, and she had been there since she was born.  A woman named Andrea Carson had come to the home fourteen years ago, and held out a baby. She had found it on the street, in a broken-down stroller.  She wanted her to go to a good home.  Ms. Anderson, the lady in charge, took her name, her address, and the baby.

Not knowing her name, Ms. Anderson called the baby Andrea Fuller.  When Andrea was six, and old enough to understand, she changed her first name to Clara.  She kept the name Andrea though, with gratitude to the woman who brought her there, and Fuller, because she didn’t know any other last name.  Her full name was now Clara Andrea Fuller.

Clara was very happy that Rivka had found a home.  She had grown fond of her, and didn’t want her to live the same life she had; growing up in an institution was not a very enjoyable childhood.

All the children watched as Mr. and Mrs. Greenbaum came in, and one hour later came out, with Rivka in Mrs. Greenbaum’s arms, looking at her with her big eyes.  She waved goodbye, and everyone waved back.  Then she entered the car, was buckled up, and driven away.

To be continued……..