Life is never easy for anyone but it all depends on how you make it. Life is no more than a mind game. You have doors that are always opening and closing but it’s all about the timing…

I stole the piece of bread from the kitchen without being noticed and I walked out. I ate a piece of the bread and saved the rest for the younger kids. I walked to the room and saw the little kids of the ages 3-5. I separated the bread and gave a piece to everyone.

‘Thanks Lady,’ a little boy said after I gave him a piece of bread. I watched them all eat but just as they finished Ms. Landers, our foster mother, came in.

‘You!’ she yelled pointing at me. She grabbed my hair and dragged me into the hall way.

‘How dare you, you disobedient child, steal from MY kitchen!’ she yelled in my ear. A woman with bright red lipstick walked in a raised an eyebrow at me. I glared at her and struggled out Ms. Landers grasp and she let go.

‘Her,’ the strange woman said.

‘You can’t be serious? She’s the most troublesome child in this whole household.’ She said confused.

‘Yes, she’s perfect,’ she said with amused eyes. I glared at her more and she smiled. Ms. Landers lead us to the interview room where the “potential adopter” and the child, she left us there and I stood on the desk so we could see eye to eye.

‘What am I exactly perfect for?’ I said glaring while crossing my arms over my chest.

‘My name is Melinda what’s yours sweetie?’ she said kindly but I wasn’t buying it.

‘I have no name people just call me Lady, just cut to the chase, why do you want me?’ I said an amused and she grinned.

‘I can’t tell you here but I can tell you in the car.’ She said then stood up.

‘Ms. Landers, can you please bring the adoption papers?’ she said and a few minutes later she came holding the papers.

‘This all and everything about Lady that we know of except her real name.’ she said giving the papers to Melinda.

‘These are all the documents on Lady? What about computer documents?’ she asked and Ms. Landers seemed surprised.

‘We can’t afford computers, oh and it’ll take a couple months to be able to take the child home. We have to go through procedures to make sure she lives in a safe environment.’ she said and Melinda nodded in understanding.

‘Thank you very much,’ Melinda said and going through her purse she pulled out a shot and hid it behind her back and when Ms. Landers turned around she stuck the needle in her neck and Ms. Landers fell slump.

‘What did you just do?’ I asked with my eyes widening with shock.

‘Let’s just say she’ll forget all about me and you will just be a dream in her mind.’ She said putting the needle away.

We headed for the parking lot and I memorized my old beat up neighborhood. It was snowing and the branches were dead. I was wearing black long pants and a plain red shirt.

‘You cold?’ she asked me and I looked at her. She had grayish white thin straight hair, bright red lipstick and looked in her mid-twenty’s. She was pale and had black finger nails and a slick black dress with a leather jacket.

'No, there are some things in life we have to shut up and just live it.' I said and she arched an eyebrow.

'That's motto of life then?'

'No, life is nothing more than a mind game and you are just a door to me.' I replied straight up.

'Ouch, I'm sure you'll change your mind soon enough,' she said and I mumbled something incoherent.

‘You seem kind of old to be driving a Mercedes-Benz SLR 722,’ I said admiring the car. She looked thrown off for a second but quickly regained composure.

‘You seem kind of young to know a lot about my car, and I’m not that old, I’m 23.’ She said opening the car and getting. I rolled my eyes and followed inside and gasped at the red and black interior.

‘How old are you anyway?’ she said starting up the engine and I looked up at her.

‘I’m 7 years old,’ I said and she nodded pulling out of my old run down foster home. 

‘Interesting, for a 7 year old, you seem older for your age,’ she said and I shrugged. We drove for a while in silence and the trees passing by made me sleepy and before I knew it I drifted off into sleep.

10 years later

We landed in base and I was carried out by my team. They carried me carefully as I held my ribs tightly to stop the bleeding. I gritted my teeth to the point where they felt like they were about to brake.

‘MELINDA!’ I heard Saraphina yell. Melinda came running in and she gasped when she saw me.

‘What happened?’ she asked and I fought the scream that tried to bubble out from my lips.

‘She was shot.’ Jaelyn said while grabbing a knife and over grown tweezers. They soaked it in peroxide and ripped my black top of leaving me in my sports bra.

‘Give her pain meds now.’ Melinda said and I shook my head no.

‘Just get the bullet out now.’ I panted. As soon as the knife touched the hole in my side I felt the pain of the alcohol engulf my right side. I fought the screams I wanted to yell but remember what happened on our mission and no pain could compare to what I had to do over there.

They wrapped up my side and I was seeing red. Melinda looked around counting then recounting and recounting until her eyes fell upon me.

‘Where’s Jo?’ she asked and the tears fell down my cheek.

‘She- she didn’t make it,’ I choked out. Everyone was quiet and Melinda cried and that hurt worse, seeing the woman raise me, and give me a second chance of life, and it’s all my fault.

My vision clouded and I passed out.