Melora - A Christian Young Adult Fiction

Chapter 4 - Mr. Fribelle

It's been three weeks since Melora and her friends had moved out to New York from California, but missing their home with Twickenhams made it feel like ages for them. They were referred to stay in a well-known Children's Home in New York, only ten miles away from the bustling city.

Moving to New York was exciting to the trio because they had wanted to go there for a long time, but they missed Twickenham terribly. Their new home was larger and more modern than the one Twickenhams had; it was popular, and many people arrived there to deliver gifts to the children as well as to make donations.

At first, Melora wondered why Mr. Twickenham would move her to a popular Children's Home if they were doing this for her safety. But he answered that Dorothy's people wouldn't expect her to move out to somewhere well-known.

Melora and her friends liked their new house; the atmosphere here was rather good. They made friends with a lot of youngsters and Melora even found a favorite among them, to whom she eventually gave her old teddy bear. But the head keeper wasn't their type. The woman disliked them, especially Melora, who couldn't get a hold of her sharp tongue. In their opinion, the keeper woman was rude and demanding, and they disobeyed her often, too annoyed and irritated to carry her orders around. This drove the woman enraged and she punished them.

They were now in the large kitchen's work area, washing dishes and storing them in the cupboards. They weren't supposed to work in the kitchen, but it was their punishment. Though, they were enjoying it, as it was the only time they had away from everyone else, just the three of them alone—where they could talk freely.

Leanora washed the dishes, and Evelyn wiped the floor as the water kept splashing from the large sink while Leanora washed them in haste.

"For goodness' sake, Leanora, I had a very nice shower in the morning, and you don't have to give me another now!" Melora groaned in annoyance as the water splashed onto her while she stacked the washed plates on top of another set.

Leanora laughed as she heard her friends groan and exclaim at her, warning her to be careful. She found it amusing. "Oh, Mel, try to enjoy yourself. After all, this is what we're going to do during every punishment in the future, and I'll always be the one at washing!"

"Oh?" Evelyn crossed her arms, stopping herself from wiping the floor because it was pointless—Leanora was still washing. "Next time, I'll do the dishes and you can clean the floor instead."

"Or, you don't have to do anything at all. After all, it's my tongue that gets us into trouble," Melora said amusedly, carefully taking the set of plates to her arms, and holding them against her chest before turning to walk across the room.

"Your tongue is excellent, Mel." Leanora was upbeat. "After all, someone's gotta yell at Miss Ward."

"And we lose control when she tells you something bad; so that's what gets us in trouble, not your tongue," Evelyn stated.

Melora smiled at their words but didn't respond as she concentrated on getting the plates to the other end of the room. But suddenly the door swung open by Anatole Ward, the keeper woman, before she called out, "Melora! You have a visitor!"

The sudden opening of the door and the arrival of the woman's loud voice startled Melora. She lost her grip and fell backward to the wet floor, accompanied by the loud crashing of the set of plates as they fell off her arms—a few of them shattering into pieces. It happened all of a sudden, and Melora was terrified to have Anatole witnessing it.

But something caught her attention, distracting her from the pain of falling; a visitor. Anatole just informed her that she has a visitor, and who could that be? She had never had a visitor in her entire life.