Esther and Mercy

Part 1

A couple stand outside of a home for girls. They'd suffered a miscarriage not too long before and are here in hopes of filling the void the loss has left in their hearts. The woman, Kate, observes the party happening on the first floor. The man, John, wanders upstairs in search of the bathroom. He hears two accented voices singing "The Glory Of Love" curiously fallowing the sound, he peeks into a room and sees two young girls.

One has brown wavy hair and is wearing the standard orphanage uniform of a white blouse and grey jumper with the addition of ribbons around her wrists and neck. The other has blonde spiral curls and wears the same neck ribbon, but instead of ribbon bracelets, she wears white gloves that go partway up her arms. The singing stops. The dark haired one has noticed John watching from the partially open door. "Hello?"

"Hi" John looks around at the many paintings lining the walls. He's impressed. "Are these all yours?"

"Yes. Ours actually". She nudges the blonde, who is still engrossed in her painting. The other girl smiles at John when she finally notices him.  "Do you like them?" She asks. "They're remarkable." They really are. Incredibly detailed and with no color bleed, these girls are prodigies. 

"Thank you." They say in unison

"My name is Esther." The brunette introduces herself. "And mine is Mercy. What's yours?"

"John. Nice to meet you. Can I take a seat?"

"Of course." John sits down and watches as the girls continue their work. "Where did you get the idea for this one?"

"My paintings always tell stories. This one's  about a sad mother lion who can't find her cubs." 

"She's smiling." John observes. 

"She's dreaming about her babies. It's the only thing that makes her happy."

"I hope she finds them."

"She will. Look." Esther starts adding a new part to the picture. "They were lost in the jungle, and they were so scared because they didn't have a mother. Just when they thought they'd be alone forever, they found their mother asleep under this tree. Now when she wakes up, her dream will have come true. She'll have her family again."

"And yours?" Mercy turns to better show off her art. "Mine's about a mama cat whose kitten has been given away."  The painting shows a grey cat on a window sill. "She misses him terribly and waits at the window every day, wishing he'd come back." Not as complex a story as Esther's, but charming nonetheless.  "Does he?"

"Yes. Turns out his new family are related to Mama's owners." She starts adding the kitten to the picture so it looks like he's sneaking up on the mother.

"Amazing. You came up with those stories?" Before either girl can answer, a new voice is heard down the hall. "I think I hear his voice down here." Kate comes upon the room and is intrigued by the girls upon first sight.

"Hey. I want to introduce you. This is my wife, Kate. Kate, this is Esther and Mercy." The three exchange greetings. "They painted all these." Kate is impressed. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"These are fantastic." Their younger child is into art too. Is this a sign? "Thank you." They spoke in unison. Apparently they do this a lot. "Where did you learn how to do this?" 

"We've just had lots of time to practice, I guess." 

"It's really boring here." Mercy adds."It's boring here? If you're so bored, why aren't you down at the party?" Why are they up here when there's so much going on downstairs? "we've never really seen the point of it. Nobody's ever talked to either of us before. I guess we're different." Mercy nods.  "There's nothing wrong:with being different." Kate erasures.  "I think people should always try to take the bad things that happen to them and turn them into something good. Don't you?"

"Yeah. Absolutely." Kate agrees. They keep talking for what feels like hours.