Orphan

“Orphan” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Austin Arinaitwe, 7 Hills International School, Kampala, Uganda.

Orphan

Once there was an orphan named Jeff Windsor. Jeff had lost his parents at a very early age. Life at the orphanage was horrible, everyday Jeff had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning. The other orphans and Jeff had exactly 15 minutes to shower and report to the dining hall. For breakfast they had porridge mixed with the cook’s special ingredients something called “soy peas.” On Sunday they had “special treats,” if they finished the porridge mixed with “soy peas,” they would go outside for morning exercises. On Saturdays (the saddest day for Jeff) parents used to come and adopt a child. They never picked Jeff because the director of the orphanage described him to the parents as “lousy and lazy,” Jeff was not lousy or lazy he was just depressed that he was in the orphanage and really missed his parents. Jeff wasn’t sure if his parents died or they just left him in a dumpster.

At lunch time, Jeff didn’t want to eat said, he was going out for fresh air, but Jeff had another plan; he wanted to escape from the orphanage. But his advisers said “no.” So Jeff had to eat his awful lunch.

Jeff decided to tell his three friends; Louis, Ryan and Charlotte about his plan. So in the night they waited till everyone was asleep to be sure they were clear to go. At midnight they sneaked out not knowing where they were going.

When they go out of the orphanage Jeff said, “We should just roam around and see if we find anything.” One of the guards saw them but thought they were other children. The children walked till morning until they were starving. But luckily Jeff brought 5 apples for each one. They kept on walking until they entered a supermarket. These were tomatoes, green beans, oranges, and a lot more.

Jeff went to the end of the lant and found something very unusual: an unusual fruit, he read the label and the type of the fruit was called “Grant apple.” The man selling it said that fruit gives you a wish every time you bite. So Jeff bought 10 grant apples and continued his walk. Jeff took a bite off, the grantapple tasted like the porridge they make at the orphanage. Jeff felt some dust on his body. Then he said “I wish for one pound” and in his pocket was “one pound,” he took another bite and then he wished for 100 pounds and now he had 101 pounds.

Jeff gave his friends each one a grantapple and this is what they wished for: Ryan wished for a new outfit and some new shoes and the next thing you know Ryan is covered in a black suit and a Pandora. Louis wished for a car and right behind him was a “Wilson X 200.” They entered the “Wilson X 200.” Jeff was about to pick an apple when he realized there was only one apple left. Jeff took a bite and wished they had superpowers. Jeff had super strength. Charlotte had freeze breath, Louis had heat breath and Ryan had super speed.

From being an Orphan to a superhero.