The Baby Programme

I was in my room studying for my next exam when I heard multiple car doors being opened and closed. I didn't pay any mind to it as I thought it was the neighbors. I flipped to the next page of my history textbook. I already went over this two times, but I had to make sure I knew everything. I had to get an A on this, I had to.As I was reading the text intensely I heard people entering our house. Voices were heard from the hallway. Had father and mother invited people over? That couldn't be. They never liked having people over to our house. They were quite introverted and there weren't many people who could meet up their standards to be considered by them as their friends. If you weren't educated the way they were, you failed. If you could only focus on your own field of expertise, you failed. If you were too poor, you failed. If

The ride was long. After thirty minutes I had my eyes cast down to my lap. Mr. Carter sat next to me and said a couple of times it would be okay. Only I didn't respond to that. Nothing would be fine without my brother.All of a sudden the car stopped. I looked up and saw a big, grey gate being opened. The car moved again and I saw a huge building appearing through the car windows. It had many floors and it looked very dull with big walls made of concrete. Not to mention the big fence made out of stone around the institution. I saw multiple guards outside but no signs of teenagers. It felt more like a prison than an organization that helped children. It also didn't help that the weather was rather gloomy. The car stopped, only I stayed seated. The car was my no-man's-land. It could take me home or it could leave me here. Leaving th

I looked around the room, once again. The walls were painted in white and light green, the same as our uniforms. Our bedsheets were a pastel yellow with light pink pillows. It truly felt like a child's bedroom.The stuffed animal I was holding felt soft against my hands. It was a blue elephant. I wondered why we all got stuffed animals if we were, as for now, still teenagers. Wouldn't it be more suitable to give these once we were babies?As I watched the soft animal rotating in my hands a strong feeling of sadness overwhelmed me. I missed my home, I missed my bedroom, my books, my own clothes. I even missed the presence of my parents. Maybe they weren't the greatest in showing their love for me, they were still my parents and I held a deep respect for them. But the thing I misse

I felt someone grabbing my arm softly, bringing me back to reality. "Come let's go to your room." I heard Mr. Carter say. He had put his arm around my shoulder and led me back. He opened the door for me and I felt his arms sliding off my shoulders. He petted my head once and said, "Try to relax and have a good night of sleep." He then turned to Nancy and Lexi. "Girls, sleep tight. Don't stay up too long." I heard some murmuring coming from them and then the door behind me was closed.I headed to my bed and laid down. I grabbed my elephant, I couldn't care less right now what the girls would think. It gave me comfort and that was all I wanted. Hearing that your parents don't want you is way worse than them saying they want for you a second chance for a good childhood."Alice are you alright?" Lexi asked.

The nurses had told us that we had to stay seated when lunch was over. Everybody looked around to see why. Nancy and Lexi had asked me if my guardian had said anything to me, but Mr. Carter had only told me to eat my lunch, so I didn't know either. Soon the head of the programme, Mary, came walking into the dining hall."Thank you for your patience boys and girls! Now, the reason why we kept you here longer than we normally do is that you all need to take the personality test. It's very simple, all of you get a set with forms, and on each one are multiple-choice questions. These questions are about you, fill in the answer you think fits your personality the most, the answer that describes you the best. We do this so we can match you with your new family. Remember there are no wrong answers! Good luck!"With that, she left the room and t