Destiny

I was walking down the hall with my friend, Karla. We were going to our next class, my favourite, art. Everybody was moving around like busy bees. Karla sat next to me in the back. “Look! It’s Shane, Karla!” I said giggling.

Karla’s freckled face blushed. “Shut up!” Karla whispered. Everybody knew about Karla liking Shane. At the front of the classroom stood a statue. It was a figure with wings on it’s back holding a huge key. A blanket of silence fell upon the room as our teacher walked and stood beside the statue.

“Today in class we will be drawing a picture of this statue. You will only have this class period to draw it. Please use your class time wisely!” Mrs. Armstrong said. Everybody took out their sketchbooks and pencils. Everywhere I heard zippers opening and closing. I concentrated on what I saw, the statue with wings holding a huge key.

Mrs. Armstrong got up and said, “Time’s up! Leave your drawing on my desk.” I took my drawing and placed it on her wooden desk. Mrs. Armstrong looked at it critically. “Marianna, please stay after class.” I wondered why? I hoped she was going to tell me how good it was. I packed up everything and went to her desk.

Mrs. Armstrong looked up from her wooden desk. “Marianna, tell me what do you see?” Pointing her finger at the statue while asking me.
“I see an angel with wings and a huge key.” I replied. “Is anything wrong Mrs. Armstrong?”
“I think you have eye problems Marianna! If this continues any longer I’m afraid you can’t take art!” She told me in a small voice. She wasn’t here to tell me how great I was but to tell me that I had eye problems. My vision blurred, I blanked out.

I don’t know where I am. It’s dark, cold, and rainy. I can hear a baby crying and a woman crying out for help. I also see a man, his head is lying against the steering wheel. “Help! Somebody help us!” The woman yells out. Cars slow down to watch the scene. A man calls out, “ I called 911! Don’t worry!” I can hear the fire engine and ambulance’s sirens from afar. The sirens are getting louder and louder. The fire engine is finally insight. The lights shining in every direction, the cars are trying to move for them. The fire engine parks quickly, firemen jump off, examining the situation. Their first priority is to get the baby out, second, to split up into two teams and get the two other casualties out. I stand there, watching everything passing by; time seems to have slowed down. Staring down on the ground, I can see gas leaking from the car. I look up and I see a fireman with the baby in his arms. The car explodes. “ NO!!!” I scream. I sit up.

“Annie, are you okay?” Karla asked in a scared voice. She usually called me Annie. I sat there quietly and stared into the white wall, trying to recall my dream. Even thought I tried, I could only remember small fragments of it. I snapped out of my thoughts and realized I was in the small nurse’s room at school. Karla sat there with a scared face. “I think so, I’m not so sure myself!” I replied. “Where’s my mom and dad?”
“They’re not here right now! They’re on the way!” Karla replied.

It felt like hours sitting there with Karla. Nobody had spoken since I awoke from my slumber. “Hey Karla!” I finally said, breaking the silence. “I had this weird dream. It was about a car crash. There was a family of three in the car, the dad, the mom, and a baby. They only saved the baby. A few seconds after they got the baby out, the car exploded. The parents both died. It was so horrible! After it exploded I woke up.” Streams of tears rolled down my face as I told her my dream. Karla gave me a gentle hug, letting me cry on her shoulder.

I cleaned myself up in the girl’s washroom. Standing there looking at my own reflection, many questions are lay unanswered. Who were they? Where is the baby now? Did she grow up? How old is she? I felt so useless for not knowing the answers to these questions. I walked out of the washroom and saw my parents sitting in the chairs nearby, waiting for me. Mom got up quickly and came over to give me a hug. “Are you alright darling?” She asked with anxiety. She looked so frightened. “I’m fine mom! Don’t worry.” I replied with a tiny smile. Dad stepped up and put both his hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her.
We went into our long black, sleek limousine. I sat between Mom and Dad. “I think we should get Marianna an entire body check-up at the hospital!” She said worriedly. My dad agreed with a nod and told our driver to go to the Hospital of Hope. “Oh Mom! Today at school for art class, Mrs. Armstrong said I drew something else different from everyone else when we were supposed to draw some statue. She said I had eye problems….” I said disappointedly. “I want to check on my eyes….” I felt so bad that I couldn’t look my mother in the eyes to talk. I used to feel so good and excited just to talk about art but now everything was different. “Is anything wrong with your eyes? Do they hurt? Is anything wrong with your sight?” Mom asked. She tried to search for answers upon my face as I looked up, looking at me, into my eyes. I stared back but only to find tears flooding my eyes. “Mom, I want to be an artist one day but how am I to continue if I don’t know what am I drawing?”
“My dear you will be fine! Who cares what that teacher says! Draw what is on your mind. Use your imagination; most importantly, draw what you feel!” My dad said wisely. My mom was speechless. She didn’t want to see her daughter like this. “We will do what we can to help you.” She said with a smile.

The rest of the way there was silence. I sat in the waiting room, waiting for my turn. All of a sudden, I heard sirens. Thoughts of my dream were coming back to me. The flashing lights and the loud sirens, the traffic. The nurses and doctors were running around. “What’s going on mom?” I asked. I stood up and saw them pushing a bed with a patient on it and he was badly hurt. The man lying on the steering wheel and the woman crying for help flashed in my head. I heard people saying there was a car crash somewhere and the casualties had just arrived. When the whole group of nurses and doctors passed by me with the patient I started to see more small bits of my dream going in and out of my mind, the crash. I blanked out.

Slowly I opened my eyes to a dimly lit room with lovely pictures. My parents sat down by a table facing each other, talking. “Mom? Dad?” I said. I try to get up and sit up straight. Mom quickly came over to help me up. “How are you feeling?” Dad asked.
“I’m okay! A bit tired from sleeping!” I replied. “Dad! I’ve been getting this weird dream lately.”
“What is it about?” He asked. He sat beside me on my bed.
“It’s about this car crash with a family of three, a man, woman, and a baby. Only the baby survived because the car exploded after it got out.” I explained.
“Oh! I see!” He said. On his face, it seemed like he wasn’t telling me something. I looked at mom and I could tell she was hiding something from me too.

“Mom and Dad, are you guys not telling me something?” I asked. Mom got up and grabbed a chair and sat down beside me too. “We have something we’ve been hiding all our lives from you! The dream you had is about you and your parents. You are adopted! I’m sorry that we didn’t tell you this earlier. Your parents died in that car crash. About your eyes, this car crash affected your eyes badly when you were getting out of the car; you were so near the explosion that your eyes were damaged. When you got better at the hospital, they brought you to the adoption centre and we adopted you. We’ve loved you like you were our own and I hope you feel the same way about us,” she said with tears coming down her face. I didn’t know what to say, I was speechless. I finally moved and gave them both a big hug, our family hug. “Thank you!” I whispered. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for both of you.”

I stayed overnight for the body check up. I woke up to a hot breakfast and a sunny room. My parents were already standing there discussing something again. “Good morning!” I greeted them.
“Good morning!” They said it at the same time as they turned around from the window. “Eat your breakfast you have a big day ahead of you.” My dad told me.

I ate my delicious breakfast. I was excited about my results. “So dad, have you receive my results yet?” I asked.
“There is bad news and good news! One is that your eyes are infected by a virus, but the good news is your eyes can heal completely after the operation!” He said.
“Operation? When will I have that?” I asked.
“The thing with this is that it takes awhile to prepare and also you will have to stay here for a few weeks so they can monitor you here. So you don’t get hurt! Your eyes will get worst in these next few days.” He explained. I leant back on my pillow, wondering what lay before me. I knew my eyes would get better after the operation. And that I would be able to become an artist. But I also knew I would have to be patient-but with my parent’s help, I knew everything would be all right.