Chapter 3
All through the night, I had a dream about my family. I dreamed that my mother was a successful supermodel and that my dad was the wealthy owner of a golf course. I imagined that I had a sister, tall and proud, looking after me. I quickly shook the thoughts out of head. They made me want to cry.
When the sun rose and the roosters crowed, I was already up and eating breakfast. This morning, we had French toast. Ms. Odette told us to go to school. I felt the franc in my pocket. I didn’t notice that Charlotte was already walking outside.
“Marie, are you coming or not?” she shouted. I followed her. The rest of the girls were in bed sick with the common cold. I thought to myself, how strange it is to have a cure for everything else except for the common cold? As soon as we got outside, I explained my plan to Charlotte, and she told me that she knew where to get good gifts for only a franc.
When we got to school, we learned about America and how my hero, Jacques Marquette, led the expedition that led to finding the Mississippi River. I stared at the clock and waited for it to strike three o’
clock. Tick, tock, tick, tock, it rang in my ears.
And then finally the words I had been waiting to hear all day: “Class is dismissed.” As soon as the bell rang, Charlotte and I raced out the door to the shop: Olivier’s Boutique. Charlotte and I fingered all the lacy dolls, but we took a lot of time smelling the perfume and trying on the beautiful necklaces. Finally, we agreed that we should buy Ms. Odette a bottle of perfume, a bouquet of flowers, and a pretty charm necklace.
“I’m sure Ms. Odette will be ‘charmed’ when we give this to her,” Charlotte joked. We changed our minds when the church bell rang at four o’ clock. We knew we had to hurry back and prepare ourselves for a scolding.
However, when we got into the room, all the children were rolling on the ground, crying. “What’s going on?” I asked a small child named Emmanuel.
He replied, “A scary monster took Ms. Odette!” I shook my head, knowing that I could never trust a small preschooler.
I asked Valentina, who said that a masked man had kidnapped Ms. Odette. That night, we were sent to bed without dinner. It sure was bad to have Alfred in charge, I thought. I stared at the flowers. They were wilting. It matched my mood.
In the morning, Alfred showed us the newspaper: Orphanage Lady Disappears! I was so sad that I ran and ran and ran. I stopped in the park. I
didn’t know where I was going. Finally, I realized that the newspaper had
said Ms. Odette had been traced to America. But how could I afford a ticket to go to America? I flipped through my memory like a picture album. I recalled going to Mr. Olivier’s store and reading a sign that said: Buy any three items and get a free airplane ticket to America! I thought that it would be too good to be true, but that it was worth a try.
I went home and while everyone was at school, I packed my things and the necklace I had bought for Ms. Odette. I packed all my dresses and all my pants, shirts, and shoes. I folded them carefully and placed them in my small pink polka-dotted suitcase that Ms. Odette had bought for me on my birthday.
I walked to the airport, which wasn’t too far away, and I saw Mr. Olivier waving to me! “Did you come to get the ticket you earned?”
I responded with, “Yes, monsieur.”
“Show me your receipt.” He said. I dug the grimy receipt out of my pocket and handed it to him. “Very well. Here is your airplane ticket.” He handed it to me. I walked with my jaw almost touching my shoes as I sauntered over to the screening area, but then the people told me it was a fake! I sat down in dismay. Then, a pink poodle snapped at something. It was an airplane ticket! Apparently, the owner had dropped it! What good luck I had today! I picked it up, and it smelled of perfume.
I got to the screening area, where the airport workers told me to take off my shoes and empty my pockets. I wondered why. All that was in my pocket was lint, anyway. After the screening was over, they told me to
sit on a chair in the waiting area and wait for my flight.
When I sat there, I decided to entertain myself with Ms. Odette’s Rubik’s Cube. Suddenly, a boy ran past me and knocked the cube out of my hand. As I bent down to pick it up, I felt a nudge on my arm. I looked up, and saw Acorn! His glowing eyes made me feel like everything was all right. I zoned out for a moment, but then saw a stack of money on the ground! I counted it up, and found out that it was worth one hundred American dollars! Who would loose such a handsome sum of money? “Acorn, it’s you who makes the world go round.” I said. I scooped him up and kissed him. Just then, the voice on the loudspeaker stated that flight 46 was leaving. I looked at my ticket, and it said flight 46.
I grabbed my things, and Acorn, following my heels, hurried to gate 46. We boarded the plane and I sat in my seat, seat 18. He whimpered in the aisle, and I placed him in my lap. I put the seatbelt on, the plane jolted, and we took flight. Goodbye France, and hello Los Angeles.