Young Writers Society

They spent four days in the Home. It was full of kids who cried and workers who didn't care. 

Then they were placed in their first home, which wasn't too bad. It was a family full of kids already, who lived on farm. They were very kind, but they couldn't take care of five girls at once. After a few months they sat down and explained that they could keep, and maybe adopt, Mallory and Daphne, but not the older ones. Val refused.

"If you split us up, they'll run away," she promised.

That family had been understanding enough, and let them go with minimal fuss.

The second family wasn't near as nice. There were three other children, another foster kid, a stepson, and a daughter. The daughter was fawned over, and the stepson and foster kids treated like second class citizens. The stepson took his anger out by trying to beat up the foster kids. Val managed to mostly protect the others, but somehow it was after he tried to catch Daphne (who was now six but still four years younger than him) alone in the bathroom and give her a beating, that he left them alone. No one knew what she did to him, only suddenly there was a lot of screaming, and when he came out he denied anything had happened, despite a bloody cheek and tore shirt sleeve.

"I tripped." He insisted to his stepmom. But Val had glimpsed the razor Daphne had hidden between the toilet and wall.

Happily, they left that family in less than six months. Daphne, however, kept the razor.

The third 'family' was an old woman who lived by herself. She always burned the food and lived in a huge, dusty house that was cold and ready to fall apart, but she was Val's favorite family yet. She was very kind and mostly insane, believing in fairies and witches and stuff, and told wonderful stories and let the children do almost anything they wanted. Val and Cassia easily took over doing most of the adult things: cooking, cleaning, taking care of money and groceries.

Unfortunately, six months later the place was decided to be unsuitable for children (they had nearly frozen that winter), and they were taken away, much to the sorrow of the woman and the girls. She had a happy ending though, ending up adopting several cats and few dogs that had been ill-treated or abandoned and caring for them for the rest of her days.

The fourth family was the shortest yet, lasting only six days. They wanted dolls, not children, and while they were fond of Mallory, who would preen on command, Daphne frustrated them. As for the older girls, well Cassia behaved herself well enough, but Val smoked and swore, and Des messed around with the woman's make-up and clothes. They left with the family determined that children were horrible things.

Then they stayed at the house with nearly five other kids and parents that were gone all the time. Val got in fights trying to protect her sisters, and for fun and pleasure, it must be said.

Des, who had brittle bones and needed a cane, played up the tragic-but-beautiful-girl for the sake of the boys and ended up kissing all three of them at varying times. This ended with them all getting angry at one another and beating each other up. Val jumped into that fray as well, because someone had to defend her sister's honor. Cassia took the foster parent's phone and put the whole thing on YouTube. Then Daphne stabbed one of them, 'because she thought it would be funny', and they had to call 911 because he was bleeding so badly. Mallory later admitted that the entire idea had been hers, and she didn't regret it.

That was the end of that home.

Then there was the pastor's family. They spent every day telling the girls how much they owned them for feeding them. They owned them, apparently, home-cooked meals, straight As on every subject, a spotless house and free time spent bible reading.

Val burnt the bible (and her Sunday best dress, a stupid one that made her look like laura Ingels) with cigarette butts, and swore especially loudly in church. Cassia emptied the offering plate and most of the congregation's wallets. Des kissed at least seven good christen boys who had never kissed anyone before and were not disappointed. Mallory scammed most of the kids at Sunday school out of their marbles and pennies. Daphne stabbed someone.

"There's something wrong with her," said Cassia, as the girls waited in the living room to be told that not only were they going to hell, but they were also leaving this morning.

"That guy had a terrible voice and decided to sing anyhow. There's nothing wrong with stabbing someone like that." Val replied.

The seventh and last family was also the worst. The father often got drunk and tended to hit anything he could see when he was. When he wasn't he got sickly sweet and far, far too interested in Des.

The mother was kindly dubbed 'the witch'. She had a billion rules and billion chores, and the result of not falling in line was missed meal (the fridge was literally chained) or being screamed at for 45 minutes straight. She treated the girls with pure disgust.

Val hated it, she couldn't care less about being screamed at and broke all the rules she could. Cassia stole food, finding the fridge quite easy to break into. The witch screamed at smacked and threatened, but it took at least three weeks before they left that place, and foster care in general, for good.

What happened was this: the witch was gone, and the father wasn't drunk. Des could not fight back or get away without breaking her own bones. Daphne had her razor and was unnoticed due to being only seven.

Val arrived in time to see the Des unharmed and untouched, and Daphne covered in blood that wasn't her own and unruffled by that fact. She and Mallory filled garbage bags with food, toothpaste, toilet paper, and clothes. Cassia cleaned out the little money left in the house. Val drove the spare car a while and then stopped.

They got out of the car and never bother looking back.

It was September 18th, 2011, and they had been in Care for nearly two years. That was all the time they'd spend.