Tania

The day I met Tania Le Bouviere was the worst day of my life.
My life had been bad from the beginning. My family lived in permanent poverty, and poor Pa had to look for any job he could find, no matter how horrible. Ma had to turn to prostitution, but she never told Pa that. I only found out because i walked into her bedroom one day, to find her and a man in it. The man seemed to take pity because of the look on my face. He put his trousers back on, threw a handful of money at ma, and scarpered saying,
"Sorry Girlie." to me as he left. I burst into tears and ran before Ma had time to explain.
Soon though, Ma got too old for any man, and she had to stop being a prostitute. As a result, we got even poorer. Then the worst thing happened. In his 46th winter, Pa got pneumonia. In three days it took him. Papa had died. I couldn't believe it. I lay in my bed and cried for days on end. I would sleep fitfully, then wake up and burst into tears again. Ma couldn't rouse me for anything.
By the time i got over Pa, Ma and I had virtually nothing. People took pity on me in the street when they saw my skinny arms, and gave me food. I tried to give it to Ma, but she wouldn't take it. She was determined to find her own food, but it was impossible. Due to this, she got skinnier and skinnier. Soon, she was too frail to support herself, and had to stay in bed in our ramshackle cottage, while I went out looking for work or food.
By the time I was thirteen, it was imminent that Ma was going to die, so I braced myself for it.
On May 17th, the day after my 14th birthday, Ma passed away. I wept over her body for a long time, then took it upon myself to carry her to the church. The vicar could bury her.
" Goodbye Mama." I whispred to her, and lay her on the Church step. Then I rapped on the door and ran, because I didn't have the money to actually PAY for the funeral.

Chapter 2

I went back to our little wooden shack, but only to collect my other set of clothes and tie them in a blanket. As I ran through the streets of our town, I looked in every dustbin, searching for scraps of food.
I had decided that i just couldn't bear to stay in that little hut all on my own. Not knowing that Ma and Pa had both died in it. I was setting off on the road.Our town was extremyl small, and it didn't take long before i found myself on a deserted country dirt track. I had no idea where I was going to, but i didn't care, I just wanted to get away from the awful place I'd lived in since birth. I began to cry, as i walked, thinking about Ma and Pa, and the few happy times we'd shared together. Why had they left me? How could they? I cried and cried, stumbling down the road, I must have been walking for hours, yet the tears still came. Then suddenly, i couldn't take it any more. I threw myself on the ground, beating the grass and mud with my fists, screaming,
" WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME HERE MA? PAPA WHY?
And then I lost all energy, and dissolved into tears, curling up in the mud. It was a while before i noticed that i was leaning gainst a wall. For some reason, these new surrounds stemmed my flow of tears, and i climbed to my knees and peered around. It was a while before i spotted the white gates, hidden behind a small clump of trees.
" Have I died and gone to heaven?" I wondered. " Will I see Mama and Papa?" I ran over to the gates and waited for them to open, as I had heard they did when a new soul arrived at it's doors. But the gates remained stubbornly shut. I reached for the handle, maybe you had to open them yourself then. But no, the gates were securely locked.
" But that must mean..." I said to myself. Yes, I must be destined for Hell.
" But why? What did I do wrong..." Suddenly a voice sprung out of nowhere.
" Why on earth are you talking to yourself?" it said. I jumped in horror, gazing around to see who had spoken.
" I'm up here! right above your head!" called the voice again. I looked up. There, high up in the tree, was a blue tree house. Hanging over railing was a young girl. She must have been about my age, with long black curls falling over her shoulders. She was looknig at me most curiously.
" Why were talking to yourself?" she repeated.
" I wasn't!" I replied defiantly, acting braver than i felt. I wasn't sure I liked this girl at all.
" Do you want to come in?" she said. " I'd love someone to play with. I'm on my own up here." I thought about it. I supposed I could kill some time here. I wasn't really running from anything. Apart from my past.
" Well, yes OK." I said, giving her a small smile. The girl grinned at me.
" Marvellous!" She said. " My names Tania by the way, I'll come and let you in." and she vanished.
'What a peculiar girl...' I thought to myself. I didn't dare say it out loud, she seemed to have ears like a hawk. two minutes later, she appeared at the other side of the gates. producing a bunch of keys from her pocket, she proceeded to unlock all the padlocks.
" What's your name then?" she asked me briskly.
" Amelie." I answered quietly. She looked up at me.
"that's a beautiful name! Is it French?" I nodded, and it was then that I saw her eyes. They were too dark for words, but i just caught the hint of blue in them. I'd never seen blue eyes look so shadowy. They reminded me of deep, dark pools, waiting to drown. I think that's what always scared me about Tania, even years after our meeting.
The white gates creaked open, and Tania took me by the hand and pulled me inside.