Forsake Me

Prolouge ~ Seeking Eden

November 29th, 1935
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

What's a United States Colonel doing sitting in the back of a sixth grade math class?

Well, it turns out that Miss. Laurie, the secretary at Saint Augustine, told her cousin, Tiffany, about the schools resident trouble maker.

Then Tiffany told her best friend, who told her sister, who told her husband, Colonel Mathews.

Colonel Mathews was sitting at his kitchen table, as he does every morning, reading the newspaper and drinking his coffee while his wife... well... yapped as he says.

She went on and on and on about how the neighbor had called her flowers pretty, but in a sarcastic, condescending kind of way, about how she had come up with some new concoction to get a stain out of her yellow blouse, about how she was planning to try a new meatloaf recipe for dinner.

Yes, if Mrs. Mathews has a talent, it's talking. Mostly the Colonel tunes her out, but then she brought up a story her sister had told her the night before, a story about a little girl at St. Augustines who had broken one little boys nose and another's arm.

"...can you believe that, Howie? A thirteen year old girl terrorizing people like that. I'll tell you what, if our Angela ever acts that way I'll have her head. What happened to raising girls like ladies? Those nuns, I'll tell ya, I don't know what happened, but back in my day they were a real force to be reckoned with. They must be getting soft in their old age. You know, that place could really use a fresh coat of paint. People just don't-"

So here he is.

Miss. Laurie had pointed her out to him, the little girl.

He glances down at the file in his hands, a manila folder with the name Moretti, Eden N. handwritten across the top.

He lifts his gaze back toward the class, to her. Her desk has been pushed up to the teachers. It'd be difficult for her to focus her attention on anything other than the blackboard. Yet, the Colonel notices the way her uniform Mary Jane's tap rhythmically against the old, wooden floor. He notices the way her head just barely sways side to side.

He sees the other kids copying down the teachers work onto their own pages, and he's sees her pencil, still sat on top of her blank sheet of white paper. He sees her hands folded in her lap, and her eyes shut, and he knows she's paying no attention to the lesson at hand.

He flips open the file.

Having been witness to the untimely death of her parents, unpleasant behaviors are to be expected during this difficult adjustment period. St. Augustine is to aid the mourning and healing process of Eden by offering understanding and compassion.

- Sister Josephine Scott

Eden lacks focus. It is difficult to hold her attention.

Eden exhibits violent tendencies.

Eden is...

Disruptive.

Disrespectful.

Insubordinate.

Irritable.

Hostile.

He pauses on the last page, a copy of her latest report card.

She has straight A's.