“Sora, you got lucky as we found your aunt in New York who is willing to take on the task of raising you” Said the CPS worker. She set my itinerary in front of me. From what I could tell, I left tonight to fly into New York tomorrow morning. “But it’s so soon” I complained. “Would you rather stay in foster homes across the country?” she threatened. I quickly shook my head. “Well then Miss. Barton, lets get you to the airport” I turned my attention to the outside of the office. We got in the car again. “You ready?” She said. “Who is ever ready to leave friends and people who are basically family?”

“You are so Emo” I rolled my eyes, as if she actually knew what that word meant.

            Once we were on the other side of the water we drove to the airport in silence. Neither of us spoke again. She handed me my ticket once we were at the airport and wished me good luck. I grabbed my one backpack of clothes and set it on my lap. I walked into the airport and went through security. I boarded my plane. I luckily had a first class ticket for handicapped people. I found my seat and sat down. The entire trip I slept. I never ate or looked out the window.

            When we landed in New York early the next morning, I had to be the first off the plane. I walked slowly out of the connection tunnel. My aunt was waiting on the other side with a big sign that read “Welcome home Sora” I knew this wasn’t my home. If it was, Delsin would be here. “Hi Aunt Winona” I said solemnly as I wheeled up to her. “Hello dear. Oh my, I am so sorry about your father. But you must be glad to leave that stink ridden town your father insisted on moving you to.” She said happily. “No, my friends and family were there” I said sadly. “Oh, dear your family is here. With me.” She said leading me out of the airport. We drove to her apartment in silence. My aunt Winona lived out in the country side, where no one really went. Her town had a small church, a doctor’s office, a School and a convenience store. That was about it. It was a very old fashioned town. As a matter of fact, these people were so far out of the civilized New York, that they dressed like they were from the early 1900s. My aunt was wearing a high collared 1900s vintage women’s gown. This was the one town that survived the turn of the century. “Did you see what some of those women were wearing? It was appalling! Those knickers you are wearing are dreadful as well. A young lady your age should not be wearing those blue pants and that short of a top. Your stomach is barely showing underneath it!” My aunt lectured me about what not to wear. I tuned her out. I looked at the country as it rolled by. “Here we are” She said joyfully as she stepped out of her car. I don’t think it qualifies as a car actually. We walked up the steps to her house. “Home sweet home” She said as she opened the door. “Here’s the parlor, and the kitchen. Here is the piano room, my room and here is your room.” She said opening the doorway to a room filled with dolls and teddy bears. Everything was baby pink and white. My eyes widened in horror. “Dinner is 5 o’ clock sharp. In the mornings you have to be up and ready for the day at 5 o’clock as well, your school starts at 6 o’clock. See you at dinner” she said and closed the door. I slowly entered into my own personal hell. I picked up one of the dolls on the bed. It was a pink porcelain doll in a while lace dress. I set it down gently. I opened the doors to my closet. Only dresses that would go down to my mid calf were in there. “I love this fabric, hate the style” I said to myself picking one out of the closet the setting it back. I shoved those to the side of the closet and hung my real clothes up.

            I threw on a jacket and wheeled outside. People were churning butter on their porches and kids were running around. I had to admit, I loved the simplicity of this town. It had an extremely laid back feel to it. The people stared at me though, as if I was some freak. A gaggle of girls gossiping on their way home from school stopped and stared at me mouths wide open. I eyed them and kept going. I wished I could be back in Delsin’s arms, where no harm could come to me and I fit in. This day was horrible. I went back to my aunt’s house. She was tapping her foot at me when I entered the house. “Where have you been young lady? In those clothes! No wonder Edna came and told me a hooligan left my house.” She yelled. “Now go change for supper. Into the blue dress if you wouldn’t mind” She finished. I ran to my room. I grabbed the blue dress and looked at it. It was horribly ugly. There was a lace trim on the top and bottom. There was a corset for me to wear already in the closet. I pulled my scissors out of my bag. I cut almost 2 feet off of the bottom of the dress. I went to the sleeves. I made them baseball cap sleeves. I knew that fashion class in Paris would pay off some day. I slid my new cute mini dress on along with some pumps that I had hidden in my bag. I put my hair in a ponytail and wheeled back into the room. “SORA BARTON! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” Aunt Winona screamed. “Just a few personal touches” I beamed, showing off my work. “That other dress, you have got to level with me. It was god awful! This is much better” I smiled. “No it is not. Sora, your knees and ankles are showing! And your elbows! What are those impractical shoes?” She gasped. I snarled and sat down to dinner. “What are we having?” I said holding my fork up. “Potatoes” She said. “And…” I prodded. “That’s it” She said holding her head up high to show that she was appalled. “Oh” I sank back down in my chair. “You aren’t wearing the corset are you” She gasped “You expected me to wear that!” I laughed. A baked potato came out on a platter for me. “Here you are miss” the maid said. “Wait, isn’t slavery illegal now?” I asked her. “Na, she pays me miss” The maid said. “Sora, we don’t have conversation with our workers” Aunt Winona scolded. I rolled my eyes and dug into my potato.

            “Miss, do you need any help with your warmer?” My maid asked through the door. “My what now?” I yelled back, slipping into some flannel pj pants. She opened the door. “Your bed warmer miss” The maid said. “Oh uh, sure” I climbed into my bed. “What is your name?” I asked suddenly. “Marissa Miss” She said.  “Please don’t call me miss. And like, why is everyone like this? So, 1900s! Dude! It’s like the twenty first century!” I said, failing in my attempt to sound up to date. “Well, Sora, People here just never decided to keep up with the times. Everyone here pretends it is the 1900s. Really they know what year it is but they were raised like this, so this is how the ended up. My family was born into a maid household” Marissa explained. “Now, go to bed!” she said. I curled up in the doll infested bed.