Divergence

This is a story based on the idea of the road not taken, and the six-sentence story prompt of PATH by girl on the edge.  It is the story of a woman looking to adopt a second child deciding whether or not to take in a six-year-old girl that will change her life forever.

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The Road Taken

Life is full of decisions, choices that define your path, and looking back I can see in perfect clarity the moment where I zigged when I should have zagged, ultimately leading the garbage fire that I am living today.

It was a cold day in June when I got the call that’s he was available for adoption, that her foster family wasn’t interested in keeping the beautiful six-year-old girl with blond corkscrew curls, and I fell in love with the photo of a gap-toothed cherub with a good psych report before I even saw her in person.

When she stepped into the house she was every inch the angel from the photo, and it took months before I realized that if the little girl in my care was an angel, then she was one who had fallen because the she was a demon.

I am not talking about your usual tantrums and boundary testing which I was prepared for after adopting my son,  but true destruction in the form of breaking little Benji’s arm when he wouldn’t share his toys, then blaming me for it, and what I finally drew the line at, setting the house on fire after locking us inside.

The child psychologist agreed with me, that she was a danger to herself and others, and after a six-month fight to get her proper care, I was told I either had to take her home, or abandon her in the dead of night, like a criminal.

My mother stopped talking to me after, so did most of my friends, my job suffered as well, leading me to cut ties, movie to a new state where no one knew me or my past, and  I can trace it all back to that single moment when I signed the paper to adopt a child in need.

Another Choice

I had my pen on the line, prepared to sign and take the adorable little girl in when Benji started to cry.

As I changed him, I remembered how, how his foster family wanted to adopt, but were unable to when the other little girl in their care became ill, and I started to wonder why the foster family wouldn’t want Becky, after having her almost eight months.

I went back into the living room a few minutes later, but I didn’t pick up the pen, and with every question I asked more were raised, the social worker seeming shiftier by the second.

Finally, she demanded to know if I actually wanted a child, and I said I couldn’t take the little girl if she couldn’t tell me the reason the foster family wasn’t interested in adopting.

I could see all the fight go out of her ii an instant, as she reluctantly admitted that the family had three children already, and Becky wasn’t taking well to siblings

She couldn’t meet my eyes as she spoke, and I soon showed her to the door, knowing Benji would have to be enough for now.

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I am 100% pro adoption, but I have known some really great people who have lived some really big horror stories, and I think people need to put a lot of thought into what they are doing and make sure they are really ready for that particular child, and if it’s a good fit for both the child and the rest of the family.