February 2, 1984
Just outside London, England
7:18 AM

Every little kid loves to wake up on their birthday, wondering what gifts they would be presented with. They await it eagerly all year long. And once a thin stream of sunlight enters their bedroom, they race to wake their parents, reminding them of the wondrous day.

Unfortunately, I never got to be one of them.

Instead, I got to be hit in the face with a pillow.

Of course, I was used to everyone in the orphanage making fun of me and hurting me. But you would think they would leave me alone for one day. The two rats stood over top of me, evilly grinning: each armed with a pillow.

"Wake-up, four-eyes!" Nate, the older rat, yelled.

"Yeah! It's your 'special day' today. Four whole years since your parents ditched you here!" Timmy added, and they both laughed, and the two rats scurried out of the room.

I tried not to cry, but if you had to live with them, you really couldn't help it. Everyone in the orphanage made fun of me, really. It would have been nice to have roommates that didn't constantly do this to me, but that was wistful thinking and just made me more upset. I reached for my glasses on the table next to my bed, wiping away tears, when I noticed someone had snapped them in half again. I started sobbing, thinking that this was the worst 4th birthday anyone had ever had.

"Benjamin, wake up, today is...." A tall peacock, around 35, came in and stopped short. She ran the Happy Camper Orphanage, and her name was Miss. Megan. She was the one that had found me four years, five hours, and fifty-three minutes ago on the doorstep.

"Oh, Ben...who did this?" she asked, taking the glasses from my hands. She wrapped me in a bear hug as I kept crying. Mrs. Megan was the only one I ever trusted, and I freely cried into her chest. She rubbed the back of my head, which was shaved almost every week because someone would put their gum in it while I was sleeping.

"There, there, sweetie. Don't let them bring you down." She whispered, and reached a hand into my nightstand, grabbing a roll of masking tape. I let go of her, and I hear a rip as she tore off a piece of tape. A hand wiped away stray tears from my face and placed the bulking metal of the glasses on my face, and I could clearly see Mrs. Megan now. "I'm really sorry sweetheart, but glasses are really expensive to replace." I nodded, knowing that already. She told me that every time they broke them.

Both of us stayed quiet, before she started talking again. "I got you a new book. Now it might be a little hard for you just yet, but within a week I am sure you will understand it." Without my glasses, I hadn't noticed that she had brought a book when she walked in. On the top of my night stand was a new book, making my own library a total of 16 books. She grabbed it, placing it in my hands, and I read the cover with my newly repaired glasses.

It was called Treasure Island. It was an old book, but I loved when she got me them, that were just for me. No one else in the orphanage was allowed to go near my books. She smiled, rubbing my head as I flipped through the pages. "I have to start breakfast…don't worry about Nate and Timmy too much sweetie." She stood up, and the peacock closed the door behind her. I hopped off my bed, and went into the corner of the room, hitting the corner of the wood plank, opening one of the secret compartments of the old house. I counted the books, making sure the other occupants hadn't found my hiding spot for my stuff yet.

Book in hand, I left the small room wearing a long sleeve shirt under my shell and jeans two sizes too big. I walked down stairs with my new book, trying to ignore what my roommates were saying. Nate and Timmy were 6 and already going to school, and learned a lot of mean thing to call me and how to make fun of me there. I could already tell I was going to hate school.

I walked past the kitchen and Miss. Megan asked if I wanted to eat anything. I shook my head, and put on my ragged jacket to head outside. The orphanage was pretty big, and it could hold about 30 kids at one time. It was surrounded by a meadow, and a few trees here and there. You could see other houses, with their happy families inside. In the distance, you could see London. It was only a good fifty minute drive to the heart of London from here. I sat under a tree. It was pretty warm for February, and there was no snow on the ground. I could stay here all day until it got dark around four. Anything was better than going inside, and being made fun of for being too smart or too small or being ditched as a little newborn.

When it started snowing around 2, Miss. Megan forced me inside. Everyone was awake now, so I made sure to try to get up to my room without being spotted by anyone. If I could, there was an old dumbwaiter I could sneak into and if I brought a flashlight, I would be able to read without being disturbed. Of course, I had no such luck.

"Hey idiot! If you're so smart, why don't you talk?" I ignored Melissa, at 10 year-old tiger that got everyone to start making fun of me when I had told her she was doing her math homework wrong about a year ago. Since then, she made my life horrible. I continued walking to my room, and started up the staircase.

"Hey! She was talking to you!" Nate yelled as Timmy pulled me by the arm, making me fall down the three steps I had gone up. My book tumbled out from under my arm, and Nate picked it up. He flipped through the book, and ripped out a single page. Then another. And another.

"No! Please! Stop!" I pleaded. Megan, Timmy, Nate, and eight others just laughed.

"Listen to him! He sounds like a retard!" Megan hissed, and the others laughed. "No! Please don't hurt my only friend." She mimicked with her own nasally voice. They laughed and laughed, and staying more and more cruel things. The game was that they would continued until I cried, and then someone would most likely kick me, and only then would they leave me alone. I was still on all fours, Nate still ripping page by page out slowly. I just let my head hang, a single tear dropped on the insides of my glasses…and another.

I held my breath, waiting for the pain.

POW!

I clenched my eyes, waiting for the pain to start, since it even sounded like it was going to hurt massively. "Leave him alone, meanies!" I looked up. A big, pink hippo was standing over top of me. Another boy Larry, who was Melissa's "boyfriend", was on the ground, his lip bleeding. They hadn't hurt me. This kid had hurt them.

"Thomas Murphy!" A rather large dog yelled at him. I knew she was social-services, but I wasn't sure her name. This Thomas guy must have been new, and was checking out the home as they signed papers for him to live here.

"But they were hurting him!" The boy pointed out. I looked at him as I stood up. He was huge. Really tall, and a bit big in the middle. He looked like he was about 10.

"Thank you, but we usually don't hit people here, Thomas." Miss. Megan said as she walked into the room. She bent down to us and whispered. "Don't get in anymore trouble until she is gone. Got it?" She winked at us and stood up, taking the other lady into her office.

"You ok?" Thomas asked. I nodded. He smiled. "They were really mean. Why did you let them do that?" I shrugged. "You seem really nice. As long as I'm here, I got your back. You can call me Tom. What is your name?"

As he said it, I just kinda stared at him. He seemed so big and scaring, yet he was really sweet and nice. "Ben," I said in barely a whisper. Tom picked up my book, and looked at it as I knelt on the ground, grabbing the loose pieces of paper.

"Can you really read such a big book like this?" I nodded. "Wow, you're really smart!" I shrugged again. After a few moments he talked again. "Are there any snacks I could have? I haven't had anything since lunch, which was two whole hours ago!" I looked at him, and he looked at me, and we both laughed, mine softer then his thunderous one.

"Vegetables?" I offered.

"Sweet! Where is the kitchen, buddy?" I looked up at him again, and lead him to the kitchen. No one that I can ever remember, other the Miss. Megan, had been this nice to me. I opened the fridge, and he took a bag of carrots and another of green peppers that Miss. Megan would cut up for us for snacks. I grabbed a bag of celery for myself. I lead him to the dining room where we sat and ate. As he ate, he told me all sorts of stuff. I just kinda nodded, listening to all he had to say. One thing really surprised me.

"Your five years old?!"

"Yep. Over one months now."

"Your huge. Now way your only five!"

"Well you look like your only three, yet your reading that smart people book."

"I turned four today." I said staring at my celery. Too small and too smart, I thought.

"Cool! How long have you been here?"

"Exactly four years." He looked confused. "I don't like talking about it."

Murray stared at his empty bags of vegetables, and I offered him some of mind. "Last week, my parents were on a date, and were driving home in a snow storm. The men said that they slid on a turn, and went off the road into a ditch. They were my only relatives, so I was put here." he said, tears coming to his eyes. I remembered that snow storm. It had been pretty bad. I gulped, and decided if he trusted me to tell me that, I should do the same.

"February 2nd really isn't my birthday. And Ben isn't my really name either. Four years ago, they found me on a doorstep late at night. They said I was about 2 months old at the time. My parents left me without a name or anything. Miss. Megan, the peacock that winked at us earlier, found me and gave me the name Benjamin Theodore Key. The Social-services people decided to make my birthday today, instead of trying to find out a closer date." I looked at Tom, who immediately grabbed me and started sobbing on my shirt.

"That is so sad!!!!!!!!!!" he started to wail. I patted him on his back, and he calmed down. He looked so tough, but he seriously was just one big soft guy.

"Well you two look like you're having fun." We turned to see Miss. Megan in the doorway. "Now seeing that you have frightened everyone your age in the home, Tom, we will have to do some room switching, so I hope you two don't mind bunking together." She smiled, as Tom started jumping up and down.

"REALLY?"

"It would seem so, Tom. Now go get your stuff out of the office, and I will show you your new room." Tom ran out of the room to get his things. She walked over to me, and grabbed me in another bear hug. "I'm really proud of you, Ben. I'm glad you're talking again."

"I just didn't feel like talking. Who else do we have to room with?" Unfortunately, three people were to a room here.

"Well, it seems that we have 14 guys and 16 girls. A full house, meaning that a room for the boys will only have 2 people." My eyes widened as she said that. "That also means that you two will unfortunately be in the attic."

"Anything is better than now!"I said, as Tom came running back, with a garbage bag in hand.

"I have all my stuff," he said waving the trash bag in his hand. I always felt bad for new people that came, having all their prized positions in a trash bag. I never had to go through that, fortunately.

We stopped in my room first. Larry had already moved in, throwing my few positions into the hallway. I would have to wait until they were at school to get everything from my secret compartment. Until then, I hoped they wouldn't find it. After Miss. Megan yelled at the boys for throwing my stuff, we headed up to the attic, a small room, that everyone said was haunted. It wasn't painted like the other rooms, so it was just wood. If Tom kept growing like he did, he would hit his head on the ceiling foundation in only a few weeks. The best thing about this room was, unlike my old room with only one, this one had loads of hiding spots, perfect for me to hid my things.

"We are sleeping up here?" Tom asked, sounding a little scared.

"Yes. It that okay, Tom." He shook his head up and down nervously. "Well, I need to go finish some paper work and start dinner. Be good up here." Mrs. Megan said, leaving with a smile.

"You ok, Tom?" I said. He looked like he was turning white.

"It is really scary up here." He looked around, seeing a small spider, and jumped into the air, and hide behind me.

I opened the window, letting the spider out. I looked back at him, and we both knew we were going to be the best of friends.

February 29, 1984
Just outside London, England
1:13 AM

In the past month, everyone had left me alone. They were all scared of Tom, which was fine with him, since he didn't like them anyway. It was nice finally being able to read without getting made fun of. And he liked that I "knew everything". He thought it was so cool having a smart best friend.

Other small things worked out for us too. Like right now, I could read with the light on, since he was scared to go to sleep in the dark. And since he was a really heavy sleeper, I could turn off the light when I was done, and he wouldn't wake up until the sun was up and in our room.

Another thing was that we were given certain size portions of food. I would take a full portion, and give most of it to Tom since he was always starving, and I was never hungry. He really liked that.

I looked over at my roommate who was fast asleep already. He stirred a little as I reached to turn off my lamp. It was nice having him as a best friend, I thought. Actually, it was more like having an older brother.