1 Gorilla When I was nine I was adopted by a gorilla I didn't ask to be but I was It happened one day in September All of us children at Renfanan the home for orphans had been sent outside for cleaning day The wind danced around us chasing up leaves from the piles we'd raked Gerd the manager had commanded us to take out all the sheets hand towels pillows and blankets to be aired and shaken She padded around keeping an eye on everything and avoiding the clouds of dust Make sure the dust settles before you start shaking the next one she cried Otherwise you'll get sore throats and that means trouble for me
Aaron and I each held one end of a sheet Careful I said You're flapping too hard Aaron flapped even harder I can't help being so strong he said flapping till his face turned red My ponytail bounced around my head At Renfanan everyone with long hair had to have a ponytail Less attractive to lice said Gerd Stop it I cried tugging the sheet so hard Aaron lost his grip He wiped his hand under his nose and sniffed up a glob of snot With his freckly face he looked like a spotted sausage Shake it yourself then he said picking up a pillow from the ground He started walloping it onto his knees as if he was trying to kill it The faster you work the sooner you'll be fin ished said Gerd She was wearing her pale green housecleaning coat and her hair tied back No one went faster The sooner we finished the sooner we'd have to start scrubbing the floors Or cleaning the windows peeling potatoes washing the dishes or raking more leaves on the lawns There
was no such thing as spare time Gerd thought we had enough spare time at night when we were asleep There was a reason for the cleaning frenzy The orphanage was expecting a visitor Someone was coming to pick out a child to adopt Gerd was nervous as she usually was on these days She'd been running around like a giddy hen since early morning
checking the house and the children Dust balls had to be hunted down holes in clothes mended and ears scrubbed thoroughly with soap and water Thank goodness you've all had haircuts at least she mumbled looking at us Every child had a fresh haircut because the photographer had just been at Renfanan to take our pictures He came every year The week before he was due Gerd took out the big kitchen scissors and cut our hair When it was time for the photo we had to line up in front of the orphanage and smile as brightly as we could It was usually fun some sort of break from the neverending cleaning and scrubbing It was almost a celebration because these photos had been taken since the beginning ever since Renfanan was built On the wall in the hall were lots of black and white photos of everyone who'd ever lived at the orphanage Gerd was in a lot of them She'd been manager of Renfanan since she was young Look at that she said now Here comes the mail I glanced over to the bend in the road where a
