Marusya recently celebrated her 13th birthday. But she stayed completely alone. None of the relatives wanted to take in this already pretty mature daughter. Everyone shook their heads, clucked their tongues, pitied the girl, and offered her chocolates—but they refused to take her home. Mom’s sister, Aunt Marina stated that she already had two stepchildren and wondered where she could accommodate a third.
Aunt Lyuba, Dad’s cousin, whom they used to visit and support in every way they could, likewise refused to take the girl home. Why didn’t she explain? Dad’s sibling resided up north and may not have been aware of his brother’s death. Marusya was moved to an orphanage. There were three girls in the room with her: two her age and one two years older, but they told her that the older girl will be relocated to another room soon.
The new acquaintances brought Marusya about and showed her where the dining room, leisure area, and library were. They didn’t inquire about her parents, which was fortunate because Marusya wasn’t prepared to answer that question.Each time, her mouth twisted treacherously, her voice trembled, and tears streamed from her eyes on their own. A little later, the caregiver, Inna Ivanivna, arrived and escorted the girl to the dining room, as lunch had already passed and she was hungry.
After a month, Marusya became accustomed to her new surroundings at the orphanage. She even began to enjoy it, and they even let her to wander around the city alone. Marusya fell asleep at night and nearly stopped crying into her pillow for her mother and father. One day, the older girls began mocking her. “The savages abandoned you because you’re ugly, haha!” the girls chuckled. “It’s not true,” Marusya exclaimed. “They died.”
“They ran away from you to avoid seeing you,” the girl said, laughing. “No, they died in a car accident,” Marusya cried. Then she began crying harder, and then darkness descended. Marusya awoke in a room on a bed, with a nurse and one of her roommates sitting beside her. “Are you awake?” “Does anything hurt?” the nurse inquired. “My head is spinning,” Marusya said. “Well, it’s not surprising; you hit your head hard when you lost consciousness,” the woman said, softly stroking her head.
“I remember crying,” the girl explained. “Lie down, don’t get up, or it might get worse,” warned the nurse as she walked away. Late in the evening, the same girls who had mocked her entered Marusya’s room. “Forgive us; we just intended to make a joke; we didn’t realize it would offend you this much. We had no idea about your parents; we were only mocking,” one of them said apologizing. “It’s okay,” Marusya said quietly.
“What’s your name?” another female inquired. “Marusya.” Will you forgive us? We didn’t mean to injure you so badly; we had no idea about your parents; we were just shouting,” the first girl explained. “Yes. “I forgive you,” Marusya stated. Three days later, Marusya felt better and was permitted to get out of bed. She quickly went to the library to sit down and read a book. At the same time, the girl who had arrived to apologize entered.
“Hello, I have a surprise for you,” she announced. “What?” Marusya inquired. “I looked into your personal file and discovered that you have an uncle and his address. We wrote him a letter with the other girls, and he responded that he was unaware of the tragedy with your brother and that he would come as quickly as possible to pick you up from the orphanage.” “Really? Will Uncle Misha come for me? Marusya rejoiced. “Yes!” said the girl, smiling at her.
Marusya’s days since then have been filled with anticipation of her uncle’s arrival. After breakfast, the caretaker came into her room and said, “Marusya, someone came for you.” “Who?” “Come, you’ll see for yourself!” The caretaker did not share the secret. Marusya spotted her favourite uncle from afar. With a yell of “Mishka!” she dashed to hug him. He hugged the girl, pressed her against him, and then moved aside. “How big you’ve grown, Maruska!” he said.
“Run, gather your things, you’re going with me.” Marusya limped into the room, gathered her little possessions, and kissed the roommates. She rushed to her uncle. Halfway through, she realized something and dashed back to the room with the older girls. “Thank you!” she hugged her erstwhile tormentor. “Are you leaving?” The girl motioned towards Marusya’s bag. “Yes, my uncle came for me,” Marusya gladly replied and hugged the girl again…