Orphan Petal 1

May 2023 - Part 1

This is the story of an 11-year-old who loses his parents and is now an orphan. He is bitter and mad at the world. His new life will change him in ways he never knew possible. Can he find himself and be happy?

This is a spin-off to the story "The Teenage Years of Alexander Horten"

Victoria Temple:
Welcome to the “Orphan Petal”. This is a documentary about a boy who was orphaned at an early age. From time to time, we ask people to come in a small box and tell us what has been happening and how they feel about it. None of the others will hear what is being said and they will not see the documentary until it is done. To be honest, I have no clue where this documentary will go. We picked a random boy to follow his journey as an orphan. I suspect it will be a very emotional journey as the boy finds his new place in society. The boy's name is Shirley. I did not even know a boy could have this name. He is 11 years old.

Social Worker:
Social workers are overworked and underpaid. It is not a job to do if you do not like stress. Despite this, I try to remember that each case is about a human being and my job is to protect them and make their life better. It is a hard job, especially when it involves children. I opened Shirley's file today. The name did surprise me and he looked much younger than his age. He has hair that looks like that of a boy celebrity from the 1990s. Shirley looks a lot like Aaron Carter when he was a little boy. I sighed when I opened his file. A boy's life has been torn apart.

Shirley:
Why did Mom and Dad give me a name like Shirley? There are thousands of other names. Every time I tell someone that my name is Shirley, they say it is a girl's name. My parents told me that it was a gender-neutral name. I never heard of any boy called Shirley. I heard of Shirley Temple, and she was a girl. Still it its my name and not much I can do about it. I am 11 years old and people say that I am very small for my age. Mom always said it was because I hate vegetables and did not eat enough of them. Everyone also says that I have long eyelashes. Why is that so important? I do not like people calling me Shirley. It is too girly. Most everyone calls me “Shir”

Social Worker:
I have just read Shirley's papers. He came from a very ordinary family. His Dad had a good job and his mother was a housemaker. The family was a happy family and Shirley was loved and well cared for. They were middle-income and lived comfortably. Shirley does many things that a boy his age does. He is on the swimming team and plays football (soccer). Shirley gets good grades at school and has many friends. It is obvious from reading the case files that Shirley was a happy boy. This makes this case so much harder. I have to be strong when I speak with him later today.

Shirley:
Mom and Dad and I went swimming and this was fun. As we were driving home, we were laughing and talking about how fun it was. Then things got serious when Mom told me that I had to clean my bedroom. I sighed and told her that I was supposed to play football with friends. This ended with Mom and me arguing. I admit that I was frustrated. At times it seems like mom wanted me just to do boring things like cleaning my room. The happy atmosphere changed and was quite tense. Dad tried to suggest a compromise, and this ended with Mom and Dad arguing. Mom thought that Dad always took my side. Then everything seemed to go so fast. Mom shouted that Dad should keep an eye on the road and shouted he would hit a cat. Dad must have panicked as he tried to avoid the cat. I heard a lot of noise. Broken glass was flying all over the place. The car was rolling over again and again. Then everything went black. When I woke up, I was in a hospital bed.

Doctor Mary;
Do I just speak now in this microphone? I am sure some will remember me from the “Teenage Diary of Allie Horten” and wonder why I am here. I was asked to come and speak with a young boy who was in a car accident. Luckily he was not injured which shows that seatbelts are good. Unfortunately, his parents died in the accident and I had to tell him. This is always hard to do. How do you tell an 11-year-old boy that he is now an orphan? I did manage to tell him as best as I could. Shirley did not answer and just looked at the ceiling. There were no tears or any reaction. I gave him a necklace that his mother was wearing. This was my way of telling him that she would always be with him. Shirley clenched the necklace in his hand. He then said that he wanted to see his mother and father. I wanted to hug him and comfort him. The life that he knew was now over and he would be faced with new challenges and feel alone. I did what I thought was best. I just sat with him and said nothing. I wanted him to know that he is not alone.

Shirley:
I woke up in the hospital. I remembered the crash. I had no pain or anything like that. The worst is I remembered how much my mother screamed and cried as the car was rolling around. I told a nurse that I did not have to be in bed. I wanted to see my mother and father. The nurse just responded “Poor child.”. This was annoying and she told me that someone would speak with me later. I just have to have patience. This is not something I have. After a while, this lady came in and told me that she was a shrink and wanted to help me. I did not want to speak with a shrink. I am not crazy. The shrink even told me that Mom and Dad were dead. How could she be so evil and tell me this? Mom and Dad are not dead. They can't be! I still need them! The shrink gave me Mom's necklace. It is a silver one with a little fairy on it. Maybe this was to tell me that I was now an orphan. I did not even answer. I am not an orphan. Mom and Dad are not dead. This is some bad joke. I did not speak with the shrink. The only thing I am thinking about now is when they will let me see Mom and Dad. When this happens, I can give Mom her necklace back. I don’t need it or want it. I am a boy and won't wear a fairy necklace.

Social Worker::
A few days have gone. Shirley is in good health and luckily has not been injured. The doctors told me that he has been silent and the only time he speaks is when he asks or demands to see his parents. This is sad. It will take him time to accept the situation he is now in. I have been working very hard trying to find a loving home for Shirley. Shirley has no relatives that I can find. I do not want him to be in an orphanage or a child’s home. This will not be good for him. He needs a small family environment that will love and support him. Luckily I found a foster family that will have him. This seems like a great solution. They live in the suburbs and have a son who is Shirley's age. I know he won't be happy that he will now be a foster family. In time, I hope he can see how lucky he is.

Shirley:
The social worker came today and she also told me that my Mom and Dad were dead. Why is everyone saying this? I did not want to speak with her. My parents are not dead. This must be some conspiracy or bad joke. The social worker told me that I would be discharged soon so I could go to my parent's funeral and then I would be living with a foster family. She assured me that they are very nice and even have a son who is the same age as me. His name is Logan. I bet he is a bully. I tried to tell the social worker that I wanted to go home. Mom and Dad are the best parents and they never hurt me. I belonged with them. This made the social worker tell me once again that they were dead. I could see that no one listens to what I want. They are adults and think that they know the best. I told her that I would live with the foster family until Mom and Dad were discharged from the hospital. She told me that my foster family would visit me so I could get to know them.

Foster Mom:
We visited Shirley today at the hospital. He is probably the prettiest boy that I ever seen. I know it's bad to call a boy pretty, but there is no other word for it. The atmosphere was tense and I can understand this. Think of what this boy has been through. I tried talking to him and so did Logan. Shirley was very silent and did not speak. The only time he spoke was when he told us that his parents were not dead. He also asked if Logan was a girl. Logan is used to being asked this and just answered that he is a boy. Having Shirley living with us will be a challenge. We have to help Shirley through the biggest trauma he has experienced in his short life. I am worried if he will get on with Logan. Logan sometimes likes dressing and acting like a girl. He is gender fluid. I suppose some would call him a sissy. I was concerned when Logan said he was a boy that Shirley mumbled “weird”

Doctor Mary
The funeral is tomorrow. This will be a shock for Shirley when he sees the remains of his parents being lowered into the ground. A lot can happen to him when this happens. The best would be if Shirley would accept the fact his parents are dead and dare to move on. I am afraid that this will not be the case. Shirley could get a depression or become very bitter. I spoke with Shirley's new foster mom and promised she could always contact me for advice and I offered therapy to Shirley if he needed it.

Foster Mom:
The funeral was today. My heart bled for Shirley. He would see his parents get buried and then I would take him home. I stood by his side and tried to support him as well as I could. Shirley had no reaction to me standing next to him. I could understand this. He did not know me. The strange thing is that he did not react to the whole funeral service. He did not even cry. He just looked at the coffins. I tried putting my arms around his shoulders and he did not protest. After the funeral, we went home. I told Shirley that this would be his new home and I hoped he would be happy here. I showed him his bedroom. He would be sharing a bedroom with Logan. In a way, I thought this would be good as he would have someone his age to be with. The only response I got was that he told me to call him “Shir” as he did not like to be called Shirley. He thought it was too girly. Then he informed us that he wanted to be alone.

Shirley:
I have to accept that my parents are dead. I saw their coffins being lowered into the ground. Everyone else was looking sad and crying. I did not cry. I was confused and angry. Why did God let my parents die? After the funeral was over, I was taken to my new home. I was now a foster child. My foster mom seemed to be very nice and was trying her best to welcome me. I did not want to be welcomed. I do not want her to be my new mom. She would never replace my mother. On top of this, I have to share a room with Logan. It is a girl's room. He has Disney princess posters and everything looks so pink. There is even a dollhouse. He is a sissy which means he is a weird loser. How does anyone expect me to be happy here?