Chapter 1 –How it all started

Ella's POV:

My name is Ella Adeoye. So I was told. I ran out of the orphanage home to fend for myself. I was tired of being held in that surrounding for too long. I was told by one of the workers here at the orphanage home, that I was dropped at the doorstep. No one saw who dropped me. All they saw was my name and date of birth boldly sewn on my blanket used to wrap me.

Every day I think about what I did to make that person hate me so much so as to drop me by the doorstep at night. I feel so much hatred towards that person probably my mum or dad if I had any and I made a decision in my heart that I wasn't going to attach myself to someone to a point that it will be a problem for me to leave. It will all just be fun and nothing attached.

I have been planning an escape ever since I turned seventeen. I hated this place so much. It was like someone was being choked. Different kids with different attitudes here and there.

Most times, I usually kept to myself. I had just one friend who was Mrs Pat who worked here. She was the one who found me at the doorstep on her way home from work. No one knew of my escape plan, not even Mrs Pat I feel so bad because I couldn't tell her but it was for the best. I had mastered the in and out of the orphanage home because I grew up there. I finally decided to use the route cleaners use to take out dirt for disposal as my escape path.

Few nights to my escape day, I sneaked in a cleaners uniform and a nose mask from the store. I needed to be free, I wanted to know what was behind these walls and what the world had in store for me.

It was a cold morning, with the regular activities at the orphanage home taking place. After breakfast, I sneaked into the cleaner's closet after they had all changed and went to their duty posts. I changed into the uniform which fitted perfectly. It was like an angel made it specially for me. I made it through the back door, ran for my life and never looked back till I found my way to a park. I took off the cloth and left the one I was wearing underneath. I counted the money I stole from Mrs Pat's purse which was a total sum of ten thousand naira. The instance I boarded the bus to Lagos, I knew my life was about to change but most especially, I knew I was gone for good.

present-day...

I was done with my chores at the J.B enterprise. The building was a perfect description of enormous. I have been working here as a janitor since I escaped from the orphanage home. I have no idea how I got accepted but miracles happen. I have been working here for a number of years I still haven't seen my boss at a close range. The lower staffs had their own quarters so we never really came in close contact with the higher staffs because we cleaned up before their arrival.

Turning twenty-three in a few months from now and I still couldn't claim I had a life meaning I was not living like a normal human being. Most times I don't get to eat anything else except lunch which we ate for free at work. Once in awhile, Iya Risi also sent me sumptuous meals of what was left from her daily sales. God bless that woman for me. I got to Lagos not knowing anywhere or anybody but God sent Iya Risi to me. I owe her a lot. She took me in and gave me shelter and food to eat.

My expenses were starting to pile up. All I could do was wait for a miracle to happen somehow before I end up living on the streets and picking bread crumbs like a pigeon all just to survive.