Years have passed by. I was adopted by Linda and Bryan Grant back in Australia. The name Jake sounds like a male's name in Australia. My name sounds kind of catchy. I still have blue/grey hair. I am living with Bryan and Linda. The other kids in Australia from the Spring Foster Care didn’t mind my odd hair color. They were nice to me.

While I was living in Australia and being around the Australian people, I picked up their accents. My accent is Australian. Linda, Bryan, and the other kids did not pick up any accents as much as I did. I was raised in Australia and grew up there. So hearing the accents made me Australian. It’s kind of cool.

Anyway, my style of clothes has never changed throughout the year. Usually, my style is blue hooded jackets and light blue levies. Since I grew up in the land down under, I have always liked leather boots. Sometimes in the winter, I love to wear a light blue long sleeve turtle neck shirt. In the summer I like to wear blue Hawaiian shirts. I love the color blue.

Linda and Bryan do not know when my birthday is. They decided to call the day of my Adoption Day. I think Linda adopted me on March twentieth. It is the Spring Equinox date. I think it’s kind of weird to be born on that date.

Back in Australia, all of my big brothers and sisters were adopted by other families. They were older than me because I was a baby when they met me. They were at least fifteen or fourteen when they got adopted by nice families in Australia. I miss them sometimes. Since Bryan and Linda run the Spring Foster Care they will have more kids.

After I turned eighteen we moved to Minnesota, because we were not going to stay in Australia for long. It was only temporary. I’ve never seen snow in Australia, especially on Christmas Day, one of my favorite holidays.

We moved to a small town, Lakeville. It is a nice town with some friendly neighbors, but not that friendly. They do not smile all the time. They are just normal neighbors.

A playground park is across the street. We live in a tan duplex home. A duplex has two houses together. It has a dark red roof on top, four windows in the front, two garage doors, and two front doors. One door is on the right and one is on the left. Bryan and Linda changed the duplex home into their own Foster Care place. Just like Linda dreamed of doing back in Australia. There is a painted sign in the middle of the two garages. The sign has rainbow colors and it says Linda and Bryan's Spring Foster Care.

Linda and Bryan live on the right side of the duplex with four adopted boys. I live on the left side of the duplex. I have my bedroom, my kitchen, my bathroom, and my living room. Linda and Bryan also have a kitchen, two bedrooms, a living room, and two bathrooms.

Linda would sometimes ask me to watch the four boys if she and Bryan go anywhere. I never complained, not even once, because I do not have a job as Bryan and Linda do. Besides, I love watching the kids. I feel like I am a protector of these adorable little boys. The kids would play baseball with me or play on the playground.

Life is good to me. Only I feel like something is missing. Like a little sister. We only have boy orphans now.

The chilly air makes me feel a little cold. Luckily I am wearing my dark blue hooded jacket. While I am sitting and relaxing on a bench in the park, I watch the four little boys playing on the playground. I never leave them out of my sight.

I notice a little girl swinging on a swing. I think she’s at least seven or eight. She looks bored and alone. Her blond hair flutters as she swings slowly. She looks kind of cute with her pink dress skirt, pink pants, and light green boots. I am surprised that my little brothers did not ask her to play. I get off the bench and walk to the four boys.

“Hey, Tommy, Timmy, Tim, and, Tom come over here you little tykes! I want to talk to you all!” I call.

Little Tommy wears blue shorts and a long sleeve red stripe shirt. Timmy wears brown pants and a dark green short sleeve shirt. Tim wears glasses, dark green pants, and a dark green long-sleeve shirt. And Tom has black skin and wears a white long sleeve shirt and brown pants.

Tommy, Tim, and Timmy all have brown hair and are real brothers. Tom has thin black hair and is not related to the other three boys. They are all orphans. They all love each other like real brothers. They run to me.

I point at the lonely girl on the swing. “Does anyone know how long that little gal was sittin’ on that swing?” I ask.

Tommy, Timmy, Tim, and Tom look at the lonely girl. “I don’t know,” answers Tim.

I lower my finger. “Dose anyone knows where her parents are?” I ask.

“No one knows,” answers Timmy.

I sigh and feel kind of sad for the lonely girl on the swing. “Why haven’t you guys asked her to play with you?” I ask the four boys.

“We did,” answers Tom. “But she didn’t answer when we asked her. She just sat on the swing.” Tom finishes.

I look at the little girl and I hear her sniffing repeatedly. Her face looks so sad. I look back down at my little four brothers.

“Well, I reckon that someone should talk to her. She seems very lonely and miserable. Someone needs to cheer her up, eh?” I ask.

My four little brothers do not respond. I know they are shy to talk to the little girl on the swing.

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I point at the playground. “Why don’t you little guys go back and play? You don’t have to worry about talkin’ to her. I’ll talk to her. Go on and play, go on,” I say.

Without hesitation, Timmy, Tim, Tom, and Tommy run back to the playground. The playground has a slide and a merry-go-round. I sigh and walk to the sad little girl on the swing. I sit on another swing next to her. The little girl is staring at the ground. I clear my throat.

“Hey…” I pause. “Hey there little ankle bittah’,” I say.

The little girl’s green eyes widen and she slowly looks up at me. I chuckle and feel embarrassed after what I said with my accent.

“Oh, I don’t mean you bite ankles. It’s just figuah’ of speech. I’m from Australia, little chick.” I gasp and cover my mouth.

I lower my hand back down. “N-n-not sayin’ that you are a chicken. It’s just my accent, little gal, I mean little kid,” I say.

The little girl’s eyes lower down at the ground. She does a weak smile. I think I have cheered her up a little with my Australian accent. I sigh and rub the back of my head.

“So, what is your name kid?” I ask.

The little girl does not answer. She seems shy. She needs some company or a good friend.

“Didn’t you mom evah’ told you not to talk to strangahs? Is that why you won’t talk to me?” I ask.

The little girl starts to sniff. Her lips are trembling. I begin to panic and stutter. I do not want her to cry. I just don’t like little kids crying. It makes me feel sad for them.

“Um, I’m sorry kid. I’m just tryin’ to talk to you and to be a friend with you too,” I say.

I do not think about her parents if she has any. I try to think of something else to talk about.

“Do you have a name? How about I guess it?” I ask.

The little girl slowly nods to respond. She is still staring at the ground.

“Okay. Is it Cindy?” I ask.

The little girl shakes her head.

“Ok, how about Caroline?” I ask.

She shakes her head again.

“Fine, how about…Candy?” I hit my head and scoffed. “Crikey! That popped out of nowhere,” I say.

The girl slowly looks up at me and nods with a smile.

I chuckle nervously. “Candy is it?” I ask.

Candy, the little blonde girl, smiles, and nods.

“Yes. My name is Candy Honey. My last name is Honey. I know it sounds kind of funny,” says Candy.

“Hey, that rhymed!” I laugh. “So, you want to come home with me? We have a great Fostah’ Care. It’s like a lovin’ family in there. Hey, that rhymed too! I’ll look aftah’ you. Because I love lookin’ aftah’ little kids. What do you say, Candy?” I ask.

Candy sighs quietly. “My dad use to tell me that he would protect me and look after me,” she says.

“Where is he, and your mom as well?” I ask.

“She and my dad abandoned me,” answers Candy.

“You look kind of young to know what the word abandoned means,” I say.

“It means that they leave and never, ever, ever, come back. I may be little but I’m smart.” Candy sounds like she was offended by her age and her intelligence.

“Sorry Candy, I didn’t mean to judge. It seems like you are a smart little tyke. And I am sorry for miss juggin’ you,” I say.

Candy looks like she is about to cry. I have to think of something to cheer her up. I look around and find a rock. It is shaped like a baseball. I pick up the round rock.

“Hey Candy, you want to see somethin’ I can do?” I ask.

Candy sniffs and nods. I get off of the swing. I look around to find some sticks, leaves, and flowers. I found some and I begin to build something for Candy. It takes a couple of minutes to build it. I stand in front of the thing that I build. I want to surprise Candy.

“Candy, do you like fairies?” I ask her.

Without hesitation, Candy nods with a proud smile. I step to the side and reveal the object that I built for her. It is a small hut with rocks, sticks, leaves, and flowers. The sticks are the walls, the rocks are the water well, the flowers are the fairies, and the leaves are the wings of the fairies and the roof too.

Candy chuckles quietly get off the swing, and kneels to get a closer look at the small fairy house that I build.

“Wow. How did you do that?” asks Candy.

I chuckle and lift my shoulders. “I don’t know. I’ve had been doin’ it for as long as I can remembah. Evah’ since when I was little back in Australia, I’ve always had a talent for this kinda thing,” I answer.

Candy looks up at me. “You’ve always loved to make small nature houses?” she asks.

I shake my head. “I love makin’ those things. But what I mean is that I love to make little children happy,” I answer.

Candy gets up and hugs me. I gasp.

“Thank you umm…what’s your name?” asks Candy.

I smile and chuckle. “My name is Jake Grant. You can call big brothah’ when you become a membah’ of my family,” I answer.

Candy looks up at me and I look down at her. We smile at each other.

“Candy…” I kneel in front of her. “How would you like to meet Linda and Bryan? My adopted mom and dad,” I ask.

Candy begins to frown. “What if they don’t like me?” she asks.

“Linda loves all kinds of kids. I’m sure she will love you too,” I answer.

Candy smiles again. “You think so?” she asks.

“I know so. And besides, we do not have any little girls in our adopted family. Linda will adopt you without hesitation,” I answer.

I look back at my four little brothers. “Hey guys, it’s time to go home!” I call.

Tim, Timmy, Tom, and Tommy are complaining.

“Eh! It’s gettin’ late! Let’s go!” I call.

We walk across the street and into the left side of the duplex. The four boys run through the kitchen and into the backyard. The backyard has five small swings, a wooden table, and laundry hanging on a string. Candy and I sit at the table. There are a few miniature nature houses that I’ve made in the backyard.

“These are pretty,” says Candy.

“Yup, they sure are,” I say.

“Where did you get the idea of building small houses?” asks Candy.

“I honestly don’t know,” I answer.

“It just came to you, the idea?” asks Candy.

I rub my head. “I don’t know,” I answer.

I hear a car in front of the house. Linda and Bryan drive into the driveway and park the car. They open their doors and walk inside. They are carrying some bags of food. They bought some eggs, bacon, salad, fruit, cheerios, and vegetables. Linda and Bryan can hear the kids playing.

They set the bags on the counter next to the fridge.

“The kids are probably in the backyard,” says Bryan.

“I’ll go see.” Linda walks out of the kitchen and into the backyard.

She notices Timmy, Tim, Tommy, and Tom playing on the swings. She turns to Candy and me.

I walk to up Linda and explain everything about Candy’s situation. Linda understands and feels sorry for Candy. After all, Linda does have a weakness for lost kids. Come to think of it, so do I.

Bryan joins the rest of us in the backyard. Linda and I explain to Bryan about Candy

Bryan shakes his head and chuckles. “Linda, you’ve always had a thing for strays,” says Bryan.

“So does Jake. Please, can she stay with us?” asks Linda.

“Okay fine, but I’m putting Jake in her care until we notify her parents. If we can’t locate them in the next few months, she can stay,” answers Bryan.

I am excited and a bit nervous to become Candy’s big brother.