Another day, another twenty-four hours of opportunity. This was the thought that kept Ashley going during the times when her depression reached its occasional low points. Maybe today would be the day she got adopted. Maybe today her seventeen years of waiting would finally come to an end. She would just have to have hope. Hope was all she had left, after all, and hope was the only thing that made the orphanage bearable anymore.

Ashley climbed down from her bed —she slept on the top bunk— and changed from her pajamas into the clothes she would be wearing that day. Like all of the other orphan children, everything she “owned” was secondhand. She never had the luxury of getting to choose her own clothes or develop her own sense of fashion. Today, she just wore a simple, pale pink dress with leggings and flats. It was the prettiest outfit she had in her dresser, but she needed the confidence boost. Maybe feeling pretty would help lessen the ache of her depression. As with everything else, she could only hope.

Ashley ambled to the communal bathroom she shared with the rest of the girls in her room, where she then proceeded with her morning rituals of brushing her teeth and combing her hair into something more presentable. After that, she made her way down to the cafeteria for breakfast. However, when she got there she discovered that everyone had migrated outside. It appeared they were going to eat out on the lawn that morning.

Yawning away her lingering weariness —she had never been much of a morning person— Ashley joined the line of children as they waited with empty plates to be filled. It was during moments like this when she was acutely aware of her age. She felt like a giant next to all of the five and six year olds that surrounded her. All of the other kids her age had been adopted long ago, leaving her to be the only “big sister” to the little ones.

Ashley was lost in thought as the line slowly shuffled forward. She was only pulled from her daydreaming when she reached the front and received her food. She looked up to meet the eyes of the young man who cooked all of the orphans’ food. He was always smiling. Every time Ashley saw him around the orphanage, his features were lit up with a happy grin. She wondered if he was genuinely euphoric all the time, or if he only smiled for the sakes of the children. Whatever the case, she wished she could share in his ever-present joy.

“Thank you,” Ashley said politely as the cook filled her plate. She turned and found a shady place to sit by herself beneath a tree. She looked down at her breakfast and sighed. “Happy Birthday to me.”