“Emily, if you don’t object, Father and I want to adopt you.”

I gasped. It was as if cold water had been bucketed over the top of me—the shock hit me in full, and I could not breathe or feel. Every little voice inside my head screamed in alarm and disbelief. Adopt me? No one had ever wanted me. Yet here was a chance of freedom! A chance of living!

A chance to be loved?

“Father?”

The moon shone high in the midnight sky, a silver ball, beaming down on the fading lights of the town; whispering its goodnight to a sleeping world. I watched as its path slowly traveled across the wooden floor of my attic. The room was far from pleasant, and I could not stay warm. Sleeping under the thin covers of my bed was the best I could do when it came to warmth. But I was not sleepy. I never was on nights like this. The wind had yet again blown the clouds above, leaving a window through which the moon could smile. In spite of the cold, I smiled back at it.

“Eggs! Fresh eggs!”

“Only a shilling!”

“Fruit, fresh from my orchards!”

The sounds of the market filled my ears as I wound my way through the open square. Vendors were everywhere, setting up shop wherever they could find space. Smells of hot tarts and sweet cakes wafted about, watering my mouth. I fingered the coins in my pocket. Temptation was never greater than at the market; but I would never steal. Something always stopped me…a gut feeling, I suppose.

I only have one memory of my mother: when she kissed me goodbye on her death bed. I don’t even remember my father. For most my whole life, I’ve just been there, in the way, nothing to anyone and nobody to care about. Alone in the world, I’ve struggled to make my life worth something. The only thing I’ve ever succeeded at was failing.