I looked at the clock and sighed. My shift is almost over, but the clock won't turn fast enough. When the clock finally hit 3, I sprang up and clocked out. I left the car wash and walked down the road to my house.

Upon entering, I looked around. The dining room and the living room are in the same area. When you walk down the hallway connected to the living room, you enter the playroom. Next to the playroom is the kitchen. In the same hallway, there's a staircase that leads to the second floor. On the left is mom and dad's room and my little sister's room. On the right is my younger brother and my bedroom. I'm stuck sharing a bedroom with my youngest brother, however.

With my siblings still in school and my father deployed, I'm left at home with my mother. Unfortunately, she's no where to be seen. I decided to check the beach. She does say she would live in water if she could. I walked along the road until I came across the boardwalk. It was rickety and old, but still useable. I walked along the boardwalk until I came to a set of stairs leading to the beach.

When I stepped onto the sand, something felt off. I looked at the clouds and felt the moisture in the air. It was about to rain. I hurriedly looked up and down the beach. Mom couldn't have gone far. I looked around until I saw movement behind a rock. I cautiously approached and saw a little girl no older than my little sister. She looked around 12 to 13 with long black hair and mahogany brown eyes. Her skin was tan and there were two weird looking flowers in her hair. The flowers were a dull pink on the outside petals and a dull green on the inside petals.

I knelt down to hold her eye level and smiled at her.

"Hello, my name is Nicole. What's yours?" I asked. She gave me a weird look and moved away from me.

"Wata no raf yo," she said. I was confused. Was this an actual language or is she messing with me?

"I'm sorry, but I can't understand what you're saying. Do you know English or maybe Espanol?" The girl tilted her head to the side and looked me up and down.

"Hune!" she whispered.

"Hune?" I asked. I reached out to pat her head, but she slapped my hand away. That's when I noticed something. Now that her hair's out of the way, I saw her left eye was closed and bleeding.

"Oh my God, we need to get you to a hospital! Come with me, I'll take you," I exclaimed. Despite her fighting, I was able to pick her up and took her to home. I found my mother sitting at the dining room table, working on taxes I think.

"Nicole, what took you so long?" she asked without looking up.

"No time to explain! This girl is injured and needs medical help!" I exclaimed. Mom looked up and her eyes went wide.

"I'll drive," she said. I got the girl into the car and buckled her in. She started screeching and kept pulling on the seatbelt.

"Calm down! We're taking you to a hospital," mom said.

"She doesn't speak English, mom. I already tried explaining to her," I replied. When we got to the hospital, we checked her in and waited in a hospital room for the doctor. The girl kept struggling and yelling things in another language. I did my best to contain her, but I'm sure everyone withing a 5 mile radius of her could hear her screams.

"What's with all the screaming?" a man asked. I turned and saw a man in a doctor's uniform walk in.

"I'm sorry, but she doesn't understand what's happening. She doesn't speak English," mom explained.

"Why? Have you not taught her yet?"

"She's not a part of our family. I found her alone on the beach," I answered. The doctor gave me a weird look and looked at her eye.

"She won't be able to see out of it again, but it won't get infected if we clean it as soon as possible."

"Thank god. We'll file a report after this at the police station. Maybe they can help us find her parents," mom suggested. I nodded and tried holding the girl still while the doctor cleaned her eye.

The doctor decided it may be best for her to stay overnight. That way they can make sure her eye doesn't get infected. They allowed me to stay with her until eight pm. It's currently seven pm.

I looked at the girl. She was slightly chubby but not too much. She looked lost or maybe out of ideas to get out of this situation.

"What's your name?" I asked. She looked at me in confusion. I put my hand on my chest and said my name, "Nicole." I put my hand on her's and waited for a bit. When she didn't reply, I repeated again, and again, and again. I was about to give up when I heard her speak. It was very soft and hard to hear.

"What?" I asked.

"Brooke," she replied. I looked up at her. She showed no emotion when she told me.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Brooke!" I answered with a smile.

"Wata no raf yo."