The Secrets Behind Closed Doors

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." I know, I know. You have probably heard this cliche quotation about a hundred times in your life, and I had always thought of it as just another useless saying with no meaning behind it. Little did I know that I would have to start applying this quotation to come out alive.

One word to describe my life? Completely unpredictable. Technically that is two words; however, for my situation, it is very much valid.

It was an early Wednesday morning when I heard the footsteps and hushed voices of my parents. Then in extremely rushed tones, my parents yelled from the kitchen: "Alisha, we're going grocery shopping; we will be right back!" Before I had the chance to ask why they were leaving me home alone for the first time in seven years or why I could not come with them, they ran out the door with something in their hands. I waited hours for them to come back home.

To my surprise, they did not come home that night. I woke up groggy the next morning at the same place as the night before. I ran upstairs to see if my parents had returned, but their room was empty.

The morning after, I woke up to a repetitive pounding on the door. I peeked through the blinds and saw a woman with a book and a police officer standing next to her. I hesitantly opened the door.

"Hello, are you Alisha Syed?" asked the woman. Her badge read "Diana." "Um, yes," I responded quietly. "

"You are going to have to come with us." the woman said harshly. I was confused and upset.

"Wait, why? Where are my parents? I am not allowed to talk to strangers." I responded in a panic. With a strange look in her eyes, she replied, "Sweetie, we do not believe your parents are coming back." This lady had no idea what she was talking about and was getting me extremely mad. My parents would NEVER leave me. I answered back angrily, "No. My parents are just out grocery shopping; they must have gotten lost." With that, I was about to close the door when the lady signaled to the police officer to pick me up as she entered the house. That was the last time I saw my beloved home.

Rose Falls orphanage became my new so-called "home" for the next five years of my life. Every day was a predictable day, get up, make the bed, complete the chores, eat dinner, sleep and repeat.

One day I was relaxing on the couch, I had completed all of my tasks for the day; as I was about to close my eyes to take a nap, one of the caregivers came towards me and told me to go clean the basement; I despised her more than anything in the world. I was already very fed up with this lifestyle, so I just dragged my tired body to the basement.

The basement was enormous, cold, and dark; spider webs draped the minimal pieces of furniture that sat on the dusty ground. I was so scared to be down in the basement alone and hated my life so much. I missed my parents dearly, and I wish they never went grocery shopping that day. If they just took me with them, I wouldn't have to slave away at Rose Falls, a place that I was forced to call home. With all of these thoughts continuously circling my brain, I took a deep sigh and started to clean as it was probably going to take me three hours to clean it to my caregiver's liking.

Two hours went by, and I had cleaned more than half of the basement. As I was entering to clean the second to last room, I heard a roaring scream from the end of the hallway. At first, I thought I must be imagining the screams, but then I heard the same screams again. My body jerked from the sudden sounds, and I started to tremble; a woman was crying for help at the top of her lungs, and I didn't know what room her voice was coming from. My breathing started to become uneven as I decided to investigate what was going on. I followed the trail of screams, and the closer I got to the voice, the more I felt that my heart was going to jump out of my chest. I finally came to the door that held the mystery of the screaming woman.

As I was about to turn the knob to open the door, I heard my caregiver yell, " what the hell do you think you're doing!" Hearing my caregiver say that, I freaked out and froze in my place. Then many muscular guards came up behind her, and she ordered them to get me. I didn't know what to do, so I ran; I ran as fast as my bare feet could carry me. I managed to escape the orphanage by climbing over the fence. After running for what seemed like ages, I finally stopped when I had lost the guards. Struggling to catch my breath, I drank some water from a nearby water fountain; I then roamed around the streets of Chicago for hours, not knowing where to go.

As I walked, I saw so many different kinds of people. I came across people begging for money and food; I looked into the windows of mansions where families would be laughing, and finally, kids learning how to ride their bikes with their parents. After seeing all this, I knew where my feet were taking me.

There I was, standing in front of the home that was taken away from me years ago. I peered through the main window and saw our dark hallway leading to the living room; it didn't look like anyone was living here. I did not know if my house had been sold or stayed the same after I was taken away. I figured that there was only one way to find out: going in. I went around to the side of my home, opened up the window to the living room, and crawled in quietly.

I took a quick scan around my house, observing that it was as clean as the day I left it. I moved quickly, not wanting to get caught by a potential resident. I started looking for anything that might link back to my parents and possibly shed light on where they have been for all these years. I scanned all the rooms, closets, and corners. There was absolutely nothing that could help me find my parents. I was about to admit defeat as I was fixing what used to be my parents' bed when suddenly something came flying out of the covers onto my foot.

A little black book. I felt like I had seen this book somewhere before but could not put my finger on it. I knew it was not something I had seen before I got taken away, so maybe someone who had moved in kept their journal or something in here. Either way, it could be something that could be traced back to my parents, so I hesitantly picked up the book and slowly opened it.

My jaw dropped. I could not believe what I was reading. Thoughts were circling in my head like a Ferris wheel, and I started to feel dizzy. I couldn't believe that my parents were secret agents who helped protect kids treated unjustly in orphanage homes. I began to frantically flip the pages of this black book, trying to find out more about my parents' past. I came to the end of the book, and as I started to read the last page, I thought I was going to pass out. I couldn't believe that someone had an eye on my family from the start; someone knew that my parents would go grocery shopping; they planned on taking me to Rose Falls from the beginning. The last part on the final page had me horrified; they were planning on killing my parents today. At the very bottom of the page, it said, "Diana's Plan." That name sounded vaguely familiar to me. I thought about it and wondered where I had heard that name before. Suddenly, the badge of the CPS woman who had shown up to my house years ago flashed before my eyes.

I couldn't just sit in the house waiting for the unthinkable to happen; I had to save my parents. As I was about to exit the house, the police caught me. They started to question me, saying that someone saw me break into the house. I then explained to the cops why I was there in the first place. I also showed them the black book and told them my parents were in trouble. The cops were astonished after I told them everything.

The police then told me to come with them to Rose Falls to arrest Diana. As we arrived at Rose Falls, the cops told me to wait in the car as they would be back soon. They kicked the door down, found Diana in one of the rooms in the basement, and told her, "Diana, you are under arrest for planning the murder of Alisha Syed's parents and for torturing innocent children at Rose Falls; along with other orphanage homes as well."

The head cop then told the other officers to search the entire home for Alisha's parents. While searching, the cops encountered the same door I did; they opened the door and found my parents with their hands and feet tied together to two chairs, their backs facing each other.

I was waiting anxiously in the cop car; after a while, I saw the cops drag out Diana with handcuffs on her. After ten minutes, the cops brought out my parents. I was speechless. I ran towards them, my heart fluttering in excitement. With tears in my eyes, I gave them the biggest group hug and said, " I knew you guys didn't leave me. I knew you cared."

A cop then walked up to me and told me that I was fearless throughout all this; he then said that they had been trying to catch Diana for twenty years. "We are rewarding the individual who figured out the person who was behind the orphanage incident, with $20,000. This money will go to you; you can do whatever you please with it."

I was already so overwhelmed with finding my parents and taking down Diana that I did not care about the money. However, I knew who did care and who needed it desperately. "I want to give the money to my parents so that they can help all of the orphanages around the country. I do not want anyone else to go through the same treatment I did when I was forced to live there." I replied to the officer. He smiled at me and looked at my parents, "You've got one generous kid here, don't lose her." he said. "Never again!" my parents said in unison, hugging me tighter than they ever had before.

Everything happens for a reason. If I had lost the courage and hope to find my parents, I would have never exposed Diana for who she was. As I struggled with my life in the orphanage home, I always kept one crucial thing in mind: "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." This is the quotation that not only kept me alive but also helped keep my parents alive as well.

Until I write to you next time, I adore you, my little black book that saved my life.

Love, Alisha Syed.