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Monday, December 15, 2008

Typing Test

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http://speedtest.10-fast-fingers.com">Typing Test

Posted by Ashley at 4:24 PM

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My Story

Orphans of Circumstance
My father always made me feel that I was loved. I never felt that I needed anything more from him. With my mother, it was a different story. I was at the bottom of a long list of priorities, and I sometimes wondered if I even made the list. She had other things to worry about. That is why when I went to New York in the summer of 2005, I found myself empathizing with the Grant kids, for they were worse off than me. I only seemed to have one parent growing up, but they had none. That summer changed my outlook on life.
I had gone to New York to begin my job as CEO of a major manufacturing company, Fitzgerald Industries. My name is Eleanor Linota. When I reached New York, I found myself a comfortable apartment with a good view of the city. After about a week, I was invited to visit some family friends. Belle Vashti had been my best friend growing up. She was the girl that everyone envied in school. Belle was breathtakingly beautiful, had amazing grades, was extremely gifted in piano, dance, and violin, was very artistic, and was exceptionally charismatic. Her only fault was the fact that she was so caught up in her looks and position in life that this was all that seemed to matter. She found a way to live this life comfortably, by marrying the co-owner of Pear Computers, Richard Grant. At first, it seemed that this would be the perfect union. Richard was a strong businessman, and everyone believed that he would keep his new bride in line. This was not the case. He indulged in the benefits that came from his job almost as much as Belle did. When their first child came along, all that knew them thought, “This is the answer, a little baby for them to focus on…so they can forget about themselves.” Little Wyatt was born. After throwing her a baby shower, I lost touch, because I moved to Miami to do research for my company. I had not seen them since the year 1991. Their Wyatt would be fourteen years old.
When I pulled up to their apartment, the sight took my breath away. I had been told that it was the largest apartment in the whole city, but nothing could have prepared me for this. It was a ten bedroom, ten bathroom apartment. The outside was beautiful, too beautiful to belong in New York. I was greeted enthusiastically by Belle. She was just as beautiful as ever with her sun-kissed blond hair and dazzling blue eyes.
“I am so glad that you came, Eleanor. It is so exciting that you are going to be living in New York”.
“Thanks for having me. Living here should be a good experience. It will certainly be different than sunny Miami.”
Bryant Armstrong, Richard’s partner and best friend was already there when I arrived.
“Belle, Eleanor, you are both looking lovely as ever. Thanks again for having me over.”
“You are always welcome here, Bryant”, Richard remarked.
“I believe that if we buy out Silverstein Computers,” Bryant stated, “we will be able to increase our profits by twenty percent.”
Bryant was a very handsome man. He was tall, had bronze-colored hair and eyes a forest green. He seemed to be more down to earth than his hosts.
“Bryant, do you think that increasing our donations to organizations will increase our profits and our popularity with the customers?” Richard asked.
“That does not really matter, as long as we are helping those that need our help.”
“True. True. But it will not hurt if it helps us out a little too.”
The conversation continued on in this matter the rest of the evening. Only once I was on my way home did I realize that I had not seen their son Wyatt nor had either of them even mentioned his name in passing. They had talked about pretty much everything else. I made a note to myself to ask about Wyatt later.
Throughout the next two weeks, I worked hard to make a good start with the company. I found that I really enjoyed it, and everyone that I worked with was really nice. On my first day, I had met with a lady who was a secretary there. She was a short lady around five foot one with dark brown hair and blue eyes. Her name was Ella Foy. I soon decided that she had to be the sweetest person in New York. One day, we were talking about our past work experience.
“What did you do before you became a secretary?” I asked curiously.
“I was a nanny for people high up on the business chain. Some of the parents did not even seem to realize that their kids existed. One of the kids that I watched was a three-year-old boy named Wyatt. He was an adorable kid, and he was extremely bright. His father was an owner of a company and his mother was too busy with social events to be bothered. Leaving behind kids with parents like those is the biggest regret I have for stopping being a nanny. I needed to change my career, because I had started a family of my own. But every day, I wonder about how many kids I could have been there for.”
This struck a cord. The owner of a company with a boy named Wyatt. But I barely gave it a second thought, because this was New York, and there had to be many owners with little boys named Wyatt. When I got home, I got a call from Belle inviting me over to play some games with some friends. I accepted the invitation.
We played Apples to Apples and Balderdash. After a while, we got tired of playing games so we began to talk again. I decided to mention Wyatt.
“So how is your kid doing?”
“They are doing fine.”
“They?” I was stunned.
“Yes, I have a five-year-old girl named Marisol. Did I never tell you that, dear?”
“No, you did not.”
“Well then, sorry about that dear. Yes, I have two kids. Wyatt is a handsome ten year old boy. He takes after me with fair features. His hair is an even lighter blond than mine. And Marisol is a little beauty. She looks more like her father with her light brown hair and deep brown puppy dog eyes. I will have to show them to you.”
“Where are they?”
“Oh, they are with their nanny. At the park, I believe. They are great kids. Neither of them ever causes any trouble. They stay out of the way, and they are very well behaved.”
That was all that she said about them. It seemed like they were more like beautiful pets that she never paid any attention to, rather than her own children. I was beginning to find that motherhood had not affected her at all, because she did not even know the age of her son who was fourteen, not ten. I went over to the Grant house countless times over the next month, but I never saw the kids. I began to wonder if they were invisible until one evening, Belle told me that I was finally going to meet them.
“My kids are home this evening if you would like to meet them.”
“I would really enjoy that.” She pushed an intercom button.
“Nanny Maya, will you please bring me my children?”
“Yes Mrs. Grant, right away.”
A few minutes later, a young man and a little girl entered the room. They were even better looking than their mother had let on. Both kids entered quietly with their arms folded. I had never seen kids that still, less alone in their own home. They were statues. This bothered me. Did these kids know what it meant to have fun and be a kid?
“Wyatt, Marisol, this is Eleanor Linota. She is my closest friend. Say hello.”
“Hello”, they said in unison.
“Hello,” I replied. “How are you two doing?”
“Good.”
“We will have to go somewhere sometime if it is alright with your mother, so that we can get to know each other better.”
“That would be nice, dear” said Belle. “Well, enough chit-chat darlings. Off to bed now. Good night.” Then, the nanny led them out of the room.
“Your kids seem charming.”
“Yes, I believe they are.” And that was the last time she mentioned them the entire evening. The next day, I called her up and asked her if I could take her kids to the park.
“That would be wonderful. Thanks for offering, dear.”
“You’re welcome. I will be there around five o’clock.”
When I came to get the kids, they were quiet, too quiet for kids. I knew that this constant silence needed to be broken.
“So, Wyatt, what do you enjoy doing? Sports? Music? Art?”
He replied, “I enjoy football, music, and school.”
“That is perfect!” I exclaimed. “I enjoy those things as well.” This caught his interest. I continued on with him for a few minutes, and then I tried to get Marisol talking as well.
“Marisol, what do you like to do?”
“I like to read and play house.”
“Those are fun things to do.”
“Yeah, it is fun to play mommy.” Those words made me want to smile and cry all at the same time. I realized that her nanny was the one to play that with her, instead of her own mommy.
“I will tell you what. Tomorrow, I will come and play house with you. Would you like that?”
“That would be fun!” she squealed.
We had a great time at the park. I could not believe that anyone could neglect these children. I found out that I was the first person that they had spent time with besides their nanny, since they got out of school. I was sad to see them go back inside the house when I dropped them off. I could not wait to see them again. Wyatt was extremely bright. He was in advanced placement classes, he liked to play football with his friends, and he knew how to play the piano, drums, and trombone. Marisol was adorable. She could read at an extremely high level for her age. I found out that she also loved animals, especially puppies. I could not see how Belle and Richard could pass on the opportunity to brag about two such extraordinary kids.
The next day at work, I was talking to Ella when I remembered the owner with the son named Wyatt. I was curious to see if it was the same one.
“You know that boy named Wyatt that you were a nanny for?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you remember what his parents’ names were?”
“Yes, Richard and Belle Grant. He is the owner of Pear Computers. Do you know them?”
“Belle was my best friend growing up. I was just wondering, because I have noticed that things haven’t changed. She still does not seem to really realize that she has two amazing kids.”
“Yeah, well that is what focusing on a career, money, and status will do to you. You forget what is really important, your family, especially your kids. The really sad thing is that they won’t realize that until it is too late.”
I went to go spend the day with the two kids. I played house with Marisol and read her some books. I listened to Wyatt play the piano, and the three of us went outside to play football. Hearing their laughter was like hearing my favorite song on the radio. It filled me with joy and made me laugh as well. Later, they had lessons with their nanny, so I went to go talk with Belle.
“Your son is a great football player.”
“Wyatt?”
“Yes, do you have another son?” I asked teasing.
“Wyatt does not play football, dear.”
“Yes he does and quite well. We played this afternoon. He should play for the school team.”
“Now, that you mention it, he did. He stopped after only a week or two.” I could not believe that Wyatt would quit playing a game that he loved so much, so I went to talk to him. I heard a lot of noise coming from the game room.
“Nothing is ever going to change, Marisol!”
“Yes, it will Wyatt. Mommy and daddy love us.”
“How would you know? Have they ever told you that?”
“No, but they do Wyatt. They do!”
“Well, they have never told me that! I thought that if I made the team that they would suddenly realize that I was alive, but they didn’t even care. I made the varsity team as a freshman, and they could care less!”
“They do care!” Marisol said between sobs. Then she completely broke down to tears.
“I am sorry Marisol. I am sure that they do care about you. They want us to be happy.” I decided to go leave them alone together and go home. The next day, Belle called in hysterics.
“He’s gone! He’s gone! Eleanor, he’s gone!”
“Calm down Belle. What is going on?”
“Wyatt is gone!”
“It will be ok, Belle. I am sure that he will come back. He probably just ran off somewh…”
“He’s dead, Eleanor! He overdosed on pain relievers last night! Nanny Maya found him dead in the bathroom this morning!” I could not believe it. I could not do or say anything. I just broke down to tears. He was such an amazing young man with such a bright future ahead of him. Both of us just sat there on the phone crying. Then Belle said in a quiet voice…
“He had been crying Eleanor. I asked Marisol and she said that she heard him crying for hours nonstop. Then the crying just stopped.” She was silent for a moment. “How could I have let this happen? My boy, my little Wyatt.”
The funeral was held two days later. No one could believe that he was gone. Bryant, in honor of Wyatt, made a one million dollar donation to the Drug Use Awareness Association. Marisol began to show some early signs of depression, but her parent’s eyes had been opened. They got her the help that she needed, and more importantly, began to be her mommy and daddy. Sadly, it was too late for their boy. But through Wyatt, his sister was saved.

Here are the meanings of the names:
Belle- beauty
Vashti- beauty
Richard- power
Wyatt- strong willed
Marisol- lonely
Grant- (last name) great
Eleanor- pity
Linota- (last name) pity
Ella- light
Foy- (last name) faith
Bryant- strong
Armstrong- (last name) strong

I hope that you enjoyed the story!

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