A Boy Called Orko: 'That Place'

No sooner had I gone to sleep than I found myself in a creepy forest, with dense moss hanging from the branches. I floated through the forest, pushing back dead branches, desperate to see what was on the other side of this tunnel of thick, dying decay. Then, all of a sudden, I burst out of the branches and saw it: it was a huge waterfall, somewhere in the middle of the rainforest, gleaming and beautiful, like it had been polished by the moon. “That place…” I whispered, my eyes glowing with the rise of the full moon…

…but then I woke up back in Furaha’s bed and it was 3 O’Clock in the afternoon. I looked out to see the sun set over the neighbourhood, and whispered it again.

“That place…”

But then Optimus came in to check on me. “What’s all this about that place?” “Erm…er…” I mumbled. I was struggling for words, so Optimus said, “Come on, it’s time for dinner now. We’re having fish fingers and chips. I’m on an Energon diet though, so feel free to come down and eat with us.” “Can I tell you about my dream then?” I asked. “Of course!” chuckled Optimus, “Now come down before your dinner gets cold.”

Quickly, I followed Optimus downstairs and into the kitchen.

The fish fingers and chips were precisely well cooked and tasted very delicious, much better than the food I had at my previous home. I told my sister and father all about my dream, the waterfall, the dead, decaying branches, and how I called it, “That Place”. “That place, eh?” said Optimus. “Hmmmm…I think I know that place from when I was a youngling.” “Can we go there NOW?” I asked, as any impatient four year old would do. “No, not at the moment, Orko, it’s getting dark. We all have to wind down before bed.” “Aaaaaawwww,” I moaned, continued eating my fish fingers. “Surely there must be some way we can make him feel welcome,” said Furaha, stuffing three chips into her mouth so she looked like a chipmunk storing nuts the same way. “We’ll make him feel welcome together, Furaha. Just you wait. We’ll be with him every step of the way, and maybe we’ll even get him his own toys if he’s good. He needs a lot of love and attention, because he’s a very special boy.”

At once, I lit up. I liked being called special, mainly because of my magic, and I had already finished my dinner. “Yay! I’m special! Watch this!” I shouted, and wiggling my tiny fingers in the air, I chanted:

“Dinner is over, now I dream

That for dessert, I’ll have ice cream!”

And in a flash, a huge delicious ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce and fudge and raspberry sauce and a cherry on top appeared before Optimus and Furaha’s very eyes. “Woah!” shouted Furaha, her eyes wide as saucers. “Oh well done!” said Optimus, clapping his giant hands in approval. “See, I told you he’s special, dad,” whispered Furaha as I tucked into my dessert. “Furaha, it’s just natural that his magic doesn’t work when he’s sad,” explained Optimus, “During that time in that care home with all the other kids, his magic didn’t work, because the former care owner told him not to use it. This is the first time he’s ever used magic. His parents would be proud of him. And I would be too. I tell you what: tomorrow, we’ll go to the toy shop and get him a treat for being so good.”

“What about you, Optimus?” asked Furaha, “Can you come in and pay?” “You have already had your pocket money this week for cleaning the house. You’ll be able to pay perfectly with the right amount of money, or sixpences or whatever they are. Anyway, I can’t fit into the toy store because I am too big.” “But in this house you do!” called out Furaha. We all laughed. I had never heard a joke so funny before. Even better, I was laughing with others. Back in my old home, others just laughed at me, but not Optimus and Furaha, they were laughing so much I forgot about Adam and Teela and Man-At-Arms and Cringer and such. Right now, they were the only family I needed.

A few hours later, after a noisy session of playing games on the computer, Optimus said that it was time for bed. He carried me and Furaha up towards Furaha’s room, and tucked us into bed, reading us a bedtime story. Yawning, I asked Optimus, “Can we visit that place, Optimus?” “Someday, Orko, someday,” said Optimus, “But right now, we all need to get some sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a bright new day, much better than what you had in your last placement. Goodnight, little ones.” “Night Optimus,” we both said in unison as Optimus switched off the light and we went to sleep instantly. I spent the whole night trying to forget about the dream, but parts of it kept coming back to me like a difficult question just waiting to be answered. I could hear millions of voices calling:

“Orko, come and visit me.”

“Orko, please visit.”

“Orko, you have to explore this place.”

“Come and touch my nature, Orko.”

I tried to ignore these voices, but they just echoed in my head while I was sleeping, and I didn’t even wake up. That was the most disturbing part of all. For now, I needed some rest, and I was so glad I had Furaha by my side.

August 17, 2002

Furaha and I ran downstairs the next morning to breakfast screaming and shouting. “We’re going to get my treat for being special!” I cried. “Settle down, you two, finish your breakfast first.” We both ate our breakfast quickly. Optimus had cooked eggs for us, and we both ate hungrily, enjoying the dairyish taste in our mouths. “What comes first, Optimus?” asked Furaha. “The chicken, or the egg?” "In my opinion, I think the egg came first, not the chicken, because a long time ago a dinosaur and a bird mated and produced an egg. Out from it hatched a strange bird we now call a chicken.” said Optimus. “I think the chicken came first, it did exist when the dinosaurs were around, because their feet were all scaly.” I piped up.