Tyler’s face turned bright pink. He froze like water in a snowstorm. Someone was looking to adopt me? Who was it? And why would they want to adopt me? Tyler thought about his for a moment. Mrs. Clint had often told Tyler that the children at the orphanage would be lucky to actually sit down and meet the people who wanted to adopt him before they would change their mind. Tyler was unfamiliar this routine. No one had ever made an appointment to meet with Tyler. This didn’t bother Tyler much because by what the other children told him about being rejected, it wasn’t fun.

It wasn’t long before Mr. Clint’s beastly voice roared over the intercom with the message that it was time for dinnerr.

Dinner was one of Tyler’s favorite times of day. You could eat almost as much as you want and you can sit as far away from Mr. and Mrs. Clint as you’d like. Tyler grabbed his light blue jacket because it tended to be a little chilly in the dining room and headed out of the door.

The dining room was probably the least boring room in the orphanage, except for the children’s room of course. There was a bouquet of bright yellow daisies, picked from Mrs. Clint’s garden, on the large oak table that sat in the middle of the room. Tyler was the first one to the table which meant he got to choose where he wanted to sit. He headed directly forward until he reached the seat in the far corner. He sat down just in time for Ms. Lynn to bring a steaming pot out to the table with a few potholders that looked like they might slip out of her grip in seconds. “Oh, Tyler, would you please take these potholders and put them on the table, there?”
“Sure!” he replied. Tyler quickly got up to snatch the potholders and laid them on the table just before a fiery hot pot of soup was placed on top of them. “Thank you, Tyler!” Ms. Lynn said and was on her way back to the kitchen for more food.
Soon, more children began to arrive for dinnerr and later, Mrs. Clint’s tipity tapity of her high heels suggested that it was time to pray. The children all gathered around the table holding hands and together, recited the Our Father. As they prayed, Tyler always shot a glance up from bowing his head to see who else was looking around, when he noticed, Chad, who lived across the hall from him, wasn’t at the table. Curiosity arose inside of Tyler as he wondered where he was. Chad hadn’t missed a dinnerr ever since Tyler could remember and he didn’t think you could get away with missing because Mrs. Clint always took a head count right before they passed around the food.
Tonight, as usual, Mrs. Clint took out her clipboard from underneath her arm, and clicked her pen. “Head count for this evening, children, begins with Aidan, August, Brady, Brandon.” She continued on saying the name and waiting for the child to answer until she got to C’s. “Chad,” she said and then looked around. “Oh yes, he has an excuse. Charles,” she began again. Tyler’s face dropped down in confusion. What did she mean, “He had an excuse?” Mrs. Clint finished the last of the names and finished with an, “Enjoy your dinnerr children,” with about the least amount of expression possible. Tyler quickly got up from his chair and followed Mrs. Clint out into the main lobby. “Mrs. Clint!” he called.
“Tyler! Get back into that room now!” she bellowed.
“But I need to ask you a question! Where is Chad?”
“That is none of your business, Tyler! Get back in that room and worry about yourself before I send you up to your room without dinner!”
Now her face was red hot. She turned and continued walking down the hall. Tyler walked slowly back into the dining room to his seat. Chad was probably his only friend at the orphanage. Where could he be? Tyler sat the rest of the dinnerr in confusion.

As soon as dinner was over, Tyler ran back up to his room and cried. He literally just let all of his feelings pour out on his pillow as he laid there until there were no more tears left in him.
Tyler was so tired of being here. He hated this place so much and to tell you the truth, he didn’t even know how he got here! He had to have parents like any other kid. The other children here had parents who had left them so, he should have some too! Surely they didn’t leave him because of the way he acted like some of the other kids, Tyler was so young and they didn’t even know him! And then, if he did have some, why did they leave him here? Did they possibly know that this was the cruelest orphanage ever?
Then a tap on the door woke him up. Tyler sat up rubbing his eyes and glancing towards the alarm clock. 6 pm! He had slept straight into the next day! He rested his head in his hands, angry with himself. Then Tyler jumped up from the bed, tears ready to leap out onto his face. “My interview!” he thought to himself. Quickly he threw his only collared shirt on that Mrs. Clint had given to him a few years ago and combed his hair to the side.
Down the hall, Tyler’s jog turned into a run and eventually, a sprint. When Tyler arrived at the conference room, he was out of breath and his face was red. He opened the door to see Mrs. Clint’s furious face glaring at him. Across from her was a young couple probably in their thirties. “Tyler, you’re late!” Mrs. Clint said sternly through a smile. “Oh that’s ok! We don’t mind!” the woman said with a giggle. “Alright, now that he’s here, I can go now!” Mrs. Clint said and left the room looking quite confused.
“Tyler, I’m Sean Gardner and this is my wife, Rose! We have been looking to adopt a child here and it seems like you are a good fit for us!” the man said grinning. “Now, let us tell you a little bit about ourselves. I was born and grew up in the big city of Madison, Wisconsin, and went to college at the Rosebud Community College in South Dakota. Rose grew up in White Sulpher Springs, Montana and also went to the Rosebud Community College. That’s where we met. We have been married for 13 years this October. Rose and I knew we always wanted children and that’s what brought us here.” Sean said.
Tyler stared at the couple. These people seemed extremely nice and they sounded like they really wanted a child. Tyler was sold on the idea.
“So Tyler, do you have any questions for us, Tyler?” Rose asked.
“Just one. Could you take me to Montana?”
“Tyler, we live in Montana.”

Tyler’s mind stopped right then and there. Montana, a place he had always dreamed of going to. The look of the fresh green hills, the smell of the pine in the air. If he had to pick a place to live, it would be the Big Sky Country, Montana.

“Do you think you might want to spend a week with us and see how you like it?” Rose asked Tyler.

“Uh, yeah, I think I might like that!” Tyler replied. The look on the couple’s face was priceless.

Before Tyler knew it, he had already spent two hours chatting with the couple and so Mrs. Clint came in to interrupt the conversation. “So, Tyler what did you decide?” she said looking impatient.
“Uh, yeah, I’m going to go and spend a week with them,” he replied.
“Oh,” Mrs. Clint said. “You are. Alright well lets set a date, and um, well u, get your things, uh, packed up.”
Tyler could tell something was bothering Mrs. Clint, he just didn’t know what.
So, that following Saturday, Tyler packed up his clothes, and headed out of his room, down the hall, and into the main lobby where he found Sean and Rose waiting for him. “Tyler! It’s so nice to see you again! Are you ready for a drive to the country?” Rose asked him.
“I, I think so,” he replied.
“Well, let’s go!”
As Sean settled Tyler’s bag in the back seat of the jeep, Tyler stood outside the orphanage wondering if saying goodbye was necessary. Mrs. Clint stood next to Tyler, and as Rose and Sean began to move towards the doors of the jeep, Mrs. Clint turned to Tyler, “You behave yourself now, and use your manners, and don’t eat too much, and, um, be good,” Mrs. Clint instructed Tyler. There, from the corner of Mrs. Clint’s eye came a tear drop. As it strutted down her cheek, it shimmered in the sun. Wiping the tear, she said, “Oh, look at me, something must have got in my eye, Tyler go get in that jeep.” And from then on, Tyler felt oddly different about Mrs. Clint.
The first hour had gone by with little conversation in the car. Then, Rose passed Tyler a bag of dried mangos saying, “Tyler, do you want some dried mangos? They are really good!” Tyler put his hand in the bag and pulled a long strip of mango that was coated in sugar. “Thank you!” he said and tore off a piece with his teeth.
“No problem, sweetie!”
The sugary confection exploded in Tyler’s mouth and pretty soon he had finished the piece of mango. “May I have another piece?”
“You like it, huh?” Sean said with a smile looking at Tyler through his rearview mirror.
“Of course you can have more!” Rose said as she turned around from the passenger seat and handed Tyler the bag. Tyler pulled out two strips of mango and devoured them. Pretty soon, most of the bag was gone.
“I guess we know what food to keep on hand at the cabin,” Sean said to Rose, laughing. Life couldn’t get much better for Tyler right now, until a few hours later.

Tyler slept for the majority of the car ride until Rose wiggled his knee and told him they had arrived. Tyler’s eyes bolted open and he looked out the window. The car was parked next to a giant pine tree. Tyler could hear birds chirping in the tree and he looked up to see the giant blue sky above him. “You don’t see that kind of sky in New York City,” Sean said looking up. Sean unloaded the bags from the back of the car and the three of them headed down a dirt path.

The cabin was hidden behind trees and sage brush, but once Tyler turned the corner and saw it, his eyes lit up like a little boy’s on Christmas morning. The big brown log cabin, the wood porch on the front, and the thought of spending a whole week here made Tyler the happiest he had ever been. Tyler couldn’t wait to see the inside. As Rose carried a bag to the front of the cabin, Tyler followed. “What do you think so far?” she asked him. “Um,” Tyler stumbled to find words as he stood admiring the porch. “I love it here!” he yelled so loud, the sound echoed through the woods.

Tyler walked in the cabin to see a large green stained wood cabinet filled with china in various sizes. A big glass pitcher stood in the middle of the china. Tyler stood in front of the piece of furniture admiring it. “Come on, Tyler, let me show you your room,” said Rose. He followed her down the hallway which was covered in paintings and photographs. As he walked, Tyler looked closely at all of the photographs. Some were old pictures and some looked recent.
As he glanced back down the hall towards Rose, she stood looking at a picture. “This was my mother,” she said in a solemn voice. “She died giving birth to me. I can still remember what my father would tell me to make me feel better. He would tell me that she would have wanted nothing more than for me to live and that she would do anything for a healthy baby.” By now, Rose was in tears. “Some people just don’t know how hard it is to grow up without a mother or a father. That’s why I want to make sure that you get a loving family.” Turning to Tyler, Rose smiled down at him. She wiped away her tears and gave Tyler a quick hug before saying, “Who’s ready to see the rest of the house!” It was at this very moment that Tyler felt something he had never felt before. His body got warm, and a smile filled his face. He was feeling what it was like to be loved. A kind of love that made Tyler never want to leave Rose and Sean. He liked this feeling.

Rose took Tyler on a tour of the rest of the house which included the kitchen, with a table set for 3 and the smells of pasta; the living room, with a couch and a TV on the wall; and various other rooms. “What do you think?” Rose asked him excitedly.
“I love it!” Tyler exclaimed. “You two are the nicest people I’ve ever met!”
“Well good, I’m glad!” Rose answered.
Just then, Sean came into the house through the back door with some firewood. He threw the logs into a brick fireplace in the corner of the living room. Then he started the fire. As the room lit up with the orange light, crackles popped. “Tyler would you mind, going outside and getting some more firewood off of the stack?” Sean questioned.
“Sure!” Tyler replied.
He opened the back door and walked down the steps of the porch into the forest to the wood pile. When he got there, he grabbed 3 big logs and turned back towards the cabin. Out of the corner of his eye, something moved behind him. He quickly turned around, glancing in every direction looking for the cause of the movement, but saw nothing. Tyler turned back around and began walking back to the cabin. On the porch, he again heard a rustle of pine needles and footsteps back towards the forest. Spinning around, Tyler saw a scrawny boy with black hair running towards the wood pile. By the time Tyler had gotten back down to the pile, the black-haired boy had already snatched 3 logs and ran off.
From then on, Tyler didn’t see the boy in the forest anymore. But the sight of his scrawny body still lingered in his head. It didn’t appear that the boy had a family, unless the entire family looked like the boy did. One thing Tyler was sure about. He wanted to find the boy again. He was determined.

Months had passed since Tyler had first moved in with Rose and Sean. The days became shorter and the air became colder. The picture window in the living room became frosty as snow flew through the air.

Tyler became especially worried now about the boy he had seen in the forest. With barely any food and only a few layers to keep warm, how could he make it? Nights passed with no sleep. How could he sleep knowing someone was shivering out in the cold, hungry?

So it was decided. Tyler would go out into the woods searching for the boy. But he wasn’t going to tell Rose or Sean because they would be much too worried. He would have to tell them he was going to look for firewood. Then, he could look for the boy and if either Rose or Sean asked where he had been, Tyler would tell them he had gotten lost. A well-thought out plan, thought Tyler. The following Saturday morning, Tyler woke up earlier than normal. He looked at all his new clothing that Rose had taken him to get. There were so many different styles and colors, that Tyler wasn’t sure what to wear. He had never had to make this decision before because back at the orphanage, Tyler had 3 pairs of clothing that he wore depending on the laundry day. Tyler put on layer after layer just to make sure he was warm and so that he could give some to the boy, if he ever did find him.

Out in the dining room, Sean sat reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. “What brings you out of bed so early?” Sean asked smiling.

“Um, well I thought I would go out and get some firewood. I like the snow and I need the fresh air anyways,” Tyler replied.

“Whatever you say!”

Tyler grabbed a quick bite to eat before heading out into the white, snowy weather. He carefully walked down the deck’s stairs trying not to slip. Trudging through the snow, he headed straight into the forest where he had seen the boy before.

After an hour of searching, Tyler’s cheeks were bright red. He could barely feel his toes, so he stopped to rest next to a tree for a while. Breathing heavily, a big blob of white fog escaped from his mouth. The temperature was far colder than what Tyler was used to.

Just as Tyler got up to his feet, he heard a sound. Turning around slowly, Tyler saw him out of the corner of his eye. The boy, wrapped up in a wool blanket shivering. He was lying under a tree with branches surrounding him. The chatter of his teeth was so fast, it reminded Tyler of Mrs. Clint, shuffling through the roll call at mealtimes. Creeping towards the body, Tyler slowly peered over the branches.

“Hello?” Tyler asked very softly. But there was no reply. He couldn’t stare at this any longer. He ran up for what seemed like hours up to the cabin and inside.

“I told you! There is a boy out there!”

“A boy? What on earth do you mean sweetie?”

“I saw him once before, but I saw him again just now, shivering under a wool blanket and branches! We have to help him! We just have to!” Tyler let out.

Rose looked over to Sean who then turned to look back at her. “Sean, we must go with Tyler and see what he is talking about?”

“Of course, honey!”

Tyler waited as Rose and Sean got on their coats and boots, and the group headed out into the forest. Tyler showed the two the exact path he had taken to find the boy, and when they got there, sure enough, there was the boy.

“Oh my gosh!” Rose said surprised as she placed her hand on her heart. The boy’s face was paler than the snow and his eyes were shut tightly. He lay shivering, teeth chattering slower than before.

“We need to get him to somewhere warm,” Sean suggested.

Sean and Tyler picked up the boy, and Rose lead them back to the cabin. Inside, Rose put on a pot of hot water. Sean gathered up all of the blankets he could find and covered the boy with them. It didn’t take long for the cabin to warm up with the fireplace sending of a warm glow.

Finally after the boy stopped shivering, and his face regained some color, his eyes began to open. Seeing the people and the cabin at a glance, the boy jumped in his seat.

“It’s all right,” Rose said sweetly. “We found you out in the cold and we knew you looked hungry so we took you to our cabin, which is just outside the forest. I’m Rose and this is my husband, Sean. Tyler is our newly adopted son.” The boy nodded some, still looking very scared. Rose handed him a cup of hot cider.

“So where is your family?” Sean questioned. The boy shook his head. “You don’t have a family?” Again, the boy shook his head. “Well what can we call you?” Rose asked. The boy didn’t answer. “Well how about we call you Alex?” The boy nodded which made Rose very happy.

That night, as Rose and Sean got ready for bed, Rose asked, “I’m worried about him, Sean. He doesn’t have a family and he didn’t even have a name!”

“I know, Rose. I’m just glad we gave the boy somewhere to stay for the night.”

“Do you think maybe this is God’s way of telling us something? You know, like trying to tell us to reach out to this boy? I mean I’ve really liked having Tyler here and I have been thinking. Maybe we could adopt another child. Maybe Alex is God’s answer.”

“Yes, dear. I have quite liked having Tyler here as well, but we don’t know anything about this boy. We didn’t even know his name so we made one up. How can we adopt someone who we know nothing about?”

“Yes, I know, you’re right. How about we go into town tomorrow to the hospital and see if they have any records of him?”

“Ok, sounds great, darling.”

The next day came in a heartbeat and the four, including Alex, loaded the car for a trip into town.

Arriving at the hospital, Rose went up to the front desk to a lady wearing green scrubs. “How may I help you?”

“Uh, yes. We live nearby and have found this boy here outside alone, and we don’t know anything about him. Is there any way you could look up records of him?”

With a few clicks of her mouse, and by typing in what the boy looked like, the receptionist was able to find Alex’s real name which was Joshua Wilston. His mother’s name was Angela and she had died in a serious car accident years ago.

Leaving the hospital, Rose was very happy with the information she had gotten. Even if Alex’s real name was Joshua, Rose had asked the boy, and he had said that he would rather be called Alex with a smile on his face.

Alex stayed with Sean and Rose for a little over two weeks and learned so much about him once he finally began to talk, that Rose and Sean were seriously thinking of adopting him. They had to or he would either go right back to living outside, or to a foster home, which he had already run away from once.

The adoption was final about 2 months later, and Alex was officially part of the family.

About a year later, Sean and Rose received an envelope in the mail from the orphanage where Tyler had lived. It read:
Dear Sean and Rose Gardner,
Enclosed is a birth certificate and a list of relatives for Tyler that was sent from the hospital. I have taken it upon myself to change the address of Tyler in the hospital records so that all of the information will come to your house now.
I hope all is well with Tyler, because there is no more room available for Tyler back here in the orphanage.












Sincerely,












Mrs. Clint

Rose unfolded the birth certificate which printed Tyler’s full name, Tyler Alexander Wilston. Curiosity struck Roses face as she tore open the list of contactable relatives. There it was. Angela Wilston was listed as Aunt. Rose absolutely couldn’t believe it. She had never thought to even ask what Tyler’s last name was and come to find out, Tyler and Alex were cousins. What a small world it is, Rose thought to herself as she ran with the papers to find the rest of the family. What a small, small world.