Martha Monologue

“If we leave tonight, Miss Martha will never notice us gone,” Margot explained. “Are you mad? She would call the policemen!” Lucy fearfully replied. “Nonsense. She’ll never even know that we left! There are enough people here to distract her from two missing orphan girls, anyway.” Margot and Lucy had been diligent and faithful friends since they both arrived at the orphanage two years ago as young adolescents. Margot was a slender girl, with little to no curves and matted brunette hair. Her skin was almost translucent, considering the lack of time that the orphans spent outdoors. The year was 1918, and the Spanish Influenza had wreaked havoc across the south. People were rapidly falling ill, and Miss Martha, the orphanage director, would

You cannot assume every cough or fever is the flu. I cannot just sit around here and wait for three more years to be released. I want to start my life now, and if you won’t join that’ll be your fault,” Margot stated. Lucy pondered Margot’s words, and then agreed, saying, “Fine. Tomorrow morning, we will sneak out after breakfast and go into town, but you have to promise me that we will be back before Miss Martha notices!” Margot squealed, and then proceeded to hug Lucy with all of her might. “Yes, we can come back before she notices! I promise!” She stated this knowing full and well that she had no intention of returning, but she really wanted Lucy in on the escape, especially since she had gotten so far. The girls planned their morning escape: They would exit through the side door when everyone is called into the grand hall for breakfast, and then make a straight path down the fields and out of the fence, leaving them only a fourth of a mile until they reached the

Miss Martha struggled to keep up with all of the children ever since she had released her assistants due to signs of illness. Martha was an anxious woman and feared that if one of the children came down with a cough, all of the children would die from influenza. She wasn’t one to think rationally, and she was constantly keeping tabs on the children who lived in the home. Hours soon passed, and something startled Lucy awake. “Lucy, wake up…I’ve changed my mind. We should go now,” Margot whispered as she shook Lucy’s shoulder. Lucy rubbed her tired eyes and attempted to wake up. She reached over to her small nightstand and looked at the watch her father had given her before he passed away. The clock read 12:42 a.m. “Why? Everyone is asleep. Mo, you need to go back to bed.” Lucy waited for a sly reply from Margot, but she never received one. She turned around to see Margot staring out the window at a small orb of light, dancing around the side door, then slowly moving across the field. “We need to go now. I want to see where it