Ten-year-old Anna looked at her six-year-old sister Elena sleeping with steady rhythmic breathing. Hardly a sound was uttered from the girl. Anna turned to her other side. There was Tatiana, her friend of seven years. Tatiana's breathing was loud and uneven. Her chest visibly rose and fell, but the movement was strained. Every few seconds she uttered a loud hacking cough. Tatiana was sick, but since no doctor ever came to the orphanage they lived in, nobody knew what she had or how to cure it. Soon, Tatiana would be gone. Anna thought about this and started to cry.

"Anna! Whatever is the matter?" asked Dasha, the oldest girl at the orphanage.

"Oh Dasha, I am so sad I just have to cry. But I remember the rule about no sounds after 9:00," Anna replied.

"Come, Anna, and sleep next to me tonight. You can tell me your sadness."

"Thank you, Dasha," but Anna was so tired she fell asleep before she could move over.

The next morning Anna was awakened by sounds of laughter and cries of joy, two sounds not often heard at the Moscow Girls' Home.

"Anna, Anna, it is Tatiana. Her health is much improved, because of the doctor!" said one of the girls.

"Doctor? Why has he come?" asked Anna, still half asleep.

"Not he! She! A woman doctor from America," said the girl, saying the last word dreamily, like it was a fantasy land. Well, that was what America was to these girls. It was a place they had only heard about in books. Somewhere where people could do whatever they wanted, not like communist Russia. It was a dreamland.

Anna rubbed her eyes and picked up Elena, who was tugging at her nightgown. Then she looked at the doctor and had to do a double take. The doctor was young and beautiful, with brown hair and dark eyes. Something, however, was strange. She had the same features as Elena and Anna. But Anna did not think she was any relation. All her family was dead, a Russian soldier had told her. Her father and older brother, along with his wife and baby boy, had been killed in a bombing. Anna's mother had run away, and her body was found days later. When the Russian soldier, Leo, tried to take them away, Anna had escaped with Elena in her arms. She then walked for three days and nights to Moscow and wandered into the orphanage, where she has lived for the last six years.

Anna continued to stare at the doctor, who was named Lisa Mateo. Dr. Mateo caught her eye and smiled. Anna turned quickly, embarrassed for being caught staring. Elena was squirming, so Anna put her down. The little girl walked toward Dr. Mateo and hugged her. Dr. Mateo picked her up and tossed her into the air. Elena squealed with happiness. Everybody was so happy, but Anna still hung back. Watching Tatiana get better made her sad somehow. Is it possible to miss something you've never had? Anna felt like she missed life in America, but she'd never been there. But seeing her friends living like she had always imagined made her unhappy. It didn't make sense.

Soon, Dr. Mateo came up to her.

"I hear Tatiana is your best friend, Anna. It must have been terrible knowing she might not make it."

"Yes...," but suddenly, Anna forgot all the English she had ever learned. Flustered, she asked if Dr. Mateo spoke Russian. She did! Now Anna was at ease. She told Dr. Mateo her entire life story and her dreams of someday being adopted with Elena and Tatiana. But she knew nobody in their right mind would adopt three girls at once. Anna often dreamed about having her own room, more than two dresses, and Tatiana as a sister and friend. Soon, Anna forgot all about Dr. Mateo and just talked.

Several hours later, she opened her eyes, surprised that she had been asleep. Dr. Mateo was checking the other girls one by one for lice, pinkeye, flu, and other common sicknesses. The girls who already had been checked were standing in two groups: 'maybe' cases and 'just fine'. The 'maybe' group had almost twice as many people as the 'just fine' group because of the extra time the girls had previously been checked-the first time, when they came into the orphanage. Anna went to get in line.

When her turn came, Anna was nervous. What if she had some terrible disease that had no cure? Would she die? But Dr. Mateo checked her and said Anna only had a cold. She had to stand in with the 'maybe' group and go to a doctor's office. Dr. Mateo said she would get a medicine that would make her better. Tatiana was going too, but luckily Elena was fine.

The doctor's office was not like anything she had seen before. It was bright white, and nothing was out of place. It was what American doctors' offices looked like, not Russian. Dr. Mateo said they would get the best care there. A nurse poked around in Anna's eyes and mouth. She looked in her ears and down her throat. Finally, she gave Anna some icky syrupy stuff and told her to take some every day, until it was gone. Anna did not want to drink this stuff, but she said she would. She did not want to get sicker!

That night, Anna and the other girls listened to Dr. Mateo tell them things about life in America. She told about her house in a place called Kentucky. It was big and blue and had lots of windows. Everybody listened with such concentration that only Anna noticed when mean Mrs. Lubor came in and listened too. One by one the younger girls, then the older girls, fell asleep right on the floor. Dr. Mateo and Mrs. Lubor picked them up one by one and placed them in their beds. Anna dreamed of American women coming every day and adopting them one at a time. She, Elena, and Tatiana were adopted by Dr. Mateo and lived in a mansion in Kentucky. It was a beautiful dream, but it was not reality.

On Monday the girls went to school, but they all impatiently rushed through their studies. Dr. Mateo was a great storyteller! They worked to get back to listen to her. They rushed upstairs to their room, and a terrible sight met their eyes.

The room was torn apart and things strewn all over the floor. Pillows were shredded and thrown all over. There was no sign of Dr. Mateo.

"Lisa! Dr. Mateo! Where are you?" They called over and over. Anna started to worry. Finally, she heard a cough from under a spare bed. She ran to see. It was Dr. Mateo, covered in dust.

"What happened? Are you all right?" she asked.

"Let me get a drink of water. I'll tell you all about it," Dr. Mateo coughed.

As soon as Dr. Mateo had cleaned herself up, she invited the girls to sit down.

"It all started when I was cleaning your room. I put fresh sheets and pillowcases on all the beds, and started scrubbing the floors. The bucket I was using got dirty, and I went to dump it out. I was happy and carefree and didn't check to see if there was anybody under the window. Sure enough, there was. A police officer had a nice shower from this bucket. Of course, he didn't like it! He stormed up and demanded to know what I was doing. I apologized and said I was cleaning for you girls. He asked why, and I said because you are treated terribly here and that I wanted to help. I introduced myself as a doctor. Then he got mad, really, really mad. He started throwing things and saying nasty words children like you should never hear. I was appalled and asked why women could not be doctors. He said it was men's work. I took that offensively. Men's work, shmen's work! Well, the man started to beat me, and so I rolled under here," she pointed to the bed, "and stayed there because I was too frightened to get out." She ended her story. The girls were silent. How dare a police officer hurt their beloved doctor! Sure, it was stupid to dump a bucket of dirty water onto someone's head. But this officer was definitely overreacting.

"You know, I think the reason he was mad is the bucket, not the fact that you're a doctor," said one girl.

"No, he didn't care about the bucket. He just didn't want to see a women being paid more than him," said Anna.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Nobody is hurt. Let's get this mess cleaned up," said Dasha, always the practical one.

"But it's so exciting to listen to stories," said Elena.

"Elena, we can play a game. Who can clean their area up the fastest?" challenged Dr. Mateo.

They were off, and Anna started to make her bed. She rescued some blankets from being trampled on, and shook them out over the window. Then she rescued pillow shreds, and stuffed them in a pillow case until Dr. Mateo interrupted her work.

"Wait! Time out! No fair for you guys to have to use these shreds as pillows. I will go buy some new ones for you. When I get back, have this place clean, please!" She left.

"Imagine that! New pillows. I fall asleep just thinking about it," said Tatiana.

They had cleaned the floors, windows, walls and lights when Dr. Mateo returned. She had a cart full of stuff.

"There are two more carts downstairs. Would you girls kindly help me bring them up?" she asked.

Two other carts! What was in them? One cart would hold everybody's things at a time. Now they needed three?

Dr. Mateo unloaded the first cart. Inside were fourteen pillows. Two for each of them! There were also little lamps (seven of them), and twenty-eight pairs of wool socks. The second cart contained seven sets of eight books in English and Russian. It also had seventy meters of different fabric.

"These are for dresses. I think it is enough for five each. I will make them," said Dr. Mateo.

Five dresses is a lot! thought Anna. The next item in the second cart was a backpack for each of them. Inside were pencils, pads of paper, and new textbooks. Each was in a different color. Anna chose purple, and so did Tatiana. Elena chose pink. Finally, the third cart was unpacked. It held the best thing of all. They were wooden chairs, one for each. Dr. Mateo had bought paint, and she said she would paint the chairs whatever colors the girls wanted. The girls one by one told Dr. Mateo the colors they wanted, and how much they appreciated the gifts. When Anna told her that she wanted to cry of joy, Dr. Mateo hugged her.

Tuesday they went to school again, using their new backpacks and supplies. When they walked up to their room, they saw Dr. Mateo switching two chairs and then turn around.

"Well, how do you like your new room?" she asked.

Before Dr. Mateo had come, the beds had always been lined up in army fashion, four on one side, four on the other. Anna slept next to Dasha and the extra bed, and the room was cramped with clutter. Now only one extra bed was there, and Tatiana and Anna's beds were pushed together to make one bed. Olga, Lubov, and Natalya's beds were also pushed together, as were Dasha's and Elena's. The chairs were done, and placed on either side of the beds. Two dresses hung on each girl's hook.

"I will finish the others soon," said Dr. Mateo.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Dr. Mateo. We love it," the girls said.

At that moment, Mean Old Mrs. Lubor stormed in. She looked around and yelled, "What is going on in here? Girls do not need all these things. Especially stupid, useless, orphan girls. Take it all away!! Now!!!!!!"

"Be reasonable, Mrs. Lubor, please...," said Dr. Mateo.

"I said get it out of my sight!! I will decide how to treat my orphans!! I want you to leave and never come back!!'" screamed Mrs. Lubor.

Dr. Mateo left and took everything except the pillows with her. As she left, she whispered to Anna, "Don't worry. I'll find some way to get you girls out of here." Anna knew that someday she in fact would get out of here. She only hoped it wouldn't be to the streets.

The girls continued their boring life at the orphanage, but every day they thought of all the stuff that Dr. Mateo had brought for them, and how nice it would be to still have it. Mrs. Lubor was as mean as ever. She would whip the girls if she heard anything to do with Dr. Mateo. Every night, Anna cried herself to sleep.

One day, a letter came for Anna. It was Anna's day to get the mail, so she saw it before Mrs. Lubor could take it away. It was from Dr. Mateo! It said:

Dear Anna,

I miss you girls so very much, and I want to see you again. My neighbor wants to adopt girls, and so do I. Neither of us can afford to have seven girls, so I suggested that she take four and I take three. I know Mrs. Lubor would not let me adopt any of you, so I am sending my husband, along with my neighbor, Rebecca Jones. We have already done the paperwork, and we will be coming in four days, on April 24th. I can't wait!

Love,
Lisa Mateo

Anna dropped the letter and jumped for joy. She ran to tell the other girls. They were all thrilled. For four days, none of them could sleep. April 24th came and finally, Mr. Mateo and Mrs. Jones arrived. Everybody's belongings were packed. Dasha cried because she had lived in the orphanage for thirteen years, since she was two. Elena laughed and laughed and laughed. They got in Mr. Mateo's car and drove to the airport. When they boarded the plane, there sat Dr. Mateo!! Elena was so excited she couldn't even talk straight. Anna sat down, and she knew that this would be the best thing that had ever happened to her.