Time to Smile

By Myrrha Bee Murphy

10-year-old Jessica, who suffers from a physical disorder that prevents her from being able to smile, was given away to foster care at the young age of 4 years old. Due to her medical condition affecting her face, it proved too difficult for her biological mother to afford her care. Jessica Jones' time at the orphanage was filled with social cha

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fiction
• Release date: Dec 5, 2023
• ISBN: 9798869044792

Book preview

Contents

time to smile

chapter one

chapter two

chapter three

chapter four

chapter five

​chapter six

chapter seven

chapter eight

chapter nine

chapter ten

chapter eleven

chapter twelve

time to smile

myrrha bee murphy

© copyright 2023

ISBN 9798866628414

I’d like to give a special thanks to the following people for inspiring and helping me write my first novel at nine years old.

~ My teacher, Ms. Julie for inspiring me and recognizing the author in me

~ My friend Korra for first showing me how to create a book

~ My mom & dad for supporting me through the amazing journey I went through to write my first book.

I have exclusively written this book by myself with a little assistance during my editing process by my parents.

I hope you enjoy my first novel. Stay tuned for my next one!

chapter one

Another day for Jessica Jones as she frowned while Sophia, Ava, and Chloe laughed at her because of her crooked smile. When I say crooked, I mean not crooked but pretty ugly. Look, when she smiled her lips basically turned a dark grayish purple color. Her smile usually led to a straight mouth, like a little crossline going against the bottom of her face.

Stop! Jessica suddenly yelled. Jessica’s friend Lynsie looked at her with staring eyes and contracted pupils that appeared as small and tiny dots. Chloe was the first one to speak up,

Listen, little bug, you were never meant to be on this earth after all. No one likes you, no one cares, and no one sees you anyway.

Jessica, wet tears in her eyes, said, You know what?! None of us really have a place in this world! As you can see, we’re all in this orphanage together, so you should stop acting up like you’re better than I am, and just leave me alone! Get real! You’re never gonna get adopted either!

The three bullies walked away feeling defeated.

Lynsie hugged her best friend and said, Jessica, they’ll always be them. You don’t have to change for them, be yourself! After a few minutes, the doorbell rang and the door began to open. The bell rang like the sound of keys scraping against each other.

Hello, I’m Ember, and this is my husband, James. We’re looking for a child to adopt.

OMG!!! Did you hear that?! They’re adopting a child! It could be me, or you, or both of us! Lynsie exclaimed.

Yeah, I know, so cool, right? Jessica said sarcastically. "Although I know no

one will adopt me because of my stupid mouth," Jessica mumbled quietly to herself.

What’d you say? Lynsie asked.

Nothing... Jessica said.

Ember examined the bullies. James examined Christopher and Chris. Still no good. When Ember looked into Jessica’s eyes, she felt like she was looking upon an angel.

Little angel, do you want to be adopted? Ember asked. Jessica put on her crooked smile; she couldn’t help it! Ember frowned slightly.

Oh, uh, are you ok, child? Ember asked.

It’s my smile, Jessica frowned, I was born with this stupid curse.

Oh- oh, it’s not stupid or ugly at all! Ember exclaimed. You were born with it! Appreciate it!

Wait, was this a dream? Cause’ it certainly felt like a dream. Oh my gosh, there are so many positive things I could say about this! No, no. I have to stay cool. After Jessica thought for a bit, she spoke.

Oh, thanks... No one’s ever said that about me before. Jessica started to sob. "I just thought no one would like me because of my disability. It was one of the reasons my mom gave me up, and it’s something I’ve been