Synopsis: Lina, a 25-year old woman is visiting her mothers grave, and as she leans
over a tree, she begins telling us about her life as an orphan. A journey which started when Lina was 12, the day her mother
died, which happens to be the last day of spring.
She recalls being in the Van transporting her, and her new 8-year old African-American friend, Heather,
and the friendship that started developing between them. At St. Vincent Girls Orphanage, Linas troubles start as she and Heather
meet the Principle, Mary Ann, a very mean woman who immediately disliked Lina. Lina would recall that by saying: Mary Ann
thought I was strong and wanted to make an example to the rest of the girls out of me, she didnt know I was frail as a feather.
Another person Lina talks about is Carla, the 20-year old nun, the woman who took it upon herself to help
the 2 new girls and protect them as much as she can.
Lina and Heather are assigned with cleaning the dormitory as a punishment by Mary Ann for being slow in
learning the rules, and are being constantly harassed by Curly and her gang. Curly is the oldest girl in the Orphanage. Carla
told Lina from the beginning to avoid her because she was Mary Anns snitch.
Its December, Christmas time. The 2 girls have been in the orphanage for nearly 6 months and things are
not going so well, but one day Carla comes to them with some exciting news. She tells them tomorrow is Mr. Andrews Day, Mr.
Andrews she says is a very rich man who comes to celebrate Christmas with the girls every year and brings them toys and gifts.
For Lina and Heather this was something big, Lina says: Even though we never met him yet, Mr. Andrews became our hero, our
knight in shining armor, the man with the hope, the hope and the dream of a life we lost.
On the day of Mr. Andrews arrival, Mary Ann tries to stop the girls from meeting him by giving them extra
cleaning duties, an action which nearly devastated the girls and caused a very strong reaction from Carla who accused Mary
Ann of being cruel to those young orphans. But Mr. Andrews took notice of the 2 girls when he saw them through the dormitorys
window; he goes up to them with a big box of toys.
Mr. Andrews left a lasting impression with the 2 girls and the minute he left, they both started counting
the days till next Christmas.
The next important event in Linas life as an orphan was the day Edna and Bob showed up at the orphanage,
looking for a girl to adopt, and picked Lina.
Bob and Edna are a very rich couple living in Hollywood Hills. Lina thought her prayers and dreams of living
in a big house and having money became finally true, especially the day Edna took her shopping, that day, other girls looked
at Lina and laughed at the way shes dressed, which made her cry, that prompted a very strong reaction from Edna as she bought
Lina the prettiest and most expensive clothes. But Ednas kind heart and intentions are completely different from Bobs, who
took the chance when Edna was out of town and made advances on Lina.
One night he broke into her room and tried to attack her, but Lina was aware of his intentions, Fernando,
the Gardner, had warned her of Bob. So Lina planted her room floor with thumbtacks, and the minute Bob walked in, he stepped
on them and went down, smashing his head in the process. Lina runs out of the room, but Bob recovers and gives chase, only
to be attacked by Fernando, who came to Linas defense. Lina runs out of the house, thinking Bob is chasing her, she keeps
running and running until she loses conscience, next morning she wakes up and finds herself sleeping in a bed. Rosa and her
husband Hector found her unconscious on their door step, they took her in and took care of her, but what was shocking the
most is that Hector and his wifes house is no other than Linas old house, which was rented to them when Lina was taken away.
Lina says it was god who brought her there.
Lina thought her troubles were over and wanted Hector to take her back to the orphanage, but Hector delivers
to her the shocking news, he shows her the newspaper, in it, Lina reads that Bob had claimed he was attacked and robbed by
her and Fernando, and now both of them are considered fugitives.
Lina reunites with Fernando and decides the only way for them to clear their names is to go face to face
with Edna, so they go to her house, but Edna doesnt believe them, especially when Bob showed up with the police. Lina bleeds
with Edna to believe her as her and Fernando are being handcuffed by the cops, Lina finally asks for one more thing from Edna,
she asks that Bob takes off his shoes to show her the wounds he suffered from the thumb-tacks. Bob refuses, and thats when
he breaks down under pressure from his wife and tells the truth.
Lina and Fernando are now free. Lina chooses to go back to the orphanage, she cant live the rich life anymore
and decides to change her dreams, she doesnt want the money and the big house, she only wants to be with her friends, but
keeps a very close relationship with Edna.
Its Christmas time again, things have changed a lot in the orphanage, Mary Ann is now on Linas side, she
was proud of her that she chose to come back and live in the orphanage, but Mary Ann has some bad news for the girls, Mr.
Andrews didnt call her yet to inform her of his arrival, and when she called his house, Mr. Andrews wife, Serena, asked Mary
Ann to never bother him again. Lina and Heather are devastated; Heather actually fell ill when she heard the news. Lina decides
to go to his house with Edna to check on him, but she is met by his wife and gets kicked out. On the way out of the house
Lina is met by Mr. Anderson, Mr. Andrews loyal driver, who takes them on a drive to where Mr. Andrews is, on the way he tells
them that Mr. Andrews and his wife Serena were always arguing, she didnt like his generosity and charitable work and thought
it was a waste of money, and finally took it one step farther by accusing him of being mentally incapable of handling his
own money and wanted to take over everything, and in order for her to do that, she enlisted the help of his own children to
prove he was crazy, this, according to Anderson, broke Mr. Andersons will to defend himself, so a full mental evaluation of
him was ordered by the judge, and that exactly where Anderson was taking Lina and Edna, to the mental hospital, there, an
emotional reunion between Lina and Mr. Andrews takes place, Mr. Andrews looked a 100 years older, his hair is all white and
he will not speak to anyone. Lina cries as she holds his hand and tells him how much she and the girls love him and need him.
Mr. Andrews finally looks at her and holds her tight as he orders Anderson to contact the attorney, Mr. Andrews is back to
his own self with the help of the little orphan who he once helped and gave hope to.
A dramatic arrival by Mr. Andrews, Edna and Lina and a big U-haul truck full of toys will spark joy and
happiness at the orphanage and will revive Heather.
Lina, now in present time gets back home to her birthday party, she had been adopted, her and Heather, by
Mr. Andrews and Edna, who are now a couple and will reunite with all her friends from the orphanage, including Mary Ann, Carla
and even Curly. To Lina, this was the sweet little dream that actually came true.
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