(New Story - I don't own Hey Arnold or it's characters)

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The earliest memory I have of my time living in the Pataki household, was the day I arrived. It was raining and inside I could hear a piano playing. When the woman who had picked me up from the hospital rang the bell, the piano playing stopped. A blonde woman opened the door. I was shuffled inside and taken into the lounge. There was a older blonde girl sitting at the piano, smiling at him. A big, huge man, who looked like a giant, tall, wide and scary. I didn't see the fourth person in the room at first. She was hiding behind the couch. It was when I saw a blonde pigtail pull back behind it that I realized someone else was here.

The adults talked around us, some papers came out of her suitcase. I was standing there with my own little suitcase, looking around at the living room. The older girl came and took my hand and suitcase. The woman who had brought me here, gave me a small smile, then left. The girl - Olga - took me upstairs. There were some pictures on the wall, I can't remember them now. They have changed from all the way back then. Now the wall is adorned with pictures of the whole family, including me.

At the top she led me to the right and into a room. It had blue wallpaper, a single bed with a blue bedspread, a chest of drawers and a toy box with a football, and baseball mitt in it. I was eager to see what else was in there. From the corner of my eye, I again saw a blonde pigtail and turned just in time to see her face vanish out of sight. Olga, seeming to know what had gotten my attention, went to the door.

"Helga, com in, her wont bite," she said. A moment later a small girl, around my age, looked in. Her eyes were huge, and she looked like she was about to cry. I didn't know why then, but as the years passed, I would learn. I would also be a reason for the sad looks and silent tears and cries as we got older. But back then, I wanted to make her smile. So I smiled at her first.

She didn't smile back. Just made a face, turned around and left.

"Helga, don't be so rude!" Olga cried out. She came back and shook her head. "Don't you worry about Helga. She's . . . difficult sometimes. But I'm sure she will warm up to you soon."

She helped me pack my things away, then let me rummage through the toy box. It was a boys dream! Cars, planes, a baseball and football, a mitt. I beamed up at Olga.

"I hope you'll be happy here, Arnold," she said, planting a kiss on my forehead.

And that was how I came to be raised as a Pataki.

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