“Miracle”

Sketchbookgurl Inc. presents:

“Miracle”

Wish One: That Things Would Get Better

The principal sat across from the girl and her adopted mother. The girl was to transfer to another high school from Diamond Hill Jarvis. He looked over her files, and looked through her records on his computer. The girl is named Leafe because of her bright green eyes. Leafe had her hoodie on to hide the bruised part of her face. She had her hand on one side of her lips to cover up the swollen part of her mouth. Leafe’s adopted mother, Mary, placed her hand on Leafe’s knee and gently rubbed it. The principal turned to face them and had his hands clasped together as he said, “So tell me the reason of why you’re transferring again.” With her other hand, Leafe took out a piece of duct tape and placed it on his desk. He took it and observed it. “Mute”, he read.

Two days ago started like any other ordinary day to Leafe. She woke up, did her daily morning routine, and went to school. Went to all her classes, ate some lunch, ran a few tracks for P.E., and did some experiment with a penny and acid. But when she went to use the bathroom during the five minute passing period, she stayed there for about seven minutes. After washing and drying her hands she left. She spotted a group of girls heading her way and recognized one of them as Stephanie Johnson. A sophomore girl who is always harming Leafe, physically and emotionally. Stephanie’s hawk eyes locked onto Leafe and her mouth curled into a nasty smile. Like a predator when it catches sight of its prey. “Hey, Girl!”, she called. Leafe immediately turned and ran away. She could hear their stampede like footsteps, chasing her. Leafe tried to run through the doors, but found it locked! Panicked by this discovery, she desperately ran up the stairs. All Leafe could do was run and hide. She couldn’t scream for help or anything.

Leafe looked back and didn’t see Stephanie or her flock. She stopped running, panted for a little bit, and then sighed in relief. But as she turned around, she came face to face with Stephanie Johnson! “Hey girl, wassup?”, she asked in a sneer voice as Leafe slowly backed away. Stephanie noticed something green glimmering around Leafe’s neck. “Nice necklace. Can I have it?”, she said as Leafe quickly held onto the charm that was shaped into a bright emerald colored leaf. Her mother gave her this necklace when she brought her home from the agency. Leafe shook her head and backed away a few more steps. Stephanie walked a few more steps forward with greed in her small eyes as she said, “But I want it.” Stephanie’s friends all surrounded Leafe, posing their little “gangsta” poses. Leafe tried to break through them as she tried to make a run for it. But one of the girls grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back in.

She suffered from numerous slaps, punches, kicks, and hair pulling. All her screams were locked inside her head. Stephanie tried to pull off Leafe’s necklace, but Leafe gripped tightly onto it. Stephanie slapped her and pulled her hair, while her groupies threw in punches all over her stomach and face. Leafe’s body grew tired from the pain and so she immediately collapsed. She heard duct tape being pulled out and watched as Stephanie placed it over her mouth. They were trying to get a hold of her hands, but Leafe wouldn’t let go of her necklace. Eventually, the chain broke and they taped her wrists together, behind her back. Then they pulled her on her feet and pushed her inside the boy’s bathroom. Leafe tripped and fell on her side as Stephanie and her gang left, laughing.

Leafe laid there for a few minutes, crying away her pain. Unfortunately, her tears weren’t a phoenix’s tear. It stings her bruises a bit. She sat up, placed her arms on the sink, and used the sink for support as she tried to bring herself up. She had managed to stand up straight. When she turned to see what damage has been done to her face she saw what they had written on the duct tape. It said: MUTE.

Leafe awkwardly walked out of the boys’ bathroom, carefully climbed down the stairs, and headed towards Ms. Munoz’s office. She leaned her back against the door and kicked it by lifting up her right leg. She kicked the door several times and fell back as a short-haired woman opened the door. “Oh my-Leafe?!”, she gasped. Leafe sat up straight again as Ms. Munoz rushed over and pulled the duct tape off her mouth. Leafe made a face to show it burned. “What happened? Who did this? Tell me!”, she exclaimed with a worried expression. Leafe moved her arms to show that her wrists were taped together. “Oh my goodness, Leafe!”, she cried out as she immediately ripped out the layers of duct tape. Her wrists had red markings all around like a couple of bracelets, half of her face was bruised up, and her hair was all over the place. Ms. Munoz grabbed a sheet of paper and pencil from her desk. “Write to me what had happened. I’m going to get the nurse and the principal”, she told her as she handed her the items. Leafe nodded her head as the short-haired woman scrambled her way out to the door. She took a seat in Ms. Munoz’s chair and wrote with details what had happened.

Ms. Munoz came back with sophomore principal, Mr. Thomas and the nurse, who had a small bag of ice in her hand. Leafe slid the paper over to them as the nurse came around and gave her the cold, dripping baggie. “Stephanie Johnson!” “Who?”, asked Mr. Thomas. “That girl who just came back from Juvie! She’s always disrupting classes, skipping, and –ooh– she is just trouble.” “What did she do, Ms. Munoz?”, the nurse asked as Leafe placed the bag of ice on her right eye. Ms. Munoz read out loud from Leafe’s paper. When she finished Mr. Thomas cried out, “That’s just sick!” “Well, can’t they arrest that girl, Ms. Munoz?”, the nurse feverently asked. “I’ll see to it that they will, Ms. Reed”, Ms. Munoz said in a stern voice, “But what about Leafe’s mother? I’m sure she would want to know.” “Of course. We can’t just ignore this like it never happened”, Mr. Thomas replied.

As the voices of the adults droned on, Leafe took the piece of duct tape that Ms. Munoz had ripped from her mouth, and secretly sneaked it inside her pocket. They had called the adopted mother, who came immediately straight home from work to the school. They had shown her the paper that Leafe wrote, and her mother read it very slowly with expressionless eyes. They threw suggestions at her, but in the end Mary decided to transfer Leafe to a different school.

That is how they ended up sitting across from the head principal two days later.

“So you see, Mr. Hudson, I want Leafe to be able to get a fresh new start. I want to go to work and know that my daughter is and will be safe and content”, Mary said as she lifted her hand off of Leafe’s knee. Mr. Hudson nodded as he said, “Understood.” He turned to face his computer and typed rapidly once more.

They left the school in silence, Leafe’s mother and her. As they were driving home Leafe faced the window and watched as houses were passing by them like a train. “Are you hungry, Leafe?”, Mary asked as she stopped the car near a stop sign, “Do you want burgers or something?” Leafe felt her stomach rumbling, but she slowly shook her head. Mary looked over at both sides of the intersection before turning the car over to the left. “Well, I’m going to buy you something to eat. I have to make up the hours I missed today. So, I’m going to come home late. But while I’m at work, I’m going to look for a school you can go to. Okay?”, she said. Leafe nodded as the gray clouds rumbled a bit.

They drove up to a nearby Jack-In-A-Box where they ordered four large Jumbo Jacks combo, and two large sodas of sprite. Leafe’s mother dropped her off at their home, but was having second thoughts about leaving Leafe’s side.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay with you? I-I could just call my boss and tell her that you weren’t feeling well…We could watch a movie or something…” Leafe knew her mother couldn’t afford to miss work. Not that they really needed the money, but that her boss (whom Leafe called “Mussolini”) was a really impatient woman. Leafe stared hard into her mother’s crystal blue eyes with her emerald ones. “You sure?”, her mother asked. Leafe nodded. “Okay”, she said as she gave Leafe one last hug, “There’s ice cream if you want desert.” Leafe gave her mother a quick kiss on the cheek and exited out of her car, with her dinner in a brown paper bag. She walked up the doorstep and waved as her mother drove away from the driveway. Then she unlocked the door and entered inside.

Leafe ate her mouth-watering burgers and fries while watching Spongebob Squarepants. It was the new episode of when Squidward gets a face improvement by accident. Leafe smiled when even the guy fishes were chasing him down to the Krusty Krabs.

She spends the rest of the night eating strawberry ice cream and watching random TV. programs. When there was nothing else good to watch, she slipped out her favorite, childhood movie The Little Mermaid.

Ever since she was little, Leafe felt a connection between herself and Ariel. Both wishing they had their voices to speak out their feelings. Except that Ariel was able to get her voice back and keep the person who loved her even as a mute. Leafe knew that in her whole life she will never receive a voice through some magical spell or that she’ll meet someone, who’ll love her for who she is.

Leafe fell asleep on the sofa that night.