Silent Genius

Prologue

My little sister is very young. She’s only four. She has curly, blonde hair styled in a bob with shy, blue eyes hidden behind her fringe. Her lips are as pink as tulips, her teeth as white as pearls. She’s as cute as a button, as everyone says.

She likes to read and write. She picks up a Jodi Picoult book and reads it as if it’s Dr Seuss. She draws too; she spends hours perfecting a picture, getting every little detail right. Her bedroom walls are covered in her masterpieces. She plays the piano as well as any professional pianist. She’s learning the violin. She writes her own music.

When it comes to sport, she’s as graceful as a dancer, as fast as a cheater. Every step she takes is precise, filled with purpose and meaning.

She’s perfect at everything she does; it’s hard to believe she’s only four.

But, even though she excels at everything, our parents still worry. Her name is Claire, but we’ve never heard her say her name before. We’ve never heard her say anything. Even as a baby, she never cried once. Our parents have taken her to doctors and psychologists. Through all the sessions, Claire just sits quietly on her chair. She nods and shakes her head when asked a yes-or-no question and does her best to answer others through her emotions, but she never says a word.

All the doctors say she is perfectly capable of speaking, there’s nothing physically wrong with her, she just chooses not to. None of the psychologists can explain why she doesn’t talk. Often, they ask me questions too. They ask how Claire communicates at home? How we can tell if she’s in trouble? Other questions too. The first question is hard to answer; we just know what she wants. We know how she acts when she wants something. The second is easy though; Claire just doesn’t get into trouble.

You’re probably wondering if she does schooling, even for a four year old. Well, she does. She attends a special school, one for gifted children. Whenever we drop her off, we take her to a private room with her teachers and counsellor. I know there are other children there. I’ve never seen them let alone met them.

But I’ll talk more about Claire later.

How about a bit about me?

My name is Tanna. I’m sixteen, one quarter through grade eleven. I have straight, blonde hair that falls in waves down my back all the way to my waist. I have blue eyes, pink lips and white teeth. I’m quite shy and quiet, but I still have many friends. Everyone says I’m an older version of Claire. I like to thinks she’s a younger version of me.

I’m bright, top of most of my classes, but Claire still outsmarts me at everything.

I attend the local public school. I take dance classes, at the same dance school as Claire. We are both in the best classes we can be for our ages.

We also have an older brother, Tom. He’s quiet too. He has the family’s trademark blonde hair and blue eyes. He doesn’t dance though. He plays hockey. It’s strange, for a small, quiet guy to be playing hockey. But he’s really good at it. His team has never lost a game, thanks to him.

Our parents are normal parents, working hard to pay the bills. Doing what they can to take care of us, their children.

Our families not special. Just Claire. So this is her story. The story of the silent genius.