The children were let out for their daily free time after their classes. Some went to their quarters to read, others went outside to play football and tag. The child just sat at his desk in the exact same position he was put in at the beginning of class. He had the little yellow car with him. He was rolling it across his desk in front of him.
The Matron came over to him, and saw the car going back and forth. She made another mental note of this and gently helped him out of his seat. Ever since the doctor visited the child that one day, he has allowed the matron and the Doctor to touch him. If anyone else were to lay a finger on him, he would freak out, and go into insane shrieking along with hyperventilation.
She ushered him outside, and let him sit in a sunny spot on the grass. The matron then went back inside to her office to do some paperwork. She sat down, and stared at her dark brown desk. Watching an ant crawl across a pencil, she thought about what she witnessed.
He had the car that the doctor gave him….it’s been by the side of his bed for weeks. She remembered helping with the daily cleanup of the chambers. When she would go to the child's area, that little car was there in the same place. She never touched it, for fear of possibly setting him off. So she would always walk away, wondering if the child even knew it was there. Now all of a sudden, I've noticed that he's had it with him twenty-four seven. What changed?..…she pondered this, but couldn’t think of an explanation.
~~~~~
The child sat there staring off into space. He continued to roll the car back and forth on the ground next to him, making little wheel tracks in the tall green grass. A few yards away there was a group of boys playing an intense game of football. The black and white ball transferred from foot to foot, and eventually a good kick landed it in the goal, which called the game.
The groans of the losers were drowned out by the winners’ cheerful scream. On that note the child’s eyes turned wide and bloodshot, and he fell into a panic attack that resembled a seizure. His screams could be hear all over the grounds, and his tears landed on the grass around him, causing them to look coated with a fresh dew.
The boys all glanced over at this, and one eventually went to fetch the matron. This had become a normal thing for them to experience. It happened multiple times every day.
“He is such a freak! Why don’t they take him to a mental institute?” one boy asked another, with no attempt to hush his voice.
“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because no one knows who he is!” The other replied, with a sneer.
Before anything else could be said, the Matron arrived and observed the situation. She sighed, for she figured that something like this would happen. She hoped that with the little improvements that he has had he’d start to calm down, but she hoped wrong. It was the same thing that happened, every time he was set off.
She told a handful of boys to come over and carry him to his quarter. She followed the boys carrying the violently fussing child down the halls, but when they passed her office, she slipped into it to call the Doctor. Once she told him what was going on, and he said he was on his way, she went to the child, and just simply stood there and watched him.
I wonder what he experienced…it must have been awful…if someone were to try to fight off a thought so hard that they have to thrash and scream, it must have been severe. I feel so bad for him….all these random thoughts were running through her head as he screamed, shrieked, and sobbed. While such a horrible acting child would frighten others, she didn’t even flinch. When someone whispered to her that the doctor had arrived, she didn’t even blink as she walked away from the child, and turned towards her office to meet him.
In her office, you could still hear the faint screaming of the child. He doctor shook his head slowly with disappointment and asked, “Well…have you noticed any improvements in him?”
The matron nodded her head. “Well, he has allowed us to touch him, but he’s also been continuously playing with that little yellow car.” The doctor smiled at this.
Forgetting to mention the flower, she added, "Oh, and, in one of his classes today, he drew a picture of a Lotus flower." His smiled faded at the mention of the flower.
The doctor seemed unsettled, and he tugged awkwardly at his collar. His brow had broken out with sweat. He slumped further into the plush seat across from the matron. “Hmm. That is really interesting….but we’ll talk more on that later. I have a bit of news for you. We entered a sample of the suspected realatives and the child, and we'll be getting DNA sample results back anytime."
“Really? Well come right over when you get the results. I would like to know who this child is, since he appears to probably never tell us himself." The matron said quickly, slouching and swiveling in her black chair nervously.
“Don’t lose faith matron. I’m sure when he’s ready he will tell us all we need to know about him.” He replied reassuringly.
“You sure about that?”
With a smile he said, “Positive.”
~~~~~
The screams ceased after a long while, and the doctor went again into the child’s quarter. He was sitting in the same position he was in the last many times the doctor has visited. Only this time he rolled the car back and forth next to him. This delighted the doctor; it brought a smile to his face. He came around to the front of the child and looked him in the eye.
He smiled, and started talking. “Hey. How are you doing?” the child continued to stare blankly. The only movement he had was rolling the car back and forth, and a geltle breathing. “Is there anything that you need to talk about?”
The doctor just kept smiling, but he was getting upset. He had been coming once a week for weeks and had been asking the same things every time. He has yet to see any difference in the child, except for the rolling of the car. No smile, not a hint of listening, not even a twinkle of recognition in the child’s eye. Nothing. The doctor was feeling desperate. He wanted to help this child with all of his heart, but for the past month, he has gotten nowhere! If only he could have the child understand that he wanted to help him. If only the child could tell how much the doctor cared for him.
It hurt the Doctor to see people in pain, but this child was ripping him apart. He’s too young to be experiencing so much pain. Way too young. The doctor thought. That exact thought brought tears to the doctor’s eyes.
Trying to keep his voice under control as he fought back the glob in his throat, he said, “Well remember. I’m always here for you. Always. And I want to help you, so so bad.” Then he left the room, stifling tears.
~~~~~
He lethargically walked away from the orphanage, not truly knowing where he was going. He just stared down at his dirty worn shoes.
Left, right, left, right.
why am I not improving this poor child?
Left, right, left, right.
I’m trying with all my might to make him feel better. But…he’s just not improving at all!
A couple tears made their way down the sides of the doctor's flushed face.
Then, his feet stopped. He looked slowly around to observe where his marching feet took him to. He found himself almost in the dark water of a small muddy pond, surrounded by large trees. The doctor stared at certain spot on the water. He sank to his knees, and gingerly touched the flower; a pink lotus flower.
