November 12th, 1966
One of the girls who sits beside me in morning Mass, Mabel, stopped showing up. She’s a nice girl. She always gets her chores done on time, and she’s never late or rude. She seems like a good girl, though we never really talk much.
At first, I thought she might have gotten sick. It wasn’t that uncommon, lots of girls missed class or morning Mass because they had gotten something, and didn’t feel too well.
But after a few days, I began to have my doubts. Most of the other girls who got sick would come back after three to four days, their beds were needed for someone else. They wouldn’t go to class, but we would still see them lying in their usual bed when we all filled in for the night. Mabel has been gone for about a week now, far longer than anyone else spent in the infirmary. I’m worried about her, and curious about what had happened. She looked fine the last time I saw her, not coughing or shaking in her seat. She just didn’t act like most of the kids who would be in the infirmary.
Maybe I’ll start asking around, someone has to know what happened to her. I just want to make sure she’s okay.
Elaine White
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Elaine White | ✔️
Historical FictionResidential schools: Government-sponsored religious schools established to assimilate Indigenous children into the Euro-Canadian culture. Assimilate: cause (something) to resemble; liken. Elaine White was one of the thousands of Aboriginal children...
