LGBT+ Short Story Collection

Mrs. Allwood's class

"Okay, class," the teacher, Mrs. Allwood, said, clapping her hands, "It's time to finish up your writings, so that we can do our Mother's Day projects!" She looked around at her third grade class, smiling at how many faces lit up when she said that.

After about five minutes, she began to take up the creative writings, planning on reading the little short stories that her students had written. Then, once she had collected all of the stories, she stood at the front of the class.

"Today, we are going to start our Mother's Day projects," she said, once again smiling at the delight on her students' faces, "We're going to be making cards for your mothers. Each one can be as unique and as colorful as you want it. Supplies are in the back of the room." She gestured towards the small table near the back that housed colorful papers, glue sticks, glitter, and markers.

All the children dashed out of their seats, filing themselves into a neat line, just like Mrs. Allwood had taught them. Except for one little girl that sat in the front row. This was Cindy, one of the smartest kids in Mrs. Allwood's class. She had blonde hair that curled into perfect ringlets tied back with a grey ribbon that matched her eyes. She was wearing a lovely, green dress with grey kittens on it and matching green shoes, with frilly grey socks.

Rather than getting up for supplies, like the rest of the kids, she pulled a large book out of her desk and began reading. She looked quite uninterested in the project, so Mrs. Allwood walked up to her.

"Cindy," she said, "Aren't you going to go get supplies for the Mother's Day project?"

Cindy looked up from her book. "No, Mrs. A" she replied, a lisp to her loud voice.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't have a mommy," she said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Mrs. Allwood stooped down to her eye level, her voice becoming soft, "Is she gone, sweetie?"

Cindy made a confused face. "What? No." she said, "I just have two daddies." and went back to reading.

"Oh." was all Mrs. Allwood said, standing up. She just stood there, not saying anything, until she was able to shake herself out of her shock.

"Well," she said slowly, "I can't allow you to just sit there for the whole class," She looked around the classroom, making confused noises, before she noticed a small hand raising up in the back.

"Yes, William?" she said. This caused the whole class, who had been listening in, to turn towards the shy boy in the back. His hair was a dull brown and his eyes were a bright green. He wore a red and white striped shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of green sneakers. Unlike most of the class, he was very shy and most didn't know his name, since he never raised his hand.

"Sh-she ca-n help me with me with my pro-ject," he said, his words spacing themselves out in panic, "I nee-d to ma-ke two c-ards for my tw-o mommies."

Mrs. Allwood didn't know how to respond, so she was extremely relieved when Cindy's face lit up and she ran back towards William's desk, asking about what he wants the card to look like.

"Alright, she can do that," Mrs. Allwood said, turning back towards her desk to read the short stories.

A week later, Mrs. Allwood would watch the children playing in the playground and smile softly as Cindy and William would play different games, glad that William was able to come out of his shell. It warmed her heart just to watch them be happy.