Ficlets

Deaf Girl

“Deaf? How am I supposed to teach a deaf girl?” The eighth grade teacher was livid. “She should be in special education!”

“No, Mrs. Hodges. Annie has an aide, a woman who will translate everything you say into sign language. It will be fine, I promise you.” The principal tried to be reassuring, but to no avail. Mrs. Hodges would not be swayed.

“It will be distracting to my students!”

“Mrs. Hodges, Annie is one of your students.”

“I won’t do it!”

“You’ll have to.” With that, the principal left the classroom, leaving no room for debate.

The class noisily filed in for homeroom. Noisily, all except for one girl. She walked in with her head down, and a young woman walked by her side.

The girl looked up, her fingers flying.

“This is Annie,” the aide said.

And the girl’s smile lit up the room.

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