The little girl didn’t respond. Instead, she just kept staring at me. There was recognition in her eyes that didn’t make sense considering I hadn’t seen her before.
“I didn’t meet you earlier. Are you in another class this year? You’re going to have so much fun in kindergarten.”
I still didn’t get a response from her. I began to wonder if perhaps she was on the autism spectrum and non-verbal. Then a panicked woman’s voice echoed through the empty hall. “Willow? Willow, where are you?”
Taking a guess that the little girl was the missing Willow, I quickly called, “She’s in here.”
Within seconds, an attractive older woman with salt and pepper hair came rushing in the room. “There you are! You had me worried to death!” she cried.
Willow only momentarily acknowledged her before turning back to me. She edged around the desk and came to stand beside me. Although I was used to students being overly affectionate, I still couldn’t help my mouth falling open when she casually climbed into my lap.
One of her hands came up to touch the strands of my hair. Gazing down at her, I smiled. To my surprise, she smiled back at me.
When I glanced at the woman, who appeared to be her grandmother, there were tears shimmering in her eyes. “I…I’m sorry. I just haven’t seen her react to anyone outside her family.”
“It’s okay. I’m sorry she gave you a scare. We were just getting to know each other.”
The woman nodded. “I had car trouble, so we were late for the Meet and Greet. I was across the hall talking to her teacher, and when I turned around, she was gone.”
I held out the hand that wasn’t stroking Willow’s head. “I’m Alexandra Evans.”
“Elizabeth Malloy. I’m Willow’s grandmother.”
“It’s nice to meet you.”
Holding out her hand, ElizaLiz said, “Come on, Willow. Mrs. Gregson is excited to meet you.”
Willow burrowed deeper in my lap, giving me the impression she was going to be with me for a while. For the first time, I noticed she was clutching something in her hand.
“What’s this?” I asked, pointing to what appeared to be a tiny doll.
Slowly, Willow opened her hand, and I saw that it was actually a small Christmas angel. “Oh, what a pretty doll.”
My compliment brought a smile to Willow’s face. “You… look like her.” She swallowed hard before whispering, “You look like Angel Mommy.”
“Why, thank you.” Peering down at the doll, I tried imagining the similarities. We both had long, dark hair, and we were both wearing a white dress. With a smile, I said, “You’re right. I do look like her.”
A strangled cry came from Elizabeth. When I glanced up, she was clutching her throat. “She hasn’t spoken in two months, not to me, not to her father. Not to anyone since her mother was...” She glanced at Willow and nervously shifted on her feet. “Since her mother passed away.”
I blinked my eyes in disbelief as a flood of painful memories flickered through my mind. Charlie’s face appeared before me. At twelve the shock of losing our parents, along with being trapped in the car for hours, had rendered him catatonic for six months. Even after we moved in with my aunt and uncle—the two most wonderful, loving people in the world—Charlie didn’t recover.
For months, he remained locked in a world of his own isolation. And then one day, he slowly started to come around. Considering him now, it was hard to imagine he’d ever gone without speaking. At twenty, he was at the University of Georgia and partying more than he should.
As I looked into Willow’s face, I couldn’t help thinking of Charlie. If he hadn’t been surrounded by loving, caring people, I don’t know what would have happened to him. Although it was strange and I didn’t understand it, Willow had bonded with me. Since she had already been through too much, I hated to break the bond.
I smiled at Willow. “You know, I have one spot left in my class. What would you think about going down to the front office and seeing if you could be transferred from Ms. Gregson’s class to mine?”
Willow’s dark eyes lit up with what looked like absolute pleasure. She glanced over her shoulder at Elizabeth with a pleading expression.
After wiping the tears from her eyes, Elizabeth asked, “It won’t be too much trouble to do that?”
“Nope, no problem at all. It should just take a few seconds to change it in the computer. Of course, it probably wouldn’t hurt if you explain Willow’s situation and how you would prefer the move.”
With a smile, ElizaLiz said, “I would be happy to.”
“Ready to go?” I asked Willow.
When she nodded, I gently took her by the waist and eased her off my lap and onto her feet. After reluctantly putting my heels back on, I then started leading Elizabeth and Willow out of my classroom.
