Mute

by Aura Redwood

  The diagnosis was a fever, nothing life threatening so far. Anna was taken to stay at the sick bay so that the nurse could take care of her. Her friends were so worried for her that they didn’t want to leave the sick bay, but they were sent to bed as they had school the next day. Anna tried to reassure them as much as she could without being able to speak but her friends were still worried and promised to visit in the morning.

  Eventually the nurse shooed out her three friends and gave Anna a new pair of pajamas to change into, as the old ones were cold and damp with sweat. When she was dressed in new, warm pajamas the nurse made her drink a cup of water then go to bed in a sick bay bed.

  Anna lay in the dark alone, on the clean white sheets. She slowly closed her eyes to the plain walls and she fell into an exhausted sleep where no nightmares could enter.

  Chapter 12

  Pain shot through her head as she sat up. Her friends had just entered her room with worried faces.

  “Are you alright?” Aerial asked as she came up to the bedside. “We were so worried about you.”

  “Some other people also asked where you were,” Marsha added in. “They’re really worried about you too.”

  “Even the teachers are worried about you, but of course,” Licenta said rolling her eyes, “that didn’t stop them giving you homework.” She got some pieces of paper out of the sling bag she had been carrying.

  Anna laughed which caused hacking coughs, then got her notepad and began to write.

  I am feeling better

  But the nurse says that I am going to be staying here for a while

  I have a bad cough and a fever

  But I think I will survive ☺

  “No flu is gonna keep our Anna down,” Licenta said jokingly. “You teach that cold, give it a ‘Hu-ahh’ and a ‘Ahaa’!” she said, while imitating karate moves.

  The room burst out with laughter at Licenta’s amazingly stupid karate moves. Anna felt better when she was with her friends; the flu had less of a grasp on her when she was laughing it away.

  “It’s good to know you are feeling better,” Marsha said, as she wiped a happy tear away.

  “Yeah, I will have to tell Tom that you’re better,” said Ariel. “He’s all worried because he thinks it’s his fault that you have this flu, after him asking that question and all.”

  That question…

  Anna picked up her notebook

  Tell him it’s not his fault

  Probably just a bug

  It’s nice to know that someone who I just met cares

  He is really nice; I think you two will get along well

  Aerial blushed when she read the notebook. “I’ll make sure to tell him,” she said with a smile. The smile was reflected back in Anna’s face.

  “How could it be his fault anyway?” Marsha asked, as she in turn read the notebook. “Like, you don’t suddenly get sick because of an inappropriate question.”

  “Well maybe it could,” Licenta pondered, “Like, you get worried, your immune system goes down and so on…but I didn’t think that could happen so quickly”

  “Yeah and if that happened, Tom would have never meant it,” Aerial said. “He called me two times today apologizing and asking how you are.”

  “Yeah, I wonder how big the phone bill is gonna be,” said Licenta, jokingly.

  “You know if you get better by next weekend there is a good movie coming out,” Marsha said, quickly changing the subject. “It’s called ‘Magical Dates’. Even Licenta will like this chick flick.”

  “How so?” Licenta asked

  “You can guess by the name,” said Marsha. “It’s about a magical world with wizards and witches and so on, and it’s got a love story so I’ll like it too.”

  “I guess I can try it,” Licenta said, still unsure. “So make sure you are better by next weekend or we’ll have to eat lots of popcorn by ourselves”

  Anna laughed, and wrote:

  If there is any left with you anyway

  They all laughed and talked about the movie, school and anything else they could think of until the nurse had to send them away for dinner, but it was a blissful time just to be with her friends. Much better than being in her cold room alone where the memories crept back.

  Chapter 13

  The taste of the bitter medicine was luckily wasted on Anna and she swallowed it with no issues. The nurse smiled happily. “Your temperature is coming down, so you should be able to leave the sick bay in a day or so.”

  Anna smiled at the thought. It was incredible how much she missed school and just being able to hang around with her friends. She would have just liked to hear their laughter. It was comforting, instead of the pure silence or the bustling of the nurse. Sadly, Anna had finished her book an hour ago and so she was getting easily bored.

  A shrill bell echoed through the room, someone was reporting to the sick bay. Maybe another person would lie in the empty bed next to her for a while, before inevitably leaving again.

  “I will be back in a while, I have to go and help some other girls,” said the nurse, before leaving in her white crisp uniform.

  “Um, Miss Nurse,” a high pitched, pitiful whine came through the door. “I feel really sick in the stomach.”

  “That must be the oldest trick in the book.” said Licenta as she came through the door. “I bet she’s just trying to get out of a test tomorrow.”

  “Well, she may be really sick,” Aerial said as she entered.

  “But it’s more likely she’s just faking it,” Marsha said.

  “Hey Anna!” called Arwen, coming through the door with pieces of paper in her arms. “You any better?”

  Anna was better, but she was more shocked, as her loud friends broke the silence she was used to, and she was much happier for it. Anna nodded.

  “We brought you some pictures,” Licenta said, as she picked some out of her bag. “Ok, mine are terrible, but everyone else’s are much better.”

  “We can decorate the room for you,” suggested Aerial.

  “White isn’t that nice of a colour after all,” Marsha added.

  “There is also a get well card we all signed,” Arwen said happily, putting a card on the light wood desk next to Anna.

  The card was light blue with big red words in curly handwriting:

  Get well

  Anna opened the card and looked at all the well wishes in the cards, including one from a roommate saying ‘I hope it’s not catching’.

 

  “You like my raccoon?” Licenta asked, as she shoved her picture of a masked raccoon in between Anna and the card. Anna looked down at the drawing. Sure, it wasn’t the best art she had ever seen, and it wasn’t even that much of an average picture, but she still smiled because Licenta had actually given thought to drawing something especially for her.

  “Yay, you like it!” Licenta said, as she pulled the picture away to grab some blue-tack to start sticking it to the wall.

  “I drew you some butterflies, as you said they’re your favorite creatures,” said Aerial. The butterflies she drew were a beautiful blue and seemed so magical. Anna watched as Aerial stuck the butterflies up, captivated by the beauty of the creature and colour.

  The butterfly was indeed her favorite animal, as she had sat down in the darkness sometimes a butterfly would fly in. This was a creature which could come and go as much as it wanted and was always happy as it fluttered its jeweled wings. It would inspect the little girl with untidy hair before fluttering off again to the outside world.

  Shaking her head Anna came back to the present and watched as her friends happily decorated her room with pictures and even a huge paper chain, which would have most likely been Licenta’s idea. There were beautiful pictures of them together, forests and outfits done by Arwen while Marsha had drawn hearts and cut out pictures of boys from her magazines. There were also the beautiful butterflies and girls with magical powers drawn by Aerial and then came animals in all shapes and sizes by L
icenta.

  Finishing off their work proudly, the four girls crowded around Anna’s bed again smiling gleefully at the now colourful wall.

  “I hope you like it,” Arwen said, as she laughed at the pictures pasted everywhere

  Anna nodded vigorously in response as she smiled.

  “Oh I nearly forgot,” Aerial said, as she got a book out from her backpack. “Tom gave me this to give to you by way of an apology.”

  Anna was confused as to why Tom should apologize. She took the book into her hands and studied the beautiful cover. A chestnut horse stood proudly on a velvet green background. She got her notebook out and wrote,

  I love it!

  Say thank you to Tom

  She handed the notebook over to Aerial to read as she flicked the pages of the book. She was happy now, as she wouldn’t be bored now that she had a book to read, and she wouldn’t be lonely as the walls would constantly remind her that her friends cared.

  “I’ll tell him for you,” Aerial said. “He’d love to hear it. He got the book from his fathers shop for you especially. He tried to get the best book he could find for you.”

  Anna felt a bit guilty till Marsha broke in. “So how are you and Tom going? Nudge ,nudge ,wink, wink.”

  “MARSHA!” Aerial yelled, accusingly.

  “What? I just want to know,” Marsha said with an innocent face.

  “We know you do,” Licenta responded, laughing.

  “Tell us anyway, I’ve been curious,” said Arwen. “It’s not only Marsha who wonders what you are talking about for hours on end.”

  “And making such a huge phone bill,” Licenta joked.

  “Okay, okay!” laughed Aerial. “Well there’s a book I’ve been really wanting to read so I’m heading to his bookshop tomorrow to get it.”

  “Well, won’t that will be cozy,” Marsha slipped in slyly.

  “MARSHA!” everyone yelled, and burst out laughing.

  Chapter 14

  Outside of the room it was dark, the sun had gone down hours before, but the room’s light was still bright. Aerial moved slightly and kept on reading the beaten old book.

  The door creaked open and Licenta came in with a satisfied smile, as she had just come from dinner. “What are you reading?” she asked, as she lazed on the bed.

  “It’s just a book from the library, it’s about sign language,” Aerial replied, as she flipped another page and read on.

  “Cool. Why are you reading it?” Licenta asked curiously.

  Aerial looked at Licenta and put the book down “Well….I thought about how maybe we can help Anna. You know how she can’t speak,” she added awkwardly. “Anyway I remembered that people can speak through sign language so I looked through the library and I found this old book.” Aerial smiled, holding the old tattered book up

  Silence hung in the room as both thought about how bad it must be for Anna, then Licenta spoke. “That’s a good idea. Pass the book to me when you’re finished.”

  Chapter 15

  The dark door swung open, creaking painfully before slamming into the wall. “There’s space for one more,” a cold voice said.

  “Get the lady. Leave the man, he’s in for a ‘special treat,” said the second man with a cold, dark drawl.

  A shadowed figure came into the small, dirty room. Anna remembered the smell, he smelled of old cigars and blood. He reached out to her mother. Anna tried to scream and hold onto her mothers pale arm, but her voice wasn’t there and the men were too strong.

 

  Her father yelled and tried to get the man away from his wife, but the man hit him with the blunt end of his gun and knocked him out cold.

  The screams echoed in her mind, as her mother tried to fight off the men. “Don’t struggle lady. Your husband will be joining you soon enough,” said the man with an icy grin.

  This only made her mother struggle more. “Matthew!” she screamed, trying to reach out to her unconscious husband and her beloved children. Anna’s brother screamed and tried to reach for his mother.

  A whimpering sound came from Anna’s lips and she tried to hold onto her mother but she was knocked away again. She wanted to scream, but her voice wouldn’t work. The men shoved her mother out of the door coldly before slamming the door so hard that rust fell to the floor. A scream was heard again, “Mother!”

  Anna fell down and cried into the muck. She felt a touch of warmness on her shoulder; her brother was wailing and crying as well. She held her brother tightly to her, as she was the oldest. She was supposed to be the strongest.

  But she wasn’t strong, she wanted her mum and her dad to be there, to say everything would be alright, but her mum wasn’t there and her dad was unconscious on the floor.

  And it wasn’t going to be alright. That was the last time Anna saw her mother. The gas chambers consumed her, like they had so many before.

  Chapter 16

  Today was the day Anna would be leaving the sick bay. The nurses had wanted to keep an eye on her fever, but as the symptoms were subsiding they were going to let her go back to school. This meant, to Anna’s joy, that she would finally be able to go back to her room.

  When the last bell of the day rang, her friends ran back to the sick bay to help Anna move the few belongings she had. “We should move these pictures onto the walls next to your bed,” Aerial said, pointing at the pictures that they had drawn for Anna a few days earlier.

  It was a good idea. Everyone agreed as Anna’s wall back in the room they shared was completely blank. Marsha’s wall was covered with pictures of boys and clothes, Licenta’s was full of book covers and animal pictures, and Aerial had a bookcase full of timetables, pictures of wildlife and books.

  Anna entered her room, dropping her bag on her bed and sighing gratefully. This room was one of the safest places she had ever been, and it was a nice feeling to return to it and the chatter of her roommates.

  “Oh and before we forget, we got you something as an early or late birthday present,” Licenta said, passing her a wrapped parcel. Marsha and Aerial look at Licenta accusingly. There looks were met with a cry from Marsha, “What?! I forgot when her birthday is!”

  Aerial laughed and said to Anna, “Open it. It’s a gift, whether it’s for a birthday or not”

  Anna ripped off the red wrapping paper to reveal a light blue book with white words: ‘Sign Language’. Anna was shocked. She could guess what her friends were thinking, but she was wondering why she had never thought about it before.

  “Aerial found the book in the library and we learnt some phrases,” Licenta said.

  “Then I went to Tom’s bookshop and found it there, so we all chipped in to buy it for you,” Aerial continued.

  “We thought it would be an easy way for you to be able to talk without using up so much of your notebook,” Marsha joked, finishing the explanation of the gift.

  Anna’s smile grew bigger and bigger. She had never expected something like this, and the thought of being able to talk without having to carry a pen and paper around was blissful.

  “Really, it was all Aerial’s idea,” Licenta said. She could see the pleased smile on Anna’s face and felt the warmth. She couldn’t help being proud of the idea of the gift, even if it wasn’t originally hers.

  Anna jumped off her bed, still holding the book in her hands, and hugged Aerial tightly. It was a powerful thank you that didn’t need words. “You’re welcome,” Ariel said, softly.

  Everyone was happy, and everyone felt the warmth. It was an incredible feeling to know that you were helping someone regain something so special.

 

  Chapter 17

  “Licenta, please stop making those annoying gestures, they are very distracting.”

  Licenta looked up at Mrs. Refa, her math teacher. “Sorry I was just asking Anna if I could borrow an eraser.”

  “Couldn’t you just say that?”

  “Yes, I was just practicing,” Licenta said, innocently. “I’ll say it next time,�
�� she added, after the teacher’s cold gaze continued.

  “Good, now please pay attention.” Mrs. Refa walked in front of the black board. “Your homework will be page 234, exercises one to five. Unless you can finish it in the next five minutes,” she said, with a slightly evil grin.