Pinawa Public Library
pinawapubliclibrary.com
Flash Fiction
May 31, 2020
This weekend let’s learn about and virtually visit someplace amazing! Let’s learn about the tropical rain forests of South America. We have included a couple of informational videos, a fun facts video, and a virtual walk for those who want to see the sights and hear the sounds. While we may have to stay close to home for now, our imagination can still go anywhere!
Virtual Field Trip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEsV5rqbVNQ
Fun Facts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgU7gsBOhUI
Nat Geo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vijLre760w
Stream Walk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-u6ENAL6sw
We hope you enjoy the trip! Feel free to explore more on your own.
Family and belonging are two of the most important things in our lives. This week’s story is about a foster mother’s experience as she and her new child grow to love each other.
Reunification
From YourDictionary writing blog
Amelia knew from the beginning that the boy wasn’t hers. His nose was too pointed, his hair too thin; when he turned to the side he resembled a cliff swallow who’d lost his muddy nest. When he cried, Amelia’s ears rang. She could bring no comfort to his pointy shoulders, which shook against her chest during his night terrors.
Until one week, his nocturnal screams had given way to the soft sobs of a broken child. He hadn’t fought her as she held him, his tears sinking into Amelia’s cotton nightgown as she ran a hand up and down, up and down, up and down his back. The next night, Amelia’s embrace got him to sleep in just a few minutes. And the night after that, he’d slept all the way through.
The boy liked pancakes with grape jelly, Amelia learned, on the blue-and-yellow plastic plate. He liked cowboy pajamas and the glow-in-the-dark stars she’d painstakingly pasted on his ceiling just minutes before he’d stepped through her doorway, his possessions stuffed into a garbage bag at his feet. He liked these things, and soon, he loved them.
His laughter vibrated through the house like the satisfied lilt of a starling, declaring his place in this tree. It tickled the inside of Amelia’s ribcage and sent her into fits of tearful giggles. Bubble baths made him laugh. She could make him laugh. Everything made him laugh. She drank in the sound like it was sweet nectar.
On the last day, the same white car that had dropped him at her doorstep months ago rolled into Amelia’s driveway. An officious woman clutched the wheel with the same grip that Amelia found herself clutching the boy’s hand. It was time for reunification, which Amelia knew was the goal of the foster system. The boy was going back.
Amelia looked down and took in his features one last time. Soon he’d be back with his flock, his delicate features matching those around him, in the nest where he belonged. He was theirs.
But in those last seconds, as the car settled into a parked position and he squeezed her hand back, Amelia’s heart swelled. He may not have been hers, but in that moment, she knew she’d always be his.