Nogard

Danielle brushed the eight year old's milk white hair across her translucent shoulder. Alice didn't respond.

"It's lunch time sweetie. Lets try some banana, okay?"

Alice stared blankly at the small round table. Danielle tried, again, to get Alice to eat even one bite of food. After two weeks in the classroom, she felt she was getting somewhere and that she could force it a little. Surely the small arms hanging limply at her side could be maneuvered to rest on the table. It had been a fruitless labor up until now to get her to participate in the noontime ritual.

Still, there were some indications that she was aware of the other children in the classroom. She seemed to smile in conjunction with the seating of the other students across from her. The random snatches of dialogue were dutifully recorded in the folder, although they didn't seem to make sense.

"Don't tell Mommy." she said suddenly.

Danielle felt her heart drop into her stomach. The whispered declaration was alarming. All at once, the other things the child had said started to take on meaning, including the grunting dragon. When the teacher returned from lunch Danielle did her best to paint a picture, describing exactly how Alice said it and what was happening at the time.

"She was looking at Brooke when she said it."

Brooke was in tears. They all believed it could only mean the worst, after all, there was no such thing as a real dragon, only some hideous monster that this beautiful child was told to keep quiet about. The worst part was that they couldn't talk about it. Laura stood up quickly and went to the phone.

Danielle let her hand wash over the tiny white fingers. All she could think about was how lovely the little one was and how gentle she was with the other students. The overwhelming desire to protect Alice was growing like a fire inside of her.

"What do we do?" she asked Laura when she returned.

"They said to log everything and to verify everything. I will initial every entry. " She patted her associate on the shoulders. "Her Mom is on her way."

"Her Dad, too?"

"No, the police are being contacted, you can't say anymore."