late night phone calls are rarely a good thing

Disclaimer: Some names have been changed to protect those involved. This is an attempt at making a factual event "fiction" writing. #teacherswrite; www.katemessner.com It was "Friday Family Movie Nite" at the Harris' and we were all snuggled in the living room together when the phone rang. Tom paused the movie, "Soul Surfer", to answer the phone. "Hello," he spoke cautiously into the receiver. ("Who could possibly be calling this late?" running through all our minds as we listened in on his side of the conversation... dreading the outcome. Rarely is a phone call this late at night good news. "Hi Tom, sorry to call so late, this is Mark Carmike at School. Can I talk to Shannon, please?" "Sure, hold on a minute," as he passed the handset over to me. I grabbed the receiver with trepidation... why in the world would my principal be calling me this late and over winter break? This cannot be good. "Hi, Mark, what's up?" I asked. "Shannon, is Amy L. your student?" I can feel the wheels turning in my head... what is wrong... my blood runs cold through my veins instantly as he informs me that Amy has turned up missing. They think she went to a birthday party of another student in my class. "Did you have a student with a birthday this week?" "Yes, Samantha's birthday party was this weekend, and I'm sure that Amy was invited." "Shannon, I need for you to call the FWPD and talk to the sergeant. They have some questions that you might be able to answer. Here's the number, are you ready?" I walked with trepidation from the living room into the kitchen where the pad of paper was and scribbled down the number he gave me. "Got it. Mark, (I could feel the tears spilling down my face and my voice began to waver.), please call me if you hear anything? Anything at all." "I will," he tried to reassure me as we ended our conversation. Quickly, I informed my family of the situation while I dialed the phone number Mark provided. (Our movie was still paused. The family sat rivoted in their seats. Afraid to speak, or move. Knowing that something dreadful was happening and they would get the full disclosure when I hung up the phone. They had the jist of it. They knew it was bad.) I answered as many of the sergeant's questions as I could. I told him everything I knew of the birthday party and pulled up a class list on the computer while we talked. I scanned and emailed a class list with phone numbers and parent names to the police department and gave them the same plea that I gave Mark, "Please, please... please call me if you hear anything" to which he assured me he would. Family movie night was a blur. I do not remember the rest of the movie... one of my students was missing. Where could she be? Who would she be with? My mind began racing with last known information... was there anything I didn't think of to share with the police? Sleep would not visit me this night... awake with images of her hiding, afraid and alone, haunting me in the darkness.

Beautiful Innocence

This summer I am participating in a summer writing workshop for teachers... You can follow the prompts at Katemessner.com or #TeachersWrite. I do not have the ability to share the writing prompts or inspiration behind them - but, please check out the authors that are providing this in-service for teachers -- FREE! (Purchase a book or two from them!) I'm not sure what I will be writing about -- going to let the prompts sink in and bubble up from with-in. Follow if you like, leave comments if you wish. Almost 3 years ago, I was a 3rd grade teacher... new to the grade level (I had previously taught 4th and 5th) and eager to begin a new year with a class of 29 babies. (They were so little!) I remember going through registration and meeting Aliahna Lemmon for the very first time. She was a tiny spitfire of a little girl whom her mom was warning me about... she has anger issues, she broke my rib when she was mad at me, be careful with her... all a bit odd for someone so tiny. I remember the sweet twinkle in her eye and knew that we were going to be ok. I would not have issues with this beautiful little girl. The school year started and I began noticing deficiencies in Ali's work. Writing was a struggle for her. Her number sense was not grounded. Reading was difficult. I began spending more time with her in small groups and looking for resources to help. She was not afraid of hard work. She never got frustrated. She always persevered and gave me the BEST of what she had, with a smile. She was recommended for a speech/ hearing evaluation by mom and soon Ali was wearing hearing aids and glasses. (I still have her batteries in my desk drawer.) Aliahna had two sisters in Kindergarten at our school. Anytime we were in the hallway and her sisters would pass by, she would always ask permission to step out of line to hug them. She absolutely adored her little sisters. She was very protective of them on the playground, always mothering them. Beauty is a strange thing, one can find beauty in the most unusual places: sunsets, birds chirping, the love of another... For me, I found beauty in her eyes, in her spirit, and in the way she loved her sisters. She had a beautiful innocence.