Broken Wings 02 Midnight Flight Read Online Free PDF Page A

like prisoners." Teal
complained, and quickly looked down,
"Since that wasn't put in the form of a question,
I will let it pass without penalizing you another
demerit. If you are like prisoners, as you say, it's
because you have imprisoned yourselves. You have
put bars on your own windows and built the walls
between yourselves and the rest of humanity. I am
your best hope to remove those bars, to crumble those
walls. Right now, you see me only as a disciplinarian,
but in time, very soon, you will learn to appreciate
what I have to offer you,
"It's a lot like Annie Sullivan and Helen
Keller." she said, looking off. She smiled at some
image of herself. and even that smile was disturbing
enough to make my stomach feel as if I had just drunk
a gallon of sour milk. "For in truth, you all can't really
speak, can't really hear, can't really see. You're locked
up inside your own troubled bodies. and I will free
you. Yes, I will."
There was a long silence. My throat was dry. My stomach continued to churn and I felt the growing pressure of having to go to the bathroom. I trembled, but I had to ask. I raised my hand, hoping she would
permit it.
"I said no questions," she declared. "But..." She raised her head and the very air seemed to
freeze around us. If I uttered another sound, lightning
might sizzle my brain. I thought. I bit down on my
lower lip. She smiled again.
"I don't want to leave you thinking that all that
awaits you is hard work, rules, and restrictions. We
will have wonderful sessions together, my group
therapy, during which time you will all have this, this
terribly dark curtain of pain and anger lifted from your
eyes. Believe me, girls, that will happen and you will
be grateful. I've seen it so many times before on the
faces of my girls. My girls," she repeated, her eves
glossing over as if she could see them all parading
before her, hugging her like high school graduates at
their diploma ceremony.
She was quiet again. We could hear a drip, drip,
drip of something in the plumbing above and behind
us. Her eyes slowly brightened, the gloss changing to
a thin layer of ice. She stared at us so long. I felt
uncomfortable and saw both Teal and Robin
squirming a bit on their stools as well.
"Part of your work and your life at my school
will be your confronting your own fears. One of the
best ways to do that is to be out in nature. Nature has
a way of tearing away all the conflicting, confusing
things that have distorted our vision of ourselves. In
nature you can make no rationalizations, no excuses,
fall upon your knees and beg for mercy. You either
become strong or perish. Everything out there teaches
us that lesson and it's a wonderful lesson, one that we
tend to forget in the world we call civilized. We'll
help you regain that wisdom.
Or, I should say, nature will."
Nature? I thought. What was she talking about,
camping trips? Sleeping in a tent? Maybe Teal wasn't
so off. Maybe this was like the Girl Scouts.
"Now then," Dr. Foreman said, pulling herself
up and stepping back. "Unfortunately. I must
conclude our little talk with a severe warning. Any
signs of insubordination, even nasty looks and
evidence of an attitude, will result in demerits.
Profanity will be punished severely. If any of you get
two demerits in one day, or fall two paints or more
below the minus ten I have generously given you, or
finally do something so terrible that it is off the charts, she will be sent to our Ice Room to chill out, as you
kids like to say these days."
Ice Room? What was that?
She looked around the cement room, once again
as if she could hear my thoughts, "This place is a firstclass hotel room compared to our Ice Room." She
didn't make it sound like a threat either, but it clearly
put the shivers into Teal and Robin as quickly as it did
in me. Not describing it any further left it to each of
our imaginations, and I was sure we each came up
with our worst fears.
"And now, my dears," she said again, sounding
as if we were all at a grand