"Good morning birds good morning trees! Oh what a lovely daaaayyy," I sing.

I walk out our little cabin early in the morning, greeted by the blazing sun in my eyes. I mumble to myself about how badly I'm going to be sunburned by he end of this month as I make my way to the group of adults, already hard at work at the little well in the center of the village. Several of the inhabitants of the village look on curiously. I can practically feel the hope in their eyes.

What a spoiled brat I am! These kids have had to walk miles for their water and I force my siblings to get me some from the fridge literally five feet behind me!

"Hey Mom," I greet her. She's squating and panting hard. "How long have you been at this?"

"Well today we've only been working for twenty minutes." She flashes a smile at me and says, "I may be able to fold the laundry of eight girls, but this well building is a whole other rodeo." She looks up at me, squinting to block out the sun. "Wanna help?" she asks.

I laugh and pat her back. "I don't think you want me to help. I'd probably manage to destroy the whole thing."

Mom cocks her head, thinking. Then she nods and says, "I will not deny that."

I throw back my head and then sarcastically stick out one hip and put my hand on it. "Gee, thanks for that vote of confidence, Mom," I tease with a dramatic flip of my hair.

She hits my leg once. "Any time."

I roll my eyes, amused, and then make my way back into the little hut to see if Chris and Jillian are ready to head back up to the school.

I stop and do a dramatic pose in the doorway and the two of them give me weird looks the second they notice me.

"You two buffoons ready?" I ask.

"You're the buffoon," Jillian informs me.

I don't even hesitate to say, "True enough."

Chris laughs and shakes his head. The poor thing, I think I scare him sometimes.

I look down at the shirt I'm wearing; just a plain purple tee. My orange mop of hair falls around my shoulders and something hits me. I pick up a strand and examine it as I ask, "Do you know anyone... Anyone else who has to worry about the fact that her clothes might clash with her hair?"

Chris' head turns my way again and he gives me a confused smile while Jillian immediately falls all over herself laughing.

I furrow my eyebrows and glance in her direction. "You laugh at everything," I inform her.

"Wonder where she gets that from," Chris comments.

And as if to prove his point, I start laughing too which only sends Jillian into more laughter. She is literally howling.

Chris throws his arms up and let's them drop to his side. "I rest my case," he says with a prideful grin.

I gulp in a huge amount of air to try and calm myself but it only ends up making Jillian laugh more if that's possible. See, foreign sounds often come out of my mouth when I try to calm myself...

Chris just sits down, shaking his head and chuckling softly as Jillian literally trips over her own two feet and keeps chortling. She looks like she's having a seizure. But she's laughing. So it's funny.

Who are we?

Jillian finally heaves a sigh, still curled up in a ball on the ground. The very sight of her is enough to make me want to crack up again but I bite my lip. Then, with a layer of laughter still under her voice, she says, "Why- Wha- Why was I even laughing?"

And for reasons that I'm not even aware of, that's enough to send me into another five minute laugh attack.

____________________

"Chris I don't see her..." I whisper.

We're back in the schoolroom with LOADS of notebooks and pencils that Chris' mom was smart enough to bring along. Seriously the amount of stuff she's bought could probably last all these kids three years. Which isn't forever, but it ain't bad.

"Hmmm?" Chris asks offhandedly.

"Ayana! I don't see her."

He turns to face me. "Who?"

"The deaf girl!" I say, flustered. "Her name's Ayana."

"Ohhhh," he nods. "I wouldn't worry about it. It's probably nothing but a sick day."

"But I am worried about it!" I push. I can feel my face going red, which is embarrassing but... Whatever...

"Chris, this isn't America," I hiss. "Kids drop out often here; kids starve. She was really badly hurt yesterday..."

"Odette you're overreacting."

Was I? It was really hard to tell.

Done trying to get Chris to hear me out, I march up to the teacher. I try to keep my voice slow so that I don't freak her out with... English. Let's all just admit it; English is freaking scary enough as it is.

She smiles at me as I walk up to her. I skip greetings and get right to the point. "Do you know where Ayana is today?"

The teacher gives me a funny look before scanning the classroom. She shrugs as her eyes land back on me.

I lick my lips. "Do you know where she lives?"

She shrugs again.

I take a quiet but deep breath. "Does she have anyone to help her in class? Since she cannot hear?"

She furrows her eyebrows and shakes her head. "Ayana no can talk but she hears."

It's my turn to furrow my eyebrows. Well, I'm confused now. Whatever. Which sense she lacks is... Important to know but I'm just concerned for her safety right now.

Maybe Chris is right... Maybe I'm just paranoid. But what if I'm right? And there's some very real reason to worry about her...

I offer the teacher a small smile and walk back to towards Chris.

He looks at me curiously as I run my hands through my hair.

"You ok?"

"No!" I snap. His gaze falls to the floor and I quickly say, "I'm sorry I just..."

"I get it... You do have reason to be worried..." he whispers. "But then again, it's probably nothing," he quickly adds.

I take a deep breath and nod slowly. I sit down next to a little boy and try to act cheerful as the class settles down to get started. Jillian is finishing passing out notebooks and pencils. I can't help but genuinely grin as each little face lights up in glee when they receive one.

Suddenly, a man bursts into the little schoolhouse and starts yelling in his native tongue.

Kids everywhere start screaming and crying. My eyes go wide and my heart starts pounding on my chest as he makes a sudden swift move towards the teacher.

Several of the children around me latch onto my arms, griping me like Death himself just walked in the door.

The man starts yelling right in the teacher's face. I look over to find tears spilling down Jillian's face as a group of children clings onto her for protection. Chris is in the same situation and all he can do is stare at the scene unfolding in front of him.

He keeps shouting and I'm so scared he's going to make a move to smack the teacher. She's talking rapid fire back to him, sounding scared and desperate. There's one word that keeps catching my ear. I finally make out what it is: Ayana.

My hands start sweating bullets and I pant like I just ran a marathon.

How could I have not seen it before? The gash, the bruises. Whoever this is, knows Ayana.... And has made her life a living hell.

But where is she now?

Is she alive? Lord above, tell me she's alive.

I can feel my own tears forming as the man knocks the teacher to the ground before storming out. The children all stop wailing at once. We're only left with the sound of the teacher's cries as she sits on the ground and the questions in our minds- those alone are enough to deafen us.