All Your Firsts Without Me

by L.M. Terry

I’ve been visiting April once a week for the past two years here at Lakewood House. They tell me she follows the rules and does her schoolwork without fight, but she does not speak to them. Not until I arrive. She waits for me by the doors every Wednesday afternoon. It is sweet and sad in equal parts. Once I arrive, she grabs my hand and rushes me through the building so she can talk to everyone about all the things she was unable to say to them during the week. Her therapist encourages her to speak without my presence but so far, all efforts have been unsuccessful. She’ll be turning eighteen in a few months. Where she will go after that has everyone, including myself, concerned. She has continued to grow and progress, but her lack of communication is troublesome.