Accepting
She found it difficult to like the child standing silently in front of her; it exuded cunning beyond its years, having lived, perhaps, on the streets too long, or possibly it was born malevolent, with a soul shriveled like the arm that dangled uselessly, only half-hidden by the ragged sleeve; a slightly hunched, animal-like presence filled her office, as it would later permeate the classroom, the communal dining room, the workshop where trades were taught and humility necessary, but even as these unchristian thoughts scampered higgledy-piggledy across Mrs. March’s brain, she regretted them, reminding herself why she had come to this godforsaken place: was it not to enlighten dark creatures such as this one, to show them a better way of life, to instill hope where despair abounded, show mercy where callousness reigned; she pulled herself together and resolved to accept the child and assign it a bed in the dormitory, but was it, she wondered with a little shudder, a boy or a girl, and how to find out.
Janice D. Soderling writes poetry and fiction of various lengths and translates from Swedish. In the UK her work has appeared at such sites as New Walk, Horizon Review, Orbis, Acumen, Anon and Flash: The Int’l Short-Short Story Magazine.