The Reading

Here is a story. As you read, ask what you would do.

Fiction, founded on truth. The people in this story are imagined; the fear they face is real.

Maya was ten, and she loved books. She liked them best in her own room, under a blanket, where nobody could hear her read.

On Monday, Mr. Hale clapped his hands. “On Friday, each of you will read one page of your book report out loud,” he said. “Up here at the front, to the whole class.”

Maya’s face went hot. Her stomach dropped, like a stone into a well. She knew what happened when she read out loud. Her voice went thin and shaky. Easy words came out in the wrong order. Last year she read the word “island” as “is-land,” and a boy in the back row laughed. She still remembered that laugh.

All afternoon she worked on a plan. On Thursday night she would tell Mom she was too sick for school. Her stomach really did hurt when she thought about Friday. But it was not the kind of sick that keeps you home, and Maya knew it. She could stay home anyway, and nobody would have to know.

After school, Mom was cutting apples at the kitchen table. “How was your day?” she asked.

Maya sat down. She had two answers ready. The first one was “Fine.” It was short and easy, and it kept her plan safe. The second one was the truth: “I’m scared, and I don’t know what to do.”

Mom looked up and waited. The clock ticked over the stove.