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17 - Speech Therapy

Author: Grace Kara
last update Last Updated: 2025-05-14 02:45:59

The speech therapy was the worst. My throat felt tight, the words clumsy and foreign. I was so used to silence, to communicating with nods and tiny gestures. Speaking felt exposed. Vulnerable.

“Tell me about the river,” Rachel said gently, trying a different tack. “Mr Thorne said ....well, he implied you had a bad experience with a river.”

The Grayling. The cold. The terror. The faces of my parents. I shook my head, unable to speak.

“ Okay okay” Rachel said quickly, seeing the look on my face. “Bad topic. My bad. How about.... what’s your favorite animal?”

“Wolf,” I said without thinking. It was the first honest, unforced word I’d spoken to her.

Rachel’s eyes lit up. “Oh, cool! They’re so, like, mysterious and powerful, right?”

I just nodded. She didn’t understand. No human could.

Later in the afternoon, another tutor arrived.

A stern looking older woman named Miss Albright, who was there to teach me “the fundamentals of a civilized education.” History, literature, mathematics. My br
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