diamond in the sky

8/4/2019 Diamond in the Sky

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Brenda Helsel2151? SE StarkGresham, 0R 97OrO10 pages25OO words

Diarnond in the SkyHeather n;ade a halfhearted attenLpt to keep her mind on the lesson. Butfive minutes into class time she was e.l-ready floatirLg off into outer space.

Today she was marooned crr a, distant pla-net with Michaell her partner afid loverrAnd they were prisoners of the planetrs terribte inhabitants. It was night whenHeather accedently discovered a secret tunnel., a way out of their cages.

Itlviichael , look at thisrtr she r"rispered. rrhe nay be abfe to escape.rlThe ringing of the school bell- was not particularly distracting to

Heather. She gathered her books up from her desk end walkeC out the door intottre hall-. ft was time to move her body to another classroom. She walkeds1ow1y, her eyes set in a blank expression, and was aware of other people aroundher orrly to the exten.t that was necessa.ry to ke,ep fron running into theri orbrushing against them.

rrHeather, hold cn a minute. f want to talk to y.oli.rrShe tur'ned around quickly in the direction of the voice. The other

-students didnrt often speak to lier a:rd she was surprised to hear her name.The ourner of the voice'r a girf who sat behind lJeather j-rr nra.th clas.s, caught

up with her.rrI was wcndering if you could d.o me a favcr,. f have a den.tist appoint_


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Di-amond in the Sky Bren,,ia Helsel 2ment this afternoon and I need someone to take n:y place at work.tr

Heather hesitateC. rrWhere do you work?trItSouthside Day Care Center. It would only be a couple of hours and

you wculdnft have to do much - just sort of be there to help out.tltrAlrightrrr Heather sai-d, rrlrve never worked with kids much. But it

might be interesting.rrrrftf s easyrttthe girl said, rrYou start at four. Do you know u'here it

i,s?f rItI think so. Anyway my dad will know.tlHeather figited in the front seat of her fatherrs car.ftl,{hen are you going to teach me how to d.rive?rtshe asked.rrAs soon a-s you want to learn. How tbout this e.fternoon after you.rre

fini-shed here?rr sai-d her father.rrUm, yeah maybe. Bcept I might be tired.rr Heather had been sixteen for

three months a:rd she didnrt like the way pecple sometimes sa.id * Donrt you knov;how to drive yet?ttlrlf have to get my permit first and the place is closed on Saturday

so we coul-dnrt start tomorrow eitherrtr she said.The car came to a stop in front of a large shabby looking building in the

poor sectj-on of tou'ri.rrCall me when yourre ready to come homert' her father sa.id.Heather cl-osed the car door and crossed the street. A -sign near theheavy doubl-e doors said - Southside Day Care Center 2nd floor. She pushed.

open one of the massive doors and went insid.e. The stairway was ol-d and dark,but cl-ean' At the top of the stairs was an open door a-t the end of a short hal.l-.She watched silently for a few rninutes before going inside.


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Diamond in the Sky Brer:.da Fiefsel- 5The ceiling was too high and Heather, sharply sen-sltive to the atmosph.ere

of anywhere she was, felt a col-d deadnes.s about the place. The fog began tosettle on her braj-n, always ready to take her away from any situation thatmight be frightening, uncomfortable, or boring. Heather opened her eyes verywide. Tlr-is time she would have to stay.There were about 15 to 20 children playing in the room. One child, a dark-haired boy with an eye patch, lay or. the tile floor squirming around in al-ldirections. In the far ccrner of the room was a wornan who appeared to be incharge. Heather cculd hear the womanfs voice from her place in the door way.

tr Georgie, how many times dc I have to te1l you - stop hitting the atherkids. I just donrt know what lrm going to do. You. just never seem to learnanything.'l

The woman was short, fat, had a mu.stacheand spoke r,*ith a 1isp. HeatherwondereC briefly why women who worked with sma-ll chil-dren often had physicalappearances simular to th-ls womanrs. Heather herseff was said to be qu"ite pr.ettyby enou-gh pecple that she could have believed it, but sh.e chose to believe herolin mirror instead.

Heather looked at her watch. Tt was 4:OO - time to go in.rrHi. Are you the one whors taking over for Sue today??rthe womeJt-

asked.ll\? ^^ tlItIrm }liss Marie.rrtrlvry name is Heather.rt She smileC brightly. Heather always smiled when

she was talking to sonteone. She wanted them to know she was a friendly per-soneven though she dj-dnf t say much.Miss Marie turned to the chj-l-dren. ttAlright everybociy get over here arrd sit on


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Diamond in the Sky Brenda Helsel 4the carpet.rl

The chifdren scurried around in all directions with most of themfinally finding their way to the smal-l patch of carpet in the back of the roorn"

rrl said get over thererttMiss Marie yelled at the stragglers.Heather winced.Finally there was only one child somewhere other than the carpet. It

was the boy with the eye patch.rrHers retardedrrr Miss Marie erplained. rtHe can stay where he is.rtThe other children were wiggling, talking and fighting over places to

sit ori the carpet.rrf want it quietrrrdemanded l{iss Marie. rrThis is l,{iss Heather arrd shers

going to read you a story.rtHeather gave her a look of panic as she handed her the book.rrf carrrt seerrrsaid a little girl in the back row.The boy nert to her pushed her.ttstop itrrf whined another chil-d.ttQuiet.t' Iviiss Marh froinrned at all of them. tfGeorgie, yourre going to

stand in the corner if you dorirt sit still. Now just be quiet a1l of you.rlHeather sat down in a tiny wooden chair.?tYoutre shy, arenrt you?rr said a boy in the front row. He looked

deeply concerned. rtHow come youtre shy?r'Heather was startled. She d.idntt think she was shy, but sonretimes

other peeple said she was.rrshe r s not shy r rr Miss Marie said.rrThis is Tommy the Turtle.rr Heatlrer held- the boc,k up so everyone

could see the picture.


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Diamond in the ,qky Brer.Lda Hel.sel 5ttf have a turtlerrr said a girl_ with braids.frDo you2tt Heather smil-ed"rri do toorrr said a chitd near her.ItI had a turtle cnce but...rfrrBe qui-et so she can read the storyrrr Mi_ss Marie comma;r.ded.Heather wished Miss Marie would go away and leave them a1one.frOne day Tommy the Turtle went to visit his friend Mil-ton the Mouse,rrGeorgie kicked the boy sitting next to him.ItAlright, that does it.tr Miss Marie yanked the child up by his a.rm and

plunked him in the corner.rrrcood Morning, Tommy, frm so glad to see you,rsaid Milton the Mouse.rl

Heather finished the story without interruption.Miss Marie frowned at the chi-ldren. rrYou can go end play now, but you

better be good"rrGeorgie rn'as -still in the corner crying very quietly. Heather knel-tdown beside him.rrlnihat I s the matter?rlrrNobody likes merrr said the childHeather was stunned at the idea of a chil-d nobody liked. ttf like yourrl

she said, realizing it probably didnrt count for much. After all, she wouldnrtbe around anymore after tociay. She longed to take the child into her arm,s a:rdhsld hi-m. But maybe he would push her awaJ. Heather cor_rl_dnrt remember havingever reached out and touched anyone. Maybe she could tell him Jesus loved h-i-m.She looked arowrd to see where Miss Marie was in case discussing religion mightbe against the rules.

rfHeather, ccrild you come help ne fix the snacks.n Mis-s Marie cal-l_ed


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Diamond in the *Sky Brenda Helsel- 6her before she had a chance to figure out exactly what to say.

rrJrll help them wash their hands and you can be pouring the Kool-aid.rrlsaid Mis-s Marie. rrCorne on over here. Everybody make two straight lines. Boysin this l-i-ne ald girls in this line.rt

Heather wondered if she should help get the children all settled dcrurr aand in a nice straight l-ine. But she stood by and watchec instead.

trNow donrt get water on the floor or waste the paper towels this timerrlMis-s Marie was saying as she marched. thern all out the docr.rrr want some more Kool-aid.rrr said a little girl after most of them werefinished with their -snacks.

rroK' rt Heather said. But she came back frorn the kitchen with the paFercup sti1l empty. rrMiss Marie says you cantt have any more Kool-aid.rt?rCan I have some water then?fr she asked."No, donrt give her arty urater eitherrtr Mi-s-e Marie said to Heather inthe kitchen. 'Theyrre just testing you to see what they can. get away with.Gi-ve j-n to them once and theyrll walk a-lL over you.rlThe children played for awhile after snacks before Miss Marie caflecthem all over to sit dor,rrn at the tabl_e agai-n.rrV/erre going to make a catril she said. 'rMiss Heather wil1 pas-s out thePieces to you.rtHeather begarr to pass out smarr- pieces of construction paper cut in

different shapes.rfThis is what it will_ lock fike when youfre all_ finishedrrf said. MissMarie, holding up a completed construction paper cat.Heather walked arorurd the room, helping some of the children wi_th the glue.rrsee minsrrr said a litt]e boy.


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Diamond in the Sky Brenda Helsel 7f rThat t s very goodrrt she said.rrThe eyes are upside down,'r said Miss Marie, pulling them off. She

turned them the other way. trThatts the way yourre supposed to do 1t.ilr[I er eyes are upside downrrr Heather mumb]-ed".rrWhat"rr said another cl:-ifd.rrOh, nothingrt' she said. lrYours is very good" too.rtParer:.ts started ccrning to pick up their chlfdren soon after the cats were

finished.rrThank you for coming in to help tod.ayr, Miss Mari_e said..rrYourre welcomerrf said Heather. rrf s there a phone here? f rll- have to

call my dad.rlHeather went i_nto her room arrd cl"osed the door as soon as she got home.

She picked up her musical jewlery box off the dresser and opened it s1owly,watching the little ballerina come up as the lid wa-. lifted. She watched hereyes i-n the mirror on the inside of the lici as she sang a.long softly with themusic.

Twinkle, twinkle little starHow f wonder what you areUp aloove the world so highLike a diamond in the skyThe ballerina turned. sIow1y on the pedesta] and Heather touched one of

its del-icate arms. ilwhat do you ttrink about, little ballerina when yourre al_lclosed up in a box? yourre just tre,pped there, arenrt you? until somebocyollens up the box and lets you pop up again to dance around and around in a tinycir.cle.trFleather settled herserf in a confor.tabre place on her bed arrd began to


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Diamond in the Skyreconstruct the dayrs experience the wayalways either reliuing an experience thea totally imaginary one.

Brenda Helsel 8it should have been. She was nearlyway it sou-ld have been or making up

Thatrs probably why people think frm shy, slie thought, because I hardlyever talk to them. I could talk to them if I wanted to, and I would if realpeople and real things that happened were ever as interesting as the ones insidemy head.

Heather was imagining that all the children were sitting on the carpetarrd. she was reading them a story.

ItThi-s is Tommy the Turtlertt she saidrrf have a turtle toorrr one of the children said.ItBe quiet and let her read the storyrrf Miss Marie said.Heather turned and glared at her. f'This is my story so shut up and mind

your o\4,n business.trShe turned back to the ch-ildren and said, rrI had a turtle once, butit inras on the floor one time and somebody stepped on it ar:d crunched it to

death.rr She decided not to say tha.t after all. Maybe instead she would te11 themthat she and her brother used to have races to see whots turtle was the fastest.

Heather -skipped over to the next part she walted. to do over, the partwhere she talked to Georgie i_n the corner.

rf l,,rihat I s the matter?rr she asked.trNobody likes merrr he said.rrr like Jourrt she sai-d., ttr rike you a 1ot. f er,en love you.rfShe tock Georgie into her arms, held him close to her and l_et him cry

until they both knew everything was going to be alright.trAnd rtll- telt you someone else who roves you - Jesus does.fr


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Diamond in the Sky Brenda Helsel 9trWho I s Jesus?rrtrWell, Heather begaa, rrHers someone who li-ved here and walked around

like anybody else a long time ago. Hers still here now but . . .rt She pausedfor a- moment, trying to think how to explain what she was tryi-ng to say.?rHers . . . we}l, hers invisible - thatf s what.ll

rrReally?rt Georgie asked.rfSure, and no matter what anybody else thinks of you, you always know

yourre important because you have an i-nvisible friend who loves you.rrShe wasnrt sure the idea of an invisible friend would be enough to carry

Georgie through a childhood that rnight be pretty miserable so she went on.ttAnd if you need a frlend you car see and touch, you should try to find a personwho loves Jesus because people who love Jesus love everybody.fr Heather hesi-tated.rrBut I wouldntt l-ook for them in a church though. Lots of people who go to churchdonrt love Jesus or arrybody. They just 1ove church I guess.rr

ft was getting too complicated. She didnrt want something complicated..What she wanted was something simple and absolute that he could hang on to forthe rest of his 1ife. She sighed and her mind wandered on.

rrf suppose you must feel very, very small sornetimes because there are al-ways so many big people yelling at you and treating you like yourre just nothing.But just because soneoners bigger doesntt mean theyrre always right. you shouldnrttry to fight back though when youtre so little because you just get in troubl-e.You should do v,rhatever they telI you, but mostly just stay out of their way.Then when you get big enough, you can do what you walt to.rl

she went on to reccnstruct the part about the paper cats.ttsee minsrtt said" a child.f rThat I s very good, il Heather said.


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Di-amond in the Sky Brenda Hel-sel lOrr The eyes a-re u',pside down, rt lvriss Marie sald.ttThey look just fine to me.rr She turned to face l4iss Marie. rrDid. you

ever think maybe your eyes could be upside down? I think they are. a{.s a matterof factr I think your whole brain is upside dovm. Is that all thatts importarrtto teach a child? Just so they can glue together a pa.per cat that looks justlike yours, and stand in a nice straight lj-ne and sit perfectly quiet so some-body can read them a story about a stupid turtle. Donft you ever hold them onyour lap or even take one minute to listen to them? A, person like you shoul-dnttbe al-lowed to come anywhere near a chil_d. rr

Heather didntt know how a person might react to somethlng like that so shedidnrt try to figure out what lrtiss Marie would say.

She revised each scene in her mind until she was satisfied that everypiece was as it should have been"

rrlti-ckrael , r' she whispered. "Hey, ltichael, are yor-r. awake? Listen, rheard them tal-king when they came by our cageo Theytre getting suspici-ous.tl

Mi-chael was wide awake now.r?Vy'erre going to kiave to leave tonightrrr she said. rrWe already know wecan get in and steal- one of their spa.ce shj_ps.ft

rf Sure, tt 'Michael said., rrBut suppose itrs guarded tonight? Besides, wedor:.rt know enough about their spa.ce ships. tdhat if we canrt get it off theground? Theyrll kill us.r'

rr\derll have to take that chance. ftrs our only hope. lde cantt waitany longer. rt

Heather sighed with relief as they finally lost sight of the hated planet.She put her arms around Mlchael and hugged him. rrOh Michael , Ilor,.e yori.n

diamond in the sky

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