The Sunshine Girl {Five}

Ian and Luke Fleming watched their special passenger for a minute without knowing what to do. She had spoken the first word either of them had even heard from her. Even crying “No,” her voice was clear and melodic. Now was not the time, though, to re-examine her speaking abilities. Her breaths were coming fast and shallow, and tears streamed down the sides of her nose. Dr. Fleming thought he recognized a panic attack. 1

“Can you help her outside, Luke?” He asked his son. Luke took her arm once more, being sure not to startle her this time, and helped her stand up as Ian ran around the minivan to open the sliding door. They walked her slowly to the sidewalk, where she already started to look better. Ian knelt down to her eye level. “What’s wrong, Molly?”2

Luke observed her signing TOO FAST, TOO SMALL, MOVING TOO FAST…with tiny hand gestures. “I don’t think she liked riding in a car.”3

“Well, it’s only a block home. Shall we walk?” Ian asked, ignoring his ringing cell phone back in the van. The Sunshine Girl cocked her head in confusion, so he repeated the question more plainly. Understanding, she nodded with vigor. The three set off down the street, Molly running ahead and Luke dragging behind. The boy watched his new friend intently, as if she were a riddle that needed to be solved. Which, of course, she was. 4

Could she speak the whole time? If so, why had he been called in to sign to her? Or could she only speak one or two words, picked up in infancy? Luke knew from Psych class that there was a certain period in a person’s childhood where they were supposed to learn language, and afterward it was hard to ever learn. But this Molly girl could understand language fine, and signed fluently, and obviously her vocal chords worked—the yell when he touched her had been piercing. So why didn’t she talk?5

He resolved to speak with her alone as soon as possible. He would figure this out, not his father or any other doctor. They had turned over responsibility of communicating with her to Luke, and he would show them all.6

Molly kept running after passing the Fleming’s home, which, to be fair, looked like every other two-story brick house on the block. Ian stopped after reaching his front door and called her back. This was not exactly the calm and controlled environment she was supposed to be kept in, but at least she seemed happy. On the way back, she stopped suddenly, and watched a starling in the front yard as if it were the first bird she had ever seen. Then her eyes met Ian's, and his heart broke from the immense wonder and confusion he read in them. This fifteen-year-old girl had no idea what she was looking at. The suburban world was full of new sights and smells, and it seemed to be overwhelming her. “Come inside.” He said once he had recovered his voice, and he opened the door. Luke followed them in.7

The living room was the first sight upon entering the Fleming house, and, like a new puppy, Molly seemed intent on inspecting every item in this room before moving on to the next. She poked the cushy loveseat, sat on it, stood up immediately, and sniffed it. Ian turned to his son. “Do you think you can look after her for one minute while I go get the car?”8

Luke snapped off a sarcastic salute. “Yeah, Dad, I think I can handle the enormous responsibility.”9

“It is important. Don’t rush her into anything. Let her sit down if she wants to.” He glanced at Molly once again, who was holding a Time Magazine up by one page. Then he nodded to his son, and walked back out to the street. 10

Without closing the door, Luke sat down on the loveseat, not too close to Molly. He waved to get her attention, then signed, YOU OK?11

She didn’t seem to understand “OK.”12

YOU FEEL BETTER?13

She nodded. Then after a moment of staring at him, she carefully signed, TOO SMALL IN THE CAR. TOO BIG OUTSIDE. PRETTY BUT TOO BIG. INSIDE IS BEST.14

He nodded, his chest swelling with ridiculously strong pride. He had taught her the sign for “car” only yesterday. Then he considered what she had said, and he deflated again. Fear of small places was claustrophobia, and fear of large places was agoraphobia. What was the word for “fear of anything other than an average-sized room”?15

He tried to asked her about the magazine, whether she had seen one before, if she knew what the words were, but she was too distracted by the thing itself to keep up a conversation. Soon, Luke’s father returned. He had his phone to his ear—listening to a voicemail—but he smiled at Luke and Molly, who were silently looking at a photo of Central Park together. Luke, for the first time his father could remember, looked up and gave a quick smile back. Then, Ian Fleming began actually hearing the message on his phone. His smile was replaced by a frown of concern, then of anger.16