She comes to school every day with tears in her eyes

Which makes me wonder why

But then she sits in her chair, refusing to move

Which makes me want to send her home

I watch the other kids play

And I watch her sit and stare

It bothers me so much

So I say “Lila, why?”

“Why won’t you go play?”

“Why won’t you listen?”

No response.

Hours later, everyone’s gone.

She’s gone too.

As I pack up, I hear a song

I look over to the window

Lila is there

Singing to a bird

And the bird sings back

“Beautiful” I say

She hears me, and runs away.

And vanishes into the oak trees

The next day,

I itch to tell my students

About what a beautiful song I heard

As the sun set over the trees

Hours later

Sunset returns

And I hear a roar

I gasp as I see

Lila roaring at a bear

We rarely see bears

In our grassy prairie

She roars, he roars back

“Horrifying” I say

She hears me, and runs away.

Vanishing into the oak trees

Day after day

She squeaks, she roars, she stomps

And they all do it back

And I watch

Saying words like

“intriguing, wonderful, strong”

And each time she hears me

She sprints away

Vanishing into the oak trees

On Friday, I decide to go out there

And try myself

Once I hear the song

I leave my classroom

Follow the narrow path

leading to the oak trees

To find Lila and a stunning blue bird

First, she sings and I listen

Then I sing

Her head swivels around, panicked

“Stay” I tell her “I just want to join you.”

I sing, she watches

Then cautiously joins in

We sing together

And I get an idea

My next science lesson

Is all about animals

All the kids join in

Including Lila

It takes her a while

I coax her

“We have to do it together.” I say

Slowly, she joins

And works her magic

All the kids stare

In wonder

As she growls

Louder than ever

At the angry bear

She found hidden in the forest

I smile

And now I know

That I’ve done my job💜