A/N: I don't own Lain. I am a respite worker so please no flames from other respite workers or
people with disabilities. I realize that the characters I am adding do no represent the entire
population of these two groups of wonderful people, but for the most part my characters are
actual sketches of people who do exist. I realize that there are several ways to make connections
between people. This is only one of them. BTW, This story is dedicated to a wonderful guy
who you will come to know as Emi Jinchino.
*****************************************************************************
"All the world's a cage."
-Jeanne Phillips
Connected
By Veronica Cereta
*****************************************************************************
Lain looked up at the large brick building. She had wandered the wired during the previous
night searching for this place, the place where Alice taught. Now that she was here, she wasn't
sure exactly what to do. Alice no longer knew her, and she didn't have much to say to her
amnesic childhood friend. A boy in the corner of the playground caught her eye. He was dark
haired with immense brown eyes. This was the skinniest child she had ever seen. He looked
about five years old, maybe six. Nobody played with the boy; he stared up at the maple trees, or
rather the sunlight filtering through them. Every now and then he held up a hand as if trying to
catch a sunbeam.
"It's Lain, ne?" Alice had discovered the misplaced girl. "From yesterday, Lain?"
"What's wrong with him?" was Lain's only reply.
"Oh Emi, well, he has autism." The two were silent for a moment. "Do you know what autism
is?"
Lain shook her head.
"Well, he can't communicate well with others and he has trouble . . ."
As Alice was talking Lain wandered off towards the boy. She stood right next to him, but he
didn't move or show any signs of noticing her presence. Lain looked up at the trees. She held
up her hand and allowed the sunlight to filter through her fingers. It was beautiful.
******************************************************************************
"What is Autism?" Lain was back searching for answers on the wired She walked a dark
corridor.
A suit and tie approached the questioning girl. "Autistic people can't communicate, they don't
know what others are feeling, and they live in their own world."
This answer didn't suit her. "What is Autism?"
A pair of glasses entered the scene. "Autistic people have trouble seeing the big picture. They
can't communicate. It is not mental retardation, but in most cases autistic people show an I.Q.
below normal."
"What is Autism?"
Flashes, words, ideas swirled around the little girl.
"Mind Blindness."
"Cause not yet known."
"Developmental Disability."
"Aspergers Syndrome."
"Impaired Social Interaction."
"Cause not yet known."
"Self Stemmed Behavior."
"Cause not yet known."
"Functional Delay."
"Angel Man Syndrome."
"CAUSE NOT YET KNOWN."
Lain spoke, "That is unacceptable. What causes Autism?"
Across the wired there was disarray. In order to appease the Lain all sorts of answers were
brought forth.
"Refrigerator Moms."
"Vaccinations."
There was something wrong, discreditable with each suggestion. Lain was unsatisfied. Finally a
nearly whole person, a rarity on the wired, approached.
"I am sorry but we do not know what causes Autism. There isn't even a clear definition of the
disorder. It's almost as if they can't live in our world. They seem to exist on their own plane."
Lain pondered this. "They do not live in the real world. They exist in a different plane." A
broad smile of understanding spread across the young girl's face.
***************************************************************************
The next day Lain was back at school standing at the fence with the boy. She watched sunlight;
she watched Emi. He seemed so peaceful, so contemplative. She leaned over and whispered in
his ear, "What's it like . . . in your world." The boy pushed his shoulder up against his ear and
squirmed away a bit.
Alice approached the children. "I see you've taken an interest in Emi," she smiled at Lain. "He
lives in a group home. I thought you might like the address. You can visit him at his house"
Lain stared down at the paper she was handed and then up at her old friend. "Arigatou."
The young girl stayed with the boy for most of the afternoon. He seemed fascinated with light
and the way it interacted with things. He didn't do much at school, but during music he smiled
and laughed while listening to the music. Lain pondered, 'do you want to be part of the real
world? Is it lonely in your world? I think we may have a lot in common.'
****************************************************************************
Lain stared up at the white wooden house. She was about to knock when a person opened the
door.
"Do you want to come into my house? I like you." A man with blonde hair and beady eyes was
staring down at Lain. "You're pretty."
"Yes, I would like into come to your house."
A voice from inside interrupted the two. "Aibu, quit scaring the guest! Go read a book." The
man slowly walked away and chose a book from a shelf in the living room. He looked up from
time to time to steal glances at Lain.
"What do you want?" a blonde woman who was writing in a big red binder looked up at the
young girl.
"I've come to visit Emi."
"Why?" Oh just a second. "Ami quit that. How many times have I told you not to play in the
mud? I have to clean her up now; Emi's room is up the stairs, the door first on the left."
Lain walked slowly up the stairs. Emi's room was small. His bed was unmade and books and
toys were strung out all over the place. The books were mainly Disney related and there were
several Disney posters decorating the walls, along with several pictures of horses. Emi sat in the
middle of the room spinning blocks around in a yellow bucket.
Lain cleared an area and sat down next to the boy. She watched the blocks circle the bottom of
the pail. They made a soft whooshing noise as they traveled. The different colored blocks
seemed to blend and run together as they spun. After a long while the boy set down the pail.
Lain picked it up and tried to spin the blocks. She couldn't quite get the hang of it. They would
go as different speeds and the make a clunking noise rather than a whoosh. She handed the pail
back to the boy and watched him spin while taking mental notes, 'keep hand relaxed, don't
scrape walls of bucket with hand.' After a moment he set the pail down again and she picked it
up and tried again. It wasn't perfect, but she was improving her block spinning. The two spun
blocks for a long while.
"My name's Lain."
Emi seemed to take no notice of her, but every now and then she could swear he was peering into
the bucket of blocks as she spun.
*************************************************************************
That evening Lain went to the video store. She had never seen a Disney movie before. The
problem, however with viewing cartoons in a different language was whether to get them dubbed
or subtitled. If they were subtitled they remained truer to their original intent and dialogue, or so
she had heard, but if dubbed they were easier to view. Eventually she decided on the dub,
because if she found one she liked she may want to watch it with Emi. It was doubtful that he
could read subtitles. She chose three movies.
As she watched the movies she noticed a reoccurring theme. They were all about people who
wanted to escape from the world in which lived most their lives. Cinderella wanted to join her
prince in the world of royalty and balls. The Little Mermaid wanted to join the humans above
the sea. The Hunchback of Notre Dame wanted to be a part of the everyday world. 'Do you
want to leave your world, Emi? Do you want to join everybody.' She went to the wired.
"Everyone is connected?"
"Yes," came the unanimous answer.
"No, Emi is not connected. Autism is not connected."
There was silence on the wired.
"I want to know Emi, I want to know autism."
The glasses were back. "Isn't there a movie about an autistic person, "Rain Man" or something.
That might give you answers."
Lain stored the title of the movie in her memory.
***********************************************************************
The next afternoon Lain visited Emi again. She didn't know why she was obsessed with the
young boy and his disorder. She could usually connect with anyone. It was her specialty,
connecting the world. Possibly it was the challenge of not being able to reach Emi that called
her. Or maybe he was just such a peaceful, contemplative, cute kid that a person would have to
be idiotic not to like him.
As Lain walked up the drive to Emi's house she saw a woman playing basket ball with the man
who had greeted her the previous day. The woman turned to the man, "Just a sec." She
approached Lain.
"Hi, I'm Kathryn." She held out a hand, which Lain slowly took.
"I am Lain."
"Wow, Cinderella, that's my favorite movie!" The woman had noticed the video tucked under
the young girl's arm.
Lain smiled. "I am here to see Emi."
"He should be in his room."
Lain watched as Kathryn returned to her game. She was dribbling the ball in circles around the
man, when he reached out and put her in a bear hug. She dropped the ball to hug him back. He
grabbed it and threw it through the net.
"Aibu, that is the last time I am going to fall for that trick."
The man laughed and passed her back the ball.
Upstairs Lain found Emi. He appeared to be reading books. The young girl peered over his
shoulder. He was reading the Little Mermaid.
"I liked that movie," Lain remarked.
Emi kept reading, but he shifted a bit so his back was to Lain. She picked up another book and
the two read for sometime.
"Emi, I brought a movie." She handed Cinderella to the boy. He got up and went down to the
living room. Turning on the TV he placed the movie in the VCR. The familiar Disney music
filled the room. Emi clapped and ran up to the screen. Then he ran to Lain, then back to the
screen. He didn't sit still for the entire movie. Some times he ran, sometimes jumped. At times
it didn't even appear that he was paying attention. Eventually Kathryn entered the room.
"It was nice of you to bring a movie. How do you two know each other?"
"We met at school."
"Oh, so you go to the same school?"
Lain was silent.
"Well, I'm sure it means a lot to him that you come and see him. Emi, isn't it nice to have Lain
here?"
Emi was still pacing the room.
"Well, do you guys want some cookies?"
"No thanks."
Emi put his flat hand up to his chest and made a half circle.
"What was that?" Lain asked.
"It's the sign for 'please'," answered the woman.
"So he can communicate."
"It's difficult for him to learn, but sure he can. Why do you ask?"
"It seems I was misinformed."
"Oh, Emi can do anything if he wants to. Did you see him turn on the VCR and TV? He taught
himself how to do that. You know what else he likes to do. Look at books. Why don't you look
at books with him sometime?"
*****************************************************************************
That night Lain returned the movies and rented "Rain Man." She watched it for about ten
minutes before turning it off.
"This isn't Emi."
****************************************************************************
At the group home the next day Lain found Emi jumping on a trampoline. Kathryn was jumping
behind him, holding his hands so he could reach higher heights.
"Hi, Lain! You want to try this?"
"Hai."
Kathryn stepped off the trampoline and allowed Lain to get on.
"Take his hands and just jump as high as you can."
Lain did. It was invigorating, jumping higher and higher. Emi laughed with pure joy as the two
jumped together. They did this for a while until Emi tired of the trampoline. He went over to
Kathryn who was playing checkers with a girl in a pink dress. He reached out for her hand.
"Not now Emi, I'm busy with Ami. Why don't you show Lain what you want."
The boy stared at Lain for a while, and then took her hand. He led her up to his room and to the
bookshelf. He pushed her hand up to the high shelf.
"You want a book from up here?"
He merely pushed her hand up more. She began pulling down books. Every time she touched a
book he would shake his head or cry out. Finally as she grabbed on he clapped. She looked at
the cover, Cinderella.
Lain sat down and Emi came to sit in her lap. She turned to the first page and began to read.
Emi grabbed her hand and pointed it at the picture of the girl in rags with a washbasin.
"That's Cinderella," Lain answered.
Next he pointed to another character.
"That's the wicked step mother."
They 'read' the book in the manner for some while. Once they had finished, he looked into her
eyes for what seemed like an eternity.
He whispered a single word, "Lain."
"Emi!" She practically yelled. It had taken a while, but finally the connection had been made.
people with disabilities. I realize that the characters I am adding do no represent the entire
population of these two groups of wonderful people, but for the most part my characters are
actual sketches of people who do exist. I realize that there are several ways to make connections
between people. This is only one of them. BTW, This story is dedicated to a wonderful guy
who you will come to know as Emi Jinchino.
*****************************************************************************
"All the world's a cage."
-Jeanne Phillips
Connected
By Veronica Cereta
*****************************************************************************
Lain looked up at the large brick building. She had wandered the wired during the previous
night searching for this place, the place where Alice taught. Now that she was here, she wasn't
sure exactly what to do. Alice no longer knew her, and she didn't have much to say to her
amnesic childhood friend. A boy in the corner of the playground caught her eye. He was dark
haired with immense brown eyes. This was the skinniest child she had ever seen. He looked
about five years old, maybe six. Nobody played with the boy; he stared up at the maple trees, or
rather the sunlight filtering through them. Every now and then he held up a hand as if trying to
catch a sunbeam.
"It's Lain, ne?" Alice had discovered the misplaced girl. "From yesterday, Lain?"
"What's wrong with him?" was Lain's only reply.
"Oh Emi, well, he has autism." The two were silent for a moment. "Do you know what autism
is?"
Lain shook her head.
"Well, he can't communicate well with others and he has trouble . . ."
As Alice was talking Lain wandered off towards the boy. She stood right next to him, but he
didn't move or show any signs of noticing her presence. Lain looked up at the trees. She held
up her hand and allowed the sunlight to filter through her fingers. It was beautiful.
******************************************************************************
"What is Autism?" Lain was back searching for answers on the wired She walked a dark
corridor.
A suit and tie approached the questioning girl. "Autistic people can't communicate, they don't
know what others are feeling, and they live in their own world."
This answer didn't suit her. "What is Autism?"
A pair of glasses entered the scene. "Autistic people have trouble seeing the big picture. They
can't communicate. It is not mental retardation, but in most cases autistic people show an I.Q.
below normal."
"What is Autism?"
Flashes, words, ideas swirled around the little girl.
"Mind Blindness."
"Cause not yet known."
"Developmental Disability."
"Aspergers Syndrome."
"Impaired Social Interaction."
"Cause not yet known."
"Self Stemmed Behavior."
"Cause not yet known."
"Functional Delay."
"Angel Man Syndrome."
"CAUSE NOT YET KNOWN."
Lain spoke, "That is unacceptable. What causes Autism?"
Across the wired there was disarray. In order to appease the Lain all sorts of answers were
brought forth.
"Refrigerator Moms."
"Vaccinations."
There was something wrong, discreditable with each suggestion. Lain was unsatisfied. Finally a
nearly whole person, a rarity on the wired, approached.
"I am sorry but we do not know what causes Autism. There isn't even a clear definition of the
disorder. It's almost as if they can't live in our world. They seem to exist on their own plane."
Lain pondered this. "They do not live in the real world. They exist in a different plane." A
broad smile of understanding spread across the young girl's face.
***************************************************************************
The next day Lain was back at school standing at the fence with the boy. She watched sunlight;
she watched Emi. He seemed so peaceful, so contemplative. She leaned over and whispered in
his ear, "What's it like . . . in your world." The boy pushed his shoulder up against his ear and
squirmed away a bit.
Alice approached the children. "I see you've taken an interest in Emi," she smiled at Lain. "He
lives in a group home. I thought you might like the address. You can visit him at his house"
Lain stared down at the paper she was handed and then up at her old friend. "Arigatou."
The young girl stayed with the boy for most of the afternoon. He seemed fascinated with light
and the way it interacted with things. He didn't do much at school, but during music he smiled
and laughed while listening to the music. Lain pondered, 'do you want to be part of the real
world? Is it lonely in your world? I think we may have a lot in common.'
****************************************************************************
Lain stared up at the white wooden house. She was about to knock when a person opened the
door.
"Do you want to come into my house? I like you." A man with blonde hair and beady eyes was
staring down at Lain. "You're pretty."
"Yes, I would like into come to your house."
A voice from inside interrupted the two. "Aibu, quit scaring the guest! Go read a book." The
man slowly walked away and chose a book from a shelf in the living room. He looked up from
time to time to steal glances at Lain.
"What do you want?" a blonde woman who was writing in a big red binder looked up at the
young girl.
"I've come to visit Emi."
"Why?" Oh just a second. "Ami quit that. How many times have I told you not to play in the
mud? I have to clean her up now; Emi's room is up the stairs, the door first on the left."
Lain walked slowly up the stairs. Emi's room was small. His bed was unmade and books and
toys were strung out all over the place. The books were mainly Disney related and there were
several Disney posters decorating the walls, along with several pictures of horses. Emi sat in the
middle of the room spinning blocks around in a yellow bucket.
Lain cleared an area and sat down next to the boy. She watched the blocks circle the bottom of
the pail. They made a soft whooshing noise as they traveled. The different colored blocks
seemed to blend and run together as they spun. After a long while the boy set down the pail.
Lain picked it up and tried to spin the blocks. She couldn't quite get the hang of it. They would
go as different speeds and the make a clunking noise rather than a whoosh. She handed the pail
back to the boy and watched him spin while taking mental notes, 'keep hand relaxed, don't
scrape walls of bucket with hand.' After a moment he set the pail down again and she picked it
up and tried again. It wasn't perfect, but she was improving her block spinning. The two spun
blocks for a long while.
"My name's Lain."
Emi seemed to take no notice of her, but every now and then she could swear he was peering into
the bucket of blocks as she spun.
*************************************************************************
That evening Lain went to the video store. She had never seen a Disney movie before. The
problem, however with viewing cartoons in a different language was whether to get them dubbed
or subtitled. If they were subtitled they remained truer to their original intent and dialogue, or so
she had heard, but if dubbed they were easier to view. Eventually she decided on the dub,
because if she found one she liked she may want to watch it with Emi. It was doubtful that he
could read subtitles. She chose three movies.
As she watched the movies she noticed a reoccurring theme. They were all about people who
wanted to escape from the world in which lived most their lives. Cinderella wanted to join her
prince in the world of royalty and balls. The Little Mermaid wanted to join the humans above
the sea. The Hunchback of Notre Dame wanted to be a part of the everyday world. 'Do you
want to leave your world, Emi? Do you want to join everybody.' She went to the wired.
"Everyone is connected?"
"Yes," came the unanimous answer.
"No, Emi is not connected. Autism is not connected."
There was silence on the wired.
"I want to know Emi, I want to know autism."
The glasses were back. "Isn't there a movie about an autistic person, "Rain Man" or something.
That might give you answers."
Lain stored the title of the movie in her memory.
***********************************************************************
The next afternoon Lain visited Emi again. She didn't know why she was obsessed with the
young boy and his disorder. She could usually connect with anyone. It was her specialty,
connecting the world. Possibly it was the challenge of not being able to reach Emi that called
her. Or maybe he was just such a peaceful, contemplative, cute kid that a person would have to
be idiotic not to like him.
As Lain walked up the drive to Emi's house she saw a woman playing basket ball with the man
who had greeted her the previous day. The woman turned to the man, "Just a sec." She
approached Lain.
"Hi, I'm Kathryn." She held out a hand, which Lain slowly took.
"I am Lain."
"Wow, Cinderella, that's my favorite movie!" The woman had noticed the video tucked under
the young girl's arm.
Lain smiled. "I am here to see Emi."
"He should be in his room."
Lain watched as Kathryn returned to her game. She was dribbling the ball in circles around the
man, when he reached out and put her in a bear hug. She dropped the ball to hug him back. He
grabbed it and threw it through the net.
"Aibu, that is the last time I am going to fall for that trick."
The man laughed and passed her back the ball.
Upstairs Lain found Emi. He appeared to be reading books. The young girl peered over his
shoulder. He was reading the Little Mermaid.
"I liked that movie," Lain remarked.
Emi kept reading, but he shifted a bit so his back was to Lain. She picked up another book and
the two read for sometime.
"Emi, I brought a movie." She handed Cinderella to the boy. He got up and went down to the
living room. Turning on the TV he placed the movie in the VCR. The familiar Disney music
filled the room. Emi clapped and ran up to the screen. Then he ran to Lain, then back to the
screen. He didn't sit still for the entire movie. Some times he ran, sometimes jumped. At times
it didn't even appear that he was paying attention. Eventually Kathryn entered the room.
"It was nice of you to bring a movie. How do you two know each other?"
"We met at school."
"Oh, so you go to the same school?"
Lain was silent.
"Well, I'm sure it means a lot to him that you come and see him. Emi, isn't it nice to have Lain
here?"
Emi was still pacing the room.
"Well, do you guys want some cookies?"
"No thanks."
Emi put his flat hand up to his chest and made a half circle.
"What was that?" Lain asked.
"It's the sign for 'please'," answered the woman.
"So he can communicate."
"It's difficult for him to learn, but sure he can. Why do you ask?"
"It seems I was misinformed."
"Oh, Emi can do anything if he wants to. Did you see him turn on the VCR and TV? He taught
himself how to do that. You know what else he likes to do. Look at books. Why don't you look
at books with him sometime?"
*****************************************************************************
That night Lain returned the movies and rented "Rain Man." She watched it for about ten
minutes before turning it off.
"This isn't Emi."
****************************************************************************
At the group home the next day Lain found Emi jumping on a trampoline. Kathryn was jumping
behind him, holding his hands so he could reach higher heights.
"Hi, Lain! You want to try this?"
"Hai."
Kathryn stepped off the trampoline and allowed Lain to get on.
"Take his hands and just jump as high as you can."
Lain did. It was invigorating, jumping higher and higher. Emi laughed with pure joy as the two
jumped together. They did this for a while until Emi tired of the trampoline. He went over to
Kathryn who was playing checkers with a girl in a pink dress. He reached out for her hand.
"Not now Emi, I'm busy with Ami. Why don't you show Lain what you want."
The boy stared at Lain for a while, and then took her hand. He led her up to his room and to the
bookshelf. He pushed her hand up to the high shelf.
"You want a book from up here?"
He merely pushed her hand up more. She began pulling down books. Every time she touched a
book he would shake his head or cry out. Finally as she grabbed on he clapped. She looked at
the cover, Cinderella.
Lain sat down and Emi came to sit in her lap. She turned to the first page and began to read.
Emi grabbed her hand and pointed it at the picture of the girl in rags with a washbasin.
"That's Cinderella," Lain answered.
Next he pointed to another character.
"That's the wicked step mother."
They 'read' the book in the manner for some while. Once they had finished, he looked into her
eyes for what seemed like an eternity.
He whispered a single word, "Lain."
"Emi!" She practically yelled. It had taken a while, but finally the connection had been made.