Daniel was led to a small outdoor space and guided around the area so he could familiarize himself with what was there. This wasn't a typical playground like you'd see in any regular New York City school. It was enclosed on three sides by a high chain-link fence and on the fourth by the building. There was a row of wooden benches and one drinking fountain against the building. In the center was a patch of stubby grass and nothing else. Daniel could hear several children talking and laughing. There was the occasional sprinkle of adult conversation among the children's voices.

"Daniel, I'm going to leave you here now. Someone will come in a few minutes and bring all the kids into a classroom." Dr. Tanzi led Daniel to a bench.

Daniel sat and waited. Soon a child came over and sat down near him. She leaned over to him. "Is it okay if I feel your face? The teachers say we have to ask first."

Daniel nodded and then remembered she couldn't see that. He fumbled around on the bench between them and found her hand. He brought it up to his face and allowed her to "see" what he looked like. She kept her hands on his head.

"I think you're about seven? Is that right?"

Daniel shook his head no.

"Eight?"

He shook his head again?"

"Nine?"

He nodded yes.

"You're kind of small for nine. I also think that you can hear, but don't speak, right?"

He nodded again.

"Are you new here?"

He nodded.

"This is my fifth year. I started when I was almost five and now I'm eight, but I'll be nine next week. My parents are going to have a big party for my family. Maybe you can come." She shifted a little closer to Daniel so she wouldn't have to reach so far to touch him. "You know, I should teach you a few words that you could sign into my hand. That way you won't have to keep nodding and shaking. Might get sick to your stomach that way."

"This is yes." She took his hands and finger spelled y, e, s into them. "Now you do it."

Daniel got excited and fairly bounced with enthusiasm. This was a way he could communicate to people and he might not feel so isolated. He spelled "yes" back into her hands.

"Good job. Okay, this is no." She spelled n, o into his hands and he spelled it back to her.

"Have you always been blind?"

No.

"Were you sick?"

No.

"Oh, you had an accident?"

Yes.

"Here, I'll spell my name for you. It's a, m, y. Amy." She spelled it into Daniel's hand and he spelled it back. "Hey, you learn really fast! I'll bet you were really good in school when you could see."

No.

"No? You weren't a good student? Hey, we can't all be smart."

Daniel felt frustrated that he didn't have the knowledge to tell her that he'd never been to school before. He turned his head sharply to the right when he heard a bell.

"Oh, that will be Mr. Addison, our teacher. We have to go. Come on, I'll help you."

The students gathered together close to the door. Daniel could hear an adult walking near the group of kids. His right hand was gently opened, a loop of rope slipped over his wrist and his hand was clamped shut over the rope. A few moments later, the teacher called out.

"I'm Mr. Addison, for you new students. Please hold onto the rope and I'll lead you to our classroom."

Daniel held on and stepped forward when the rope pulled him forward. He shuffled along, afraid to lift his feet up and trip over something. They were led a short way down a hallway and into a room before the rope slacked in Daniel's hands. He stopped and waited.

"All right. Good job for you new kids." Daniel liked the sound of Mr. Addison's voice. It was deep, but gentle and seemed friendly. "If you slide your feet around on the linoleum floor, you'll find some tiles with a rough texture. Go ahead and sit down on one of those tiles when you find it." Mr. Addison began moving among the children, guiding those who had strayed too far away from one of the textured tiles.

"This is a fourth grade classroom and most of you have had me as a teacher since you were in kindergarten. I hope you like me, because you're stuck with me until you finish eighth grade." Daniel could hear the smile in the teacher's voice and decided that he felt comfortable with this man. "Those few of you who are new will be pulled from the class some time today so that you can be tested to be sure this is the correct placement for you."

Daniel suddenly tensed as he realized that because he wasn't speaking, he'd probably be put into another room. He didn't want to leave his new friend Amy or Mr. Addison. He began blinking quickly to keep tears from overflowing. He knew the other kids couldn't see him crying, but Mr. Addison could. He wrapped his arms around his chest and began rocking gently in an effort to calm himself. He was just beginning to get control of his emotions when he heard the door open.

"Dr. Tanzi, welcome." Mr. Addison let the kids know who had just entered the room.

"Mr. Addison. It looks like you have a good group of kids again this year."

"Yes. We're just beginning to get acquainted."

Dr. Tanzi turned to face the children. "Daniel, would you stand please?"

Daniel sucked in a deep breath and prayed that he could pass whatever tests were coming so that he could come back into this room. Dr. Tanzi stepped carefully among the seated children until he reached Daniel. He took Daniel's hand and placed it on his arm, just above the back of his elbow, so that he could walk about one step ahead of Daniel.

Daniel was led back to the doctor's office and into a room off to the side. Dr. Tanzi guided him to a table and placed his hands on the back of a chair. Daniel pulled the chair out and sat at the table.

"Okay, Daniel. I'm going to ask you some questions and you answer. Ready?"

Daniel signed yes with his fingers.

Dr. Tanzi's head snapped up in surprise. "Where did you learn that already?"

Daniel signed Amy.

"I know her. Very friendly young lady. Did she teach you anything else?"

Daniel signed yes. Then he signed no, yes and Amy. He shrugged to show that that was all he knew.

"I'm impressed. Could you read and write before your accident?"

Yes.

"Would you like me to teach you the finger alphabet? It would help our testing if you could finger spell the answers."

Yes.

Dr. Tanzi slowly recited the alphabet while finger spelling the signs into Daniel's hand. After about ten minutes, Daniel had the alphabet memorized. He spelled his full name into Dr. Tanzi's hand.

"Incredible, Daniel. I think you'll do very well here with us. Okay, let's get started."

Since Daniel had already been reading and writing English several years beyond his age, he knew how to spell the answers to Dr. Tanzi's questions. He only fumbled a few times, trying to remember the new finger spelling, but he was able to complete the testing within the hour.

Dr. Tanzi sat back in his seat, astonished at what he had just witnessed. "Daniel, you've done very well. If you were speaking I think I'd place you in seventh grade, instead of fourth."

He stood and paced back and forth, while Daniel waited apprehensively to hear where he would be going.

"I'm going to leave you with Mr. Addison, so that you can learn Braille and some of the other skills you'll need now and we'll see what we should do with you in a few months. I have a strong feeling that you'll learn quickly." He glanced down at his watch. "It's about time for lunch, so I'll take you back to your classroom."

XXXXXXXXXX

The rest of the school day went well as Amy made herself his personal guide. By the time he was ready for bed that night, he was physically and emotionally exhausted. When his head finally sank down into the comfort of his pillow, he thought he'd be asleep almost instantly, but the events and fears of the day kept popping up in his head. He tried to sort out and make sense of everything, but all that kept surfacing was the faces of his parents. He turned over on his side and curled into a ball. He wrapped his arms around himself and began rocking gently, until the boy on the top bunk yelled at him to stop shaking the bed. So he just wept quietly as the overwhelming feelings of loss and fear swept over him.

He felt so alone.