DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own the ponies you recognize in this story. They belong to Hasbro. I do however own The Hartson girls, as well as anyone else you don't recognize.
God loves you
Enjoy!
A/N: We're getting close to the end of the story. Thank you so much to everyone who has hung on until the end! I hope everyone likes this next chapter!
"The Power of Words"
Chapter 4
When Megan and Molly arrived at the clinic, Molly became very shy, not to mention clingy. She didn't want Megan to put her down.
When her older sister did so, Molly wrapped her arms around her waist, forcing the older girl to pick her back up once again.
When they reached the room, Megan sat on a chair with Molly in her lap.
Ten minutes later, the teacher came in. She smiled when she saw Molly, and smiled even wider when she saw Megan as if she recognized her from somewhere.
It was only when Megan looked up to return the smile did she notice who it was.
"Miss Elle! Oh my goodness. It's so good to see you again. Moll, look who it is." She got up to greet her and Molly's old pre-kindergarten teacher and Molly grinned a little, but still didn't say anything.
After everyone was in the room, Miss Elle took role and then started the lesson. She allowed Molly to remain on Megan's lap as long as she paid attention to what was going on.
When it came time for Molly to participate, she didn't want to. She buried her face in Megan's shoulder and wouldn't look at Miss Elle or the board with the letters on it. She was just plain scared.
"Come on, Moll," Megan said, using her sister's family nickname, "it's going to be okay. I promise. Miss Elle isn't going to hurt you. She just wants to help you say your "GE" Words better, that's all."
Molly nodded, but she was stil crying as Megan carried her back to the room.
Meanwhile, back in Paradise Estate, Wind Whistler was having some trouble of her own. She was trying to teach Danny his math, but Danny's mind was elsewhere.
He was thinking of his detention with Mrs. Patterson and how he could earn himself some more time with her.
"So 1/3 plus 1/36 equals what?" Wind Whistler asked expectantly.
"Huh?" Danny asked.
"Are you even paying attention?" Wind Whistler demanded, she was starting to get a little frustrated with Danny.
Danny nodded.
"Well, what did I just say then?" Wind Whistler asked.
Danny sighed, which proved Wind Whistler's point.
"I can't teach you if you won't pay attention to me." She said, using words he would understand instead of her usual way of speaking for once.
Danny shrugged before trying in vein to concentrate on his math homework and the lesson Wind Whistler was trying to teach him.
Meanwhile, back in the clinic, Megan was trying to get Molly to cooperate. It was hard and Miss Elle was trying her best to show Molly that she had nothing to fear. She even had one of the other girls go first, so that Molly wouldn't feel like she was being put on the spot. They were supposed to be repeating words and saying names of colors and shapes that Miss Elle pointed to on the board above the poster on the wall. It was supposed to show Miss Elle what they had trouble with.
Most of the kids had trouble saying "SH" Words and other things, but not many of them had Molly's problem. Except for one little girl named Paige.
"Molly, can you tell me what this color is?" Miss Elle asked. She pointed to an orange diamond that was next to a blue triangle.
Molly looked at it, but didn't say a word.
"You can do it, Moll," Megan encouraged. "Come on. Just try. For me?"
Molly shook her head and buried her face in Megan's shoulder.
Megan sighed and rubbed her back. She knew this was going to be hard, but she didn't think Molly would be this scared.
"All right, Paige," Miss Elle said. "Can you tell us what it is, sweetie?"
"Oran….." Paige said, stopping slightly. "Oran… Oranse."
Hearing this, Molly turned around to see who had said it. She glanced to her right to see a little girl about the age of five, sitting on a chair. She had light brown hair that was in a braid and brown eyes. She looked really friendly.
Molly gave her a small smile and then asked, "You can't say it either?"
Megan gasped in surprise. She hadn't expected Molly to blurt that question out like that. She nudged her gently.
"Molly!" She scolded.
"It's okay, Megan," Miss Elle said. "That's a very good question."
Paige shook her head and almost started crying.
Molly then did something that totally surprised Megan. She got off her lap and went over to Paige. She put an arm around her and gave her a hug.
"Do you want to sit next to me and my sister?" She asked.
Paige nodded and let Molly take her hand. When they were sitting back down, Megan took Molly onto her lap and then whispered in her ear, "I'm very proud of you, my little sunshine."
Molly nodded and turned around to face Miss Elle again. Miss Elle was also smiling at her.
"Now, can anyone tell me what this is?" She asked, pointing to the orange diamond again.
This time, Molly raised her hand. She was going to try, even if she didn't get it right.
"Oran… ORanse." Molly said, she frowned, but Miss Elle was smiling at her.
"Good try, Molly. Look at Miss Elle. Watch me. Repeat after me. Oran (R ae n dz) Oran (R ae n dz). Now you try."
Molly took a deep breath and tried her best. "Oran. Oran… Oran… Oranse."
"Orange!" Shouted a boy to Molly's right. "Anybody can say that."
"Brandon!" Miss Elle scolded firmly. "Remember what I said about using your nice words. That wasn't nice. Now say you're sorry."
Brandon didn't move or make an attempt to say sorry to Molly. He stayed silent.
Megan was glaring at him as was Paige.
Paige had grown to like Molly over the first few minutes of their meeting and she didn't like it when people were mean to her friends. Even if they were new.
"Say sorry, now!" Paige demanded. She stood up and glared at Brandon.
"No." HE said defiantly. 'I'm not sorry. She can't even say orange right. I could say that at three."
Paige glared at him. She didn't like Brandon much. He was a brat.
Molly had once again buried her face in Megan's shoulder and had started to cry. This was not a good thing, considering she had just started perking up.
As Megan tried to calm her down, she glared at Brandon as did most of the other kids.
Miss Elle frowned, but continued with the lesson. She asked various kids questions and then it was Brandon's turn to be embarrassed.
"Brandon," Miss Elle said, "can you tell me what this animal is?" She was pointing to a kangaroo.
Brandon stared at the animal, but didn't say anything.
"Brandon?" Miss Elle asked. "Do you know what this animal is?"
Brandon finally spoke,
"Kan… Kan… Kaneroo."
Molly giggled into her hand.
Megan gave her sister a slight nudge. She leaned over and hissed into her left ear, "Molly, you know better. That's not nice."
"So what?" Molly asked. "He laughed at me."
"Still," Megan said. "You know better than that."
"So that's what it is!" Paige said, sitting up straighter in her chair.
Brandon blushed and turned away from Paige, who was now giggling softly.
"Now, now girls," Miss Elle said, "settle down."
Megan nudged Molly, who quieted down as did Paige. A few minutes later, Miss Elle asked them to do something that Molly wasn't' ready for. She got a book off the shelf and gave it to Paige.
"Can you read the first page and then give it to Molly, okay?"
Paige nodded and did so. As she opened the book, she started to read it and then stopped. She stumbled on a word and then continued.
When she gave it to Molly, Molly took it with shaky hands, but didn't' read it. She couldn't. She was too scared. All she could remember was what had happened to her that morning with her teacher.
Megan noticed this and tried to encourage Molly to do it.
"Come on, Moll. It's okay. Remember how we read at home every night? I read a page, then you read one. It's just like that. Only you get to read a lot more. Come on. I'll bet Fizzy will be really proud of you when I tell her how well you did."
But it was no use, Molly didn't make an effort to read one word. She buried her face in Megan's shoulder and started to cry again.
Miss Elle frowned sympathetically towards the scared child and told Brandon to take his turn. He did so, and stumbled on the word Kangaroo. Paige giggled, but Molly didn't even notice.
By the time the class was over, Molly had cried herself to sleep again. Megan carried her out of the room to where Firefly and North Star were waiting to take them back to Paradise Estate.
Firefly frowned when she saw Molly's expression.
"Something tells me it didn't go well." She guessed, nuzzling both girls.
Megan shook her head.
When Megan and Molly got back home, they found Wind Whistler in a foul mood and Danny typing on Megan's computer. He was e-mailing someone.
"Off now," Megan demanded. "We need to talk."
"But Megan, I was-" Danny started to say, but Megan cut him off.
"No but Megan anything. Come on." She shut the computer off mid type and ushered Danny into the living room. "Why did you not cooperate with Wind Whistler when she was trying to teach you your fractions?"
danny hung his head.
"My mind wasn't on fractions." He admitted.
"Were you thinking about Mrs. Patterson?" Molly asked, giggling.
"Molly," Megan said sternly, "You're about ten seconds away from going on time out. I suggest you go play and leave me to deal with our cousin."
Molly nodded, but she was still giggling as she left the room to find Fizzy.
After Molly was gone, Megan turned to Danny.
"You are in BIG trouble."
"For what?" Danny asked.
"For talking back to me for starters…." Megan said as she went into a lecturing mode.
Megan was frustrated about Molly's school situation and Danny's antics with his math teacher. And the stuff he was pulling just to get detention so that he could be with Mrs. Patterson was making it worse.
Danny was usually a good kid, so Megan didn't understand why he was choosing to do things this way rather than just offer to do after school jobs for Mrs. Patterson. That was a much safer way to spend time with her, at least in Megan's opinion.
Meanwhile in the nursery, Molly was looking at her new reading book that Megan had bought her. As she glanced down at the pictures, Fizzy galloped in. She smiled when she saw Molly.
"Can I join you?" She asked.
Molly nodded, but she was frowning.
"I'll never learn how to read this," She said, a few tears of defeat streaming down her face.
"Never say never," Fizzy said. "Remember, I taught you how to read when you were just four years old. You did a great job then. You can do it again. I'll help you."
Molly gazed at Fizzy hopefully.
"You will? Really? You'd do that for me?"
Fizzy smiled and nuzzled Molly lovingly.
"Of course I will. You're my best friend. I'd do anythin' for you. You know that. Come on. Let's see…" With that, Molly and Fizzy started their mini lesson.