At the entrance to the preschool class, Elsie Adams stopped and said, "Here we are. It’s free activity ti now, and the kids are playing inside."
Yolanda Greenwood glanced inside. There were about twenty children, just like she expected. In addition to Elsie, there were two other teachers playing with the kids.
Little Ella was too short to see anything. She stretched her arms toward Yolanda, "Mommy, hug . I want to see too."
Although the little girl had been braver than Yolanda on the way here, she was evidently a bit nervous now.
Yolanda bent down, picked her up, and continued asking Elsie about so details.
Little Ella blinked her big eyes and curiously watched the children inside. Soon, she noticed a little boy sitting in the corner with his back turned to everyone.
"Mommy," she asked curiously, "why isn’t that boy playing with the others?"
Elsie followed the direction of her gaze, glanced over, and lowered her voice, "That little boy has autism. He doesn’t like playing with others. When you go in later, you shouldn’t disturb him."
"What is autism?" Little Ella asked, hearing the term for the first ti, her big eyes filled with curiosity. "Is it more serious than my illness?"
Yolanda looked again at the boy’s back. Perhaps he seed too lonely—her heart couldn’t help but ache a little.
"Well, you see, that boy has a different kind of sickness. It’s more of an emotional illness, not the sa as yours."
Elsie hesitated, her mouth opening as if to say sothing, but in the end, she just repeated herself, "Ella, when you’re inside, make sure not to bother him, all right?"
Little Ella nodded. "Got it."
After confirming there were no further concerns, Yolanda put Little Ella down, gave her a few more instructions, and prepared to leave.
"Ella, be good. Mommy will co to pick you up later this evening."
"Okay." Clutching Yolanda’s clothes, Little Ella said reluctantly, "But Mommy, co pick up early, okay? Otherwise, I’ll miss you so much."
Yolanda’s nose stung, and for a mont, she regretted sending Little Ella to preschool.
Elsie, having clearly encountered this scenario many tis, leaned in and whispered to Yolanda, "It’s okay, Ms. Greenwood. You can head back. We’ll take good care of Ella. Rest assured."
"All right." Yolanda glanced at Little Ella one last ti, then turned and walked away without looking back.
Little Ella stood there, watching Yolanda’s figure disappear into the distance. Her lips trembled, and she looked like she was about to cry.
"Ella, let’s go inside. The other kids are waiting for you." Elsie quickly led her into the classroom to distract her.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered, Little Ella managed to hold back her tears.
Elsie breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Little Ella was a considerate and well-behaved child.
She let go of Little Ella’s hand and encouraged her, "Ella, why don’t you go introduce yourself to the other kids?"
"Okay." Little Ella walked hesitantly toward the children, her big eyes scanning their faces.
The children imdiately surrounded her upon seeing a new classmate.
A mischievous little boy tugged lightly at her dress. "You’re so pretty," he said.
Another child teased her deliberately, "Your mommy left you here. Why aren’t you crying?"
Soone else grabbed her hand. "Let’s be best friends, okay?"
Clearly, Little Ella was so exquisitely beautiful that even children her age couldn’t help wanting to approach her and play with her.
Little Ella opened her small backpack and took out a bag of candies, handing them out to everyone.
"These candies are delicious. Let’s share them." She divided the candies one by one, smiling as she introduced herself. "My na is Ella Greenwood. You can all call Ella."
As expected, apart from beauty, candies were the heart-lters for kids. Instantly, everyone liked Little Ella even more.
From a short distance, Elsie and the other two teachers were stunned at what they saw. They had never co across such a clever and charming child before.
However, there was always soone unimpressed.
A little girl in a pink dress, just like Ella’s, suddenly threw the candy to the ground.
"I don’t want it. My mommy said eating candy gives you cavities. Good kids don’t eat candy." She pointed a finger at Little Ella and declared, "You’re a bad kid trying to trick us."
"No, no!" Little Ella shook her head fervently, like a rattle drum. "This candy’s different. It doesn’t cause cavities. And we only eat one piece—it’ll be fine."
"Well, I’m still not eating it!" The little girl crossed her arms smugly.
"I’ll eat it. It’s yummy." A little boy stuck his tongue out at the girl, instinctively coming to Little Ella’s defense.
The little girl’s eyes reddened. Suddenly, as if recalling sothing, she pointed toward the boy sitting in the corner and said, "I won’t eat it, and neither will Gabriel, hmph!"
At the ntion of Gabriel, the entire classroom fell silent.
The little boy nad Gabriel remained where he was, with his back to everyone, quietly occupied with sothing in the corner.
Little Ella still held one last candy in her hand. Thinking for a mont, she turned and started walking toward Gabriel.
Imdiately, a child tried to hold her back. "Don’t go there. He’ll hit you."
"It’s okay. I’ll give him candy. He won’t hit ." Little Ella was confident. After all, she wasn’t doing anything wrong. Why would this boy nad Gabriel hit her?
She continued walking toward the corner.
The other children instinctively made way, eyes wide as they watched her approach Gabriel.
One of the teachers stood up nervously and asked, "Should we stop her?"
"Let’s wait and see," Elsie said, pulling the teacher back, her eyes fixed on Little Ella and Gabriel in the corner.
Although she was certain there was no connection between the two children, she couldn’t help but find it extraordinary. One was nad Gabriel Coldson, and the other Ella Greenwood. And strangely enough, she thought the two looked sowhat alike.
Indulging in a wild hope, she thought perhaps Ella might be the breakthrough for Gabriel to erge from his autism.
Soon, Little Ella reached Gabriel’s back. She lightly tapped his shoulder. "Hi, would you like so candy?"
The boy remained faced away, unresponsive.
Little Ella summoned her courage and asked again, "Your na is Gabriel, right? My na is Ella. I’ll share with you!"
The boy still didn’t move, showing no reaction at all.
Little Ella frowned slightly, feeling frustrated. Instinctively, she turned her head to look at Elsie.
Elsie nodded, signaling for her to try again.
Little Ella took a deep breath and stepped around to stand in front of Gabriel. Her big eyes sparkled as she realized how beautiful this boy nad Gabriel was.
She stretched out her soft, pink little hand, a pink candy resting quietly on her palm. Her black-and-white eyes were full of sincerity and warmth.
She spoke sweetly, "Big brother, would you like so candy? This candy is really tasty and won’t hurt your teeth."
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