Falling asleep at dawn

The mist pulled up, slower this time  but darker, and Becca realized she had been dropped again:

This time was a little different.  She felt slight, and shorter.  The darkness stayed a bit longer and she realized she had just been given instruction.  Then she saw a dark shoe.

Footprints.

Flowers.

Her eyes adjusted and she realized she was wearing a dark uniform.  And holding a child.

As they walked slowly forward more details came into play.  A classroom.  A white teacher and Hispanic aide.  Children quietly putting together puzzles at tables.  Becca looked down again.  She had her arms around a little Black girl whose eyes were open but the child obviously could not see.  Becca was leading the child toward a small back room, one step at a time, as the teacher's aide called out colors corresponding to the painted figures on the floor. 

Once they reached the room, the child perched on the edge of a hard chair, annoyed but patient.  Becca looked around and realized this was an office full of supplies.  The opposite door stood open to a bathroom.  "I have to pee," the girl stated flatly.  "The teacher sighed as she ripped open a packet of needles. "You know the rule.  Medicine first, but you have to learn your colors.  You took longer than you should have today so you don't get lunch."

Becca was stunned.  The girl was blind, around 8 years old.  The child didn't move, nor did she cry.  Then Becca realized that this had happened before.  The details slowly flooded in - she was a security guard in this New York classroom, and one of her duties was to guide this girl to recess, the bathroom, lunch, and to the bus.

The details of the room shifted and became hazy.  Suddenly Becca was in a busy hallway, and she realized she was downstairs from the classroom.  She was herself, but not yet fully fully formed.  No one saw her staring at the ceiling but everyone heard the shouting.

"She's a kid!  You are her teacher!  How dare you deny her food??!" Diane shouted.  She was the real guard, and she had her arm protectively around the girl.  The teacher, shocked, shouted back "Know your place.  You know the rules.  I don't have time to accommodate her so if she has to go to the bathroom before her time then she loses time elsewhere.  I'll have your job for insubordinance..." The yelling faded as more authorities came.

Becca felt confused.  Why was she here? 

Fast forward in time, and Diane was being escorted down the stairs.  She left the school in a huff, and Becca hurried to catch up.  Diane was muttering to herself as she stomped down the sidewalk.

"I never should have come to New York.  These people are cruel.  Awful ass bitch.  She is just a blind kid!"  Diane was livid.

"What would you have done instead of New York?"  Becca asked.  Diane whirled around, eyes blazing.  "I should have finished my degree.  I wanted to sing so I came here."

"They have night school..." Becca started
"I work nights sometimes," Diane snapped.
"What about class before, and switching to all nights?"  Becca suggested.
"I didn't finish high school."
"We can work toward a GED."
"I hate my job," Diane moaned.
"Let's see what else is out there." Becca slid her arm around Diane's shoulders and slipped some brochures into her hands.  "There are options.  We get better then we come back and help her."

Diane smiled, her fear and relief making her eyes shiny. "We won't forget her?"

"Oh no," Becca assured her.  "We won't forget."

Happy - a dream

The shroud lifted, and somewhere in dreaming Becca's mind she knew she had been "dropped in" again:

She found herself sitting on a front porch surrounded by young people.  She could tell by the looks on their faces they were uncomfortable, though they tried hard not to show it much.  She felt shell shocked.  She knew it showed on her face.

"You look beautiful," she said, probably again for the hundredth time, to a stunning girl with smooth dark skin and short afro.  The girl sat opposite her, near the edge of the blue porch, in an almost too big for her wedding gown.  There were diamond gems blinking down her bodice.  She seemed ethereal.

The dress crinkled under a blue denim coat.  It, along with skinny brown arms belonging to a young man barely twenty, wrapped protectively around the girl.  The girl smiled grimly at her surprise guest but said nothing.  Her groom leaned in slightly and responded "thank you."

Becca gave it one last shot:  "Will you dance?"  The girl answered quickly before thinking, "after you leave"  Blood drained from her face but she did not bite back her words.  The smaller kids sitting around her briefly stopped their fidgeting, but they chose not to respond to the command.  Becca nodded sadly, understanding.  The girl could see.  Everyone could see.

Becca rose clumsily to her feet.  "I'll go.  This was... lovely." How did she know?

She was halfway across the yard, not sure where she was going.  There was a road so some primitive thought said follow.  She wore slim pants and a thin coat, and felt a purse over her shoulder.  Perhaps there was money for a cab.  Perhaps there were keys.  Having just "arrived" in this body, as often happened in her dreams, she'd figure it out later when she was away from prying eyes.

Laughing, an older girl and her mother rounded the corner of the house.  They had been singing and dancing.  Noticing Becca's departure, the girl reached and grabbed Becca's arm. "Where are you going??"  She spun Becca and regarded the porch occupants, her gaze softening.  "It's a wedding.  won't you stay and dance?"

"Oh, no, I..." Becca faltered.  "I don't want to intrude.  They seem so happy, and I..."

"You what?  You don't want happy?  You don't want them to be happy??"  the older girl's grip tightened on Becca's jacket.  Becca sensed the connection just as the girl's voice sharpened.  "You don't want my sister to be happy?"

"No, of course I do!  She has her whole life, and I..." Paranoia gripped Becca as she groped for the right words.  She just wanted to get away, find her bearings.  Who was she?  "She is so young but she has made her choice to be happy.  I want the chance to do the same."