The Words We Speak

Estella gripped the corner of the desk sadly.

“Didn‘t you promise Mommy this morning that you‘ll learn how to talk slowly?” Benny gazed at her. “If you can‘t talk, you can call our names.

We‘ve been calling your name, Essie, but you‘ve never said our names!”

Estella parted her lips but nothing came out of her mouth. She grew anxious and was about to burst into tears.

Seeing that, Archie and Benny gave her the pencil instead of forcing her to talk.

However, for the next few days, the two boys grew distant from her at home and at the kindergarten.

Every time Estella came to them, Benny would huff angrily, “We treated you well, but you wouldn‘t even call our names! We‘re going to ignore you!”

Estella was devastated.

For the next few days, Esiella played with Roxanne at home but had no playmates at the kindergarten.

She could only watch as Archie and Benny played with the other children and ignored her entirely. Finally, she plucked up her courage to run to them.

The boys shared a look an