#10 Suzy is Special

Every day Suzy wakes up and walks to school, just like her friends do. At school she puts down her backpack and pulls out her supplies, just as her classmates do. She eats lunch and goes to recess like everyone does. But Suzy knows she is special in many ways.

What makes Suzy special though, Suzy would sometimes think. Was it the way she talked, walked, or looked?

"No, that can't be," Suzy thought. She had cute hair on her head, a beautiful set of eyes, and ten tiny toes on her feet. She thought she must have done something bad to be so different.

Everyday Suzy has special classes. She has had special classes for something that made her different. She didn’t know how she felt at first. The kind teachers would take her out of her class and she would have to leave her friends. Suzy now hated the special classes, because she knew she went to them because she was different.

In these classes the teachers would always give Suzy and her other special friends attention. Suzy liked this attention. The classes were always fun. She and her friends might start the class with exercises and then sit down for word games and math. She would be happy when they competed and she won. This would be when Suzy finally would think she was smart.

But this feeling only was felt until she left these classes just for her and her friends. When she went back to her classes with all her normal friends, she knew the "special" title was a lie. This word, like she thought all along meant "different". This "different" to her meant "stupid".

Suzy couldn't speak like the other kids. Suzy couldn't understand what other kids could. She took extra time to complete almost any task and spent hours studying for what took other minutes. Suzy felt as small as a mouse, unable to do things that the normal kids do.

Suzy came home crying that day. As soon as Suzy saw her mom, Suzy ran into her arms.

"Mom, why am I so stupid? I can't think like the other kids. I can't speak like the other kids," Suzy cried. "Have I done something wrong?"

"Suzy, baby, you haven't done anything wrong," assured Suzy's mom. "You tried your best every day and that is all that matters. Just because you are different it doesn't mean you're stupid"

"We all can't be the best, you can always aim to be better than what you can today. Everyone is special," said Suzy's mom. Suzy sat there for a bit with her mom. Her mother wiped away her tears and made Suzy promise her that she would not compare herself to others again.

Every day Suzy tries her hardest. Suzy wakes up early to eat her breakfast and double checks her supplies to go to school. Suzy is proud that she knows all her times tables and can finally spell hard words like poodle and puddle.

When the kind teachers get her to go to her special classes, Suzy doesn't get upset, but excited. She hopes to one day do the things that she didn't believe she could. Suzy's new dream to be a teacher, like her kind teachers.

Today Suzy has graduated from her special classes, though she has so much work still ahead of her. Suzy may not have an easy time in front of her, but she remembers what her mom said. Suzy will aim to be better than her today. Suzy is proud of being different and proud of all that she has done.
Suzy is amazingly special.