A SPECIAL STUDENT FOR A SPECIAL TEACHER by Danie Aswad bin Mohamed Salim 23rd July 2002. Saturday.

It was raining that day. Miss Aida went to the graveyard. One of the usual mundane things she would do every Saturday. Upon arriving, she stood in front of the grave of a person who would remain in her heart eternally. A name was written on the tombstone. Samad Bin Ismail. As Miss Aida stood there, her mind drifted back to the time when Samad was still alive, still very much part of her life. Miss Aida, her eyes brimming with tears, said, I did not know how to teach until I met you. Thank you. Then, she left the place with a weak smile gracing her face. This is a story that happened many years ago; the story of an elementary teacher and her student, a sad story. One morning, as Miss Aida stood in front of her 6th grade class, a student asked her a question; a question that froze her thoughts freeze for a while, a question that caused her to lie to her students. Teacher, whom do you love the most among all of us? asked Inani while smiling sheepishly. Each and every single one of you, of course. Miss Aida replied. Still, everyone knew that what she said was impossible. Deep in her heart there was a boy sitting at the corner of the class. Yes, it was him. It was Samad Bin Ismail.

Samad was not the type of person you think he is. No, he is neither smart nor rich. He never did tag along well with other children and he is the type of person whom other children loved to pick on, loved to call names, and loved to hate. His clothes were messy and he had a kind of unpleasant body odour. The sad part of his life was the rare disease he had that affected his lungs badly. The only person who cared for him was his father and as for his mother, she was dead. Having someone dear to you wrenched away at the tender age of 9 definitely leaves you with sacred memories. Miss Aida realized his problem and was ashamed of herself. So she paid particular attention to Samad. She often helped him with his homework and always encouraged him to study. Miss Aida also helped Samad in other ways such as buying him clothes and stationery, and she even gave him pocket money sometimes. Teachers at the school had taken to calling her Maiden From Heaven for her kindness and empathy towards Samad. As few months passed, Samad became one of the smartest boys and one of the Teachers pets. For the first time in Samads life, he felt happy. For the first time, he felt appreciated. Emotions long bottled up inside him gushed out in a sea of tears. No one could describe how happy he felt. Then, the memorable day came. 16 th May 1999. It was Teachers Day and Samad decided to give Miss Aida a present as a token of appreciation. On that day, each and every one of her students brought her presents wrapped in beautiful ribbons and colourful paper, except for one. Samads present. His present was clumsily wrapped in crumpled violet paper. It pierced her heart to open Samads present amongst the other presents. Most of the children broke into laughter when
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she found a broken amulet and a piece of envelope but she stifled her laughter and said how pretty the amulet was. Miss Aida stayed after school that day just to see the content of the envelope. Inside the envelope was a leaf that had something written on it. There is nothing I can give you on this day except the broken amulet that used to belong to my mother and the leaves that I could find in my village. Do you know that my dad cried yesterday when I asked him for a present to give you? The only thing I wanted you to know is that Im sorry and thank you for all the things you have done for me. With love, Samad Ismail.

Tears rolled down Miss Aidas cheeks. On that very day, she vowed to herself to take care of Samad as if he was her own child. So, she took Samad as her adopted son. They were happy, very happy. But it didnt last long. On 7 th November 1999, Samad Bin Ismail, having succumbed to the disease that affected his lungs, died at the age of 12. 748 words