A couple things before we get started. First I'd like to thank Todger65 for his editing work. Putting this story together wouldn't have been possible without his help.
Secondly, there's been a lot of stories on this website which have been taken and used for podcasts and other mediums without the permission of the author.
This goes without saying that all of my stories are my own work. If you steal this story and pass it off as your own without my permission, I WILL find out and do everything I can to get it taken down.
With that out of the way, all participants in this story are 18 years or older.
- Alexandra
"She Sells Seashells by the... Seashore." 10-year-old Brady Foster, with his platinum blonde hair and red Nike t-shirt, sat at the wooden table across from his speech therapist.
Maria Morales, a 21-year-old college student with long black hair & light tan skin smiled at the young boy with her deep brown eyes. "Great job, Brady! You've made so much improvement over the past couple of months. You should be very proud of yourself."
Brady had been struggling with a lisp since he was just a child and would often get teased for it. His parents had taken him to numerous therapists over the years but none of them were able to help the young boy out. All of that changed when the school brought in Maria, a college student from the local university, as part of her internship.
She had succeeded where other therapists had failed. Since Maria had started working with Brady, his speech had improved tremendously, and he no longer felt shy around other kids when he spoke. It also helped that, compared to his previous therapists, he found Maria to be quite beautiful.
"Thank you, Mrs. Morales." He grinned back at her with his braces-laden teeth.
Maria laughed and blushed. "Brady, I've told you numerous times that don't need to call me Missus, I'm not married."
"Oh... sorry Miss Morales..." He looked down at the table.
She folded her hands in front of her. "It's quite okay. You don't come across grown-ups in school that aren't all old and stuff."
Brady giggled. "Yeah, like Mrs. Johannes. She's so old and kind of scary looking."
He was, of course, talking about his 5th grade teacher. She had a reputation for being cold and stern with her students. She was by no means an awful person, but she was able to instill the fear of god into kids under the right circumstances.
Maria put a hand to her mouth and laughed. "Brady, that's no way to talk about your teacher."
"But you're laughing, so you must think it's funny. Besides you're the best teacher ever" The young boy mused. He had her there.
Maria decided to quickly change the topic "In any case, I'm going to school to be a speech therapist, not a teacher.
She smiled down at him. "Seeing how much your speech has improved since we first started together is more than enough proof that I'm going into the right field."
"Field?" Brady looked up at her with a confused look on his face.
The woman smiled. "Speech Therapy. I'm in college and this is my last semester. Next week is my last week here, since I'll be graduating in 4 weeks."
"Oh so... you won't be back next year..." Brady said with a frown on his face.
As Maria leaned down and looked at the child, she couldn't help but feel sad for him. "I'm sorry, Brady. If I could stick around here, I would. You kids have been such a pleasure to work with."
"But... you could always come back and work here. Since you'll be a teacher or... therapist when you finish college." Brady said with a hopeful tone.
She frowned and shook her head. "It's... not that simple I'm afraid. I'd love to trust me but..." Her voice trailed off. Brady didn't like the answer, but he knew well enough not to push the topic.
"It's okay, Miss Morales. I'm just very glad that you have been helping me out. You're really the best therapist I've had."
Maria beamed down at the young boy. "Aww, thanks Brady. You really know how to flatter me."
"Flatter? What does that mean?" He asked her.
The young woman let out a giggle. "It means that you know what to say to people to make them feel good about themselves."
"Oh, well in that case. You're very pretty!" He said without an ounce of shame.
She blushed at his remark and giggled. "Uh... thank you Brady. That's so sweet of you. You really shouldn't say that to adults because they might get the wrong idea."
Brady, feeling defeated, looked down at the floor and apologized. "Sorry, Miss Morales." However, he took it as being rejected outright rather than feeling ashamed for what he had said.
"It's quite alright, Brady. Head on back to class and we'll see each other next week, okay?"
Brady nodded as he stood up, grabbed his backpack as he headed out the door and back to his class down the hall. Maria went back to the table to fill out her paperwork and laughed to herself.
"Oh, kids these days..."
-
The following week, Maria and Brady had their last session. It was a bittersweet event for the two as Maria had grown fond of the kids she had helped out & Brady would miss his weekly meetings with the college student.
As Brady went home from school that day, he looked out the window of the bus as the kids were laughing amongst themselves. He was now confident enough in himself to interact with the other kids, but he felt a sense of sadness creep over him. Maria had done so much for Brady and he felt indebted to the young woman for all she had done for him.
After Maria left, Brady's speech only got better. The impact that Maria had on Brady was what ultimately drove him to be on the debate team in high school, along with pursuing a career in speech therapy. He wanted to make a difference with kids struggling with speech impediments, much like he did when he was younger.
******
-11 Years Later-
Brady, now in his senior year at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, sat down with his academic advisor, Professor Michael Schuster, to discuss his internship placement and where he was likely to end up.
Michael was wearing a green polo shirt tucked into a pair of khaki slacks. He was in his early 50s with short gray hair and wore a pair of Aviator-style prescription glasses.
Sitting across from him was Brady, his blonde hair was neatly trimmed and he was dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt worn underneath his red winter coat.
"So, Mr. Foster, as I'm sure you're already aware, part of the prerequisite for your graduation is an internship placement for your final semester. You mentioned you were looking for something close by and working with elementary school-aged children. Is this still accurate?" Professor Schuster asked him.
Brady nodded in affirmation. "Yes sir. I want the chance to help kids that were a lot like me when I was their age. It sounds extremely cheesy but it's the truth."
His professor smiled back at him as he clasped his hands on his desk. "It's not cheesy at all. In fact, I think that is extremely admirable of you. With that in mind, I have found a placement for you that you will find to be quite ideal."
"Wonderful! What is it?" Brady asked him.
Michael cleared his throat. "So, we have you placed at Waukesha Drive Elementary School, located about 10 minutes from campus. You'll be working with Maria Gervais, who is the school's dedicated speech therapist.'
Brady chuckled to himself. "Maria, eh?"
"Yes? Is everything okay, Mr. Foster?" The professor asked Brady.
The college student smiled. "Yes, everything is fine. The speech therapist I had back in elementary school who more-or-less turned my life around was also named Maria."
"Ah yes, you had mentioned that you had a therapist when you were younger that was crucial in helping you overcome your lisp, if I'm not mistaken." Michael was trying to recall.
"Yep, she is the reason why you couldn't shut me up from 5th grade onwards. There used to be a time when I'd go for days without talking. I know that's hard to believe given how long you've known me, but it's the truth" Brady laughed.
Professor Schuster grinned. "I can believe it. Many of my clients I have worked with over the years have made huge strides when it comes to talking. Sounds like your experience was a very positive one."
******
At the end of the meeting, Brady was given the contact information for Maria Gervais and his professor had emailed her, informing her of his student's decision to take up the placement.
5 days later, Brady found himself sitting in a chair in the front office of Waukesha Drive Elementary School. After he checked in with the school secretary, she had called up the speech therapist he'd be working under.