https://youtu.be/hgKMHjhvL3w

In the morning when Elena awoke, she looked outside the circular window and was astonished by how beautiful the city was. Since the school was on a hill, Elena had an amazing view of the kaleidoscopic city below. Picturesque domes on tall buildings highlighted the city's ubiquitous architecture.

As Elena unpacked more of her belongings, she came across the photo frame of her and Andreas. Every time she looked at it, she was reminded that Andreas wasn't just a dream. He was a beautiful part of her reality - someone who had been so unique, so sure of themself, and so generous.

Where are you, Andreas? Elena thought.

She looked at the photo and tried to imagine what he was up to. Was he still a tour guide? Or had he found something else? She couldn't believe it had been eleven years since she met him and sometimes, she could hear his voice in the winter breeze or his whisper in the trees when she went hiking. He always lingered in her thoughts and made her yearn for his company once again. The ache for him to be right beside her was fresh as the minute she left him on the island.

Elena yawned, got out of bed, and looked at her reflection in the washroom mirror.

She was now 27 years old. Her skin was getting thinner and darker due to her exposure to the constant sun but it held a healthy glow. In fact, she looked younger now than eleven years ago when she was abusing drugs. Intoxicants had aged her by a decade.

When she told people she was 27, they looked at her in surprise. She was surprised as well because, for a long time, Elena thought she'd never live past 18. But, she had made it. She was one of the lucky ones.

She got ready for the day, tossing a grey scarf on her head in a similar style to Aziza's to respect the culture of the country. She liked the way the chiffon fabric draped over her head and onto her shoulder. It made her look regal.

"Ready Elena?" Aziza beamed at her after they arrived at the school.

"Yes! I'm excited to meet the kids."

"I'm going to let you settle and get ready. I'll be in the main office."

"Sounds good."

Elena went through her lesson plans mentally and organized some things in the classroom. Then, she sat in the leather chair and tapped her fingers against the desk waiting for the children.

She soon heard the sound of young voices and bubbly laughter getting louder as the kids made their way inside the school. Elena immediately stood up and readied herself. Her excitement and nervousness rose with her.

The children filed in, some running, some walking, and some skipping into the class. Elena smiled widely as they approached her and Aziza stood at the doorway, making sure the students were respectful.

There were only 10 children in total; five boys and five girls. Aziza told them to line up in a single file and greet Elena, their new teacher.

First, two nearly identical boys came up to her. The twins had wispy, dark hair that covered half of their large foreheads paired with big ears sticking through. They excitedly introduced themselves as Faizan and Faisal. It was hard to tell them apart, however, Faizan had a distinct crescent-shaped birthmark on his left temple which helped. He also seemed a bit more talkative than Faisal.

A girl named Zainab walked along with two other girls, Mariam and Fatima.  Zainab was a sweet, confident girl while Mariam and Fatima were shy and timid. The three of them looked up at Elena. Zainab had straight, brown hair and narrow, olive-coloured eyes. Mariam and Fatima were sisters, Elena learned. The older one, Mariam, had dark, golden coloured hair, a sharp chin, and dark brown eyes. The younger one Fatima, was pale-skinned, had curly, raven black hair with bangs that went down to her large, almost black eyes. They all politely smiled at her.

The next boy walked up to her and looked as if he hadn't smiled in all his life. He quietly spoke his name, Adam, without looking her in the face. He was skinny, had thick eyebrows, and short-cropped, raven hair. He was shorter than the others and walked quietly over to an empty desk.

A girl named Ruheena who was tall and looked to be about ten years old calmly walked over to Elena. She had circular glasses and a mop of curly, orange hair messily wrapped in a bun. She immediately extended her hand and shook Elena's. Suddenly, a little girl ran up to Elena and clung to her leg.

"Oh! What's your name, sweetie?" Elena asked, smiling down at her.

"Iesha," She replied as she grinned and looked up at Elena, not letting go of her leg.

Elena looked into a pair of deep blue eyes and saw a grin with a gap where two upper incisors should be. Iesha looked so much like  Anna, the energetic, little girl whom she had met in Cartagena. Elena chuckled while Ruheena pried the little girl off of her leg proceeding to apologize on the five-year-old's behalf. Iesha's golden curls that reached down a little past her shoulders, bounced up and down as she skipped over to her chair, humming a tune.

Another boy stood behind them in the lineup and quietly introduced himself as Amir. He had ash blonde hair, a demure face, and reassuring dark blue eyes. He gave Elena a flower he had picked up from the nearby meadow and smiled bashfully at her.

And lastly, a boy about thirteen years old and the oldest, Mustafa, gave her a small, crooked smile but avoided eye contact with her. He had a pale face and walked with a slight limp over to his seat. 

She faced the classroom as ten pairs of eyes scrutinized her. Elena nervously smiled at them and wrote her name on the board with the brand new blue chalk. Some of the kids examined the room, excitedly looking at the posters and activities that sat on the tables and their fresh, lined notebooks sitting on their desks.

Elena began teaching. The children had a good grasp of English so it made it easier for her. They started off with English and then did some math and geography. The children loved coming up to the front of the class and pointing at the countries and cities they learned about. Sometimes, Elena cracked jokes and made them laugh until their stomachs hurt. She put as much energy and enthusiasm as she possibly could while she taught them. Even Adam, who seemed like a serious boy, cracked a smile from time to time. Aziza occasionally walked in and leaned against the door. Her approving nod and smile were a relief to Elena. 

When it was time for lunch, the children quickly bolted out of the classroom and ran outside. A small playground was built outside and a tire swing dangled from an apple tree. A sweet breeze blew gently over them as they all enjoyed the tranquil weather.

The boys decided to have a soccer game, using two trees as goal posts. Mariam, Zainab, and Fatima stuck together like three peas in a pod, eating their lunch and whispering in each other's ears. Ruheena sat in the shade of a tree reading a book while Iesha repeatedly made wee sounds as she went down the playground's slide. Elena counted the children. Nine. There was one child that Elena couldn't see. She realized it was Amir. She squinted in the sunlight and scanned the hill. Losing students was a big fear for Elena due to teaching in places that weren't as safe. Her heart always started beating quickly when there was a child missing. Luckily, she saw Amir in the meadow of flowers a little further down the hill. The little boy knelt down, picking the lilies and chrysanthemums. 

"Don't go too far, Amir!" Elena yelled after him.

His eyes beamed at Elena and nodded.

"You're doing great, habibti," Aziza smiled at Elena. "I can see you really care about what you do."

The woman was sitting on the grass with her legs crossed and her daughter sitting in front of her and curiously exploring her surroundings.

"You think so?" Elena asked, leaning against the school's door.

"I know so. You're a natural."

Amal let out a happy coo and flashed a toothless grin at her mother.

"See? Even Amal agrees."

They both chuckled. Elena looked back at Amir, the little boy who clearly had a love for flowers. He bent down and picked up a dandelion and then another. He observed the flowers carefully and ran his fingers gently across the petals. He looked as if he were in deep thought. Elena had never seen a child so aware of their surroundings.

When the day was over, the van stopped in front of the school to pick the children up. Iesha clung to Elena's leg again, not wanting to leave, and started to whine, upsetting Amal in Aziza's lap. The woman in the passenger seat of the van stepped out and apologized to Elena as she grabbed Iesha and carried her to the car. Elena and Aziza watched the van leave and went inside to clean up. Elena organized the students' notebooks on the shelves and put away their drawings in neat folders that they had made for the day. Aziza helped her organize the classroom and clean the spilled lunch crumbs on the floor.

"Iesha is very clingy," Aziza broke the silence, as she grabbed a broom from the storage closet. "She lost both her parents in a car accident recently. She had no other family that we knew of, so we took her in. Understandably, she was always crying and throwing tantrums. Whenever she likes somebody, she clings to them, like she's afraid to lose them."

Elena nodded, furrowing her eyebrows in sadness as she put the last stack of notebooks on a shelf.

"Mustafa, the oldest, has always been very quiet," Aziza continued as she began sweeping. "When he first came here five years ago, he was always picking fights with anyone. His mother died when he was young, his uncle was abusive, and his father has gone overseas, but we don't know where. We found him cowering in an alleyway. His eyes were pleading for help. We think his uncle was involved with some dangerous people."

Aziza looked past her, imagining the sad moment replaying in her head.

"What about Adam?" Elena asked, putting the last stack of papers away. "He's very...Rigid."

"He saw his father die in front of him," Aziza said, looking at her painfully. "His father was involved in an unfortunate fire."

"That's terrible," Elena said, shaking her head. "How long ago was this?"

"Three months."

"It's never fair for these kids. They deserve so much more."

Aziza nodded her head vigorously.

"There's just so many. But, we're trying to do some outreach and get more funding," Aziza said. "But at the end of the day, we can't save them all."

Elena hated that. It always came down to choosing who to save and who to leave. How could someone choose? Was it too optimistic to think that everybody could be saved?

The next day, as Elena organized her classroom after the end of the school day,  she looked at the geode sitting on the table. Almost every day, she was reminded of Andreas in some way. Today, she saw him standing in the classroom doorway, head cocked to one side and one leg folded over the other as he grinned at her from ear to ear. She knew she was going crazy. 

 Sometimes, she heard music in the air that sounded like the music in the village where women danced gracefully in their bright smiles eleven years ago. Often, the memories were so powerful she felt as if she was there again, inhaling the Caribbean mist and floating on its foamy waves.