The Light Within [Completed]

Field Trip

The past two weeks had flown by, and Solveigh was starting to look forward to the sessions. It had happened so gradually that she almost hadn't noticed, but it struck Sol one day that she was actually happy to wake up. For so long she had lived in a fog of depression. It was almost alien to feel anything but despair. Sol wasn't complaining though.

Working on the assignments Mr. Shane gave her and actually getting out of the house pulled her out of her own head. It was the days that she had nothing to do that the dark thoughts came creeping back in. Solveigh had been having kind of a rough week when Mom dropped her off Thursday so she was pretty eager when Mr. Shane said they were going on a field trip.

"Where are we going?" Colton asked.

Lloyd chimed in with, "Yeah. What are we doin' today?" A chorus of questions followed.

Mr. Shane shouted over the racket, "If you will be quiet for two seconds, I'll tell you!" Instantly, silence descended on the room. "Much better," Mr. Shane said, "Those of you who have been coming a long time know Evelyn Shuster, who is a very good friend of mine. For those who have not heard of Miss Shuster, she is the director of the Companions for Kids program here in Florida."

Sol raised her hand. "What's that?"

"Companions for Kids is a nonprofit scholarship that pays for Seeing Eye dogs for kids with various visual disabilities. Some of you are in this program right now, but if you're not, I can give you some information to take home. See if it's something you would be interested in."

There was some shuffling of papers before he continued. "Because of my friendship with Miss Shuster, the local training facility allows me to take my class on a tour a couple times over the summer. It's an opportunity for you guys to learn about the program, the process of getting paired with a dog, and the benefits of having a Seeing Eye dog. I got the go ahead to take you all down there for a few hours, which I'm sure is more fun than shuffling around the gym. I already talked to your parents and the school is letting me borrow their van."

Becca whispered to Solveigh, "You'll love the training center; it's actually really interesting what they do, and the puppies are tons of fun."

"Do they just let us roam around?" Sol asked, more than a little worried.

Becca only laughed, "No, no, no. We'll be supervised the whole time, and the puppy pens have fences, so we can't just wander off. Mr. Shane's done this before... he knows what he's doing."

Sol grinned. "As long as he does."

After everyone had made their way out the door and piled onto the van, they were on their way. It was only a fifteen minute drive, but Solveigh was feeling very claustrophobic packed into that stuffy van like sardines. Trey, who was smashed up next to her, didn't seem too happy about it either because he grumbled under his breath every time she moved. Sol wanted to tell him to get over himself. He wasn't the only one who was uncomfortable. But she held her peace, not wanting to cause a big scene in the back seat.

It was with great relief that Sol practically fell out of the van when it finally pulled to a stop. She unfolded her cane and, hand braced against the side of the vehicle, waited for further instructions. It was unbelievably frustrating having to stand there like a moron until someone told her where to go. If she wasn't guaranteed to kill, or seriously hurt herself, Sol would have taken off in her own.

Mr. Shane put Becca, Max, and Janelle, the three who could see partially, in charge of two each. That way every trio would have at least on person who knew where they were going. He took charge of Solveigh and Trey himself. Sol was secretly glad she was in the teacher's group because she was still unsure about new environments. It would have been fun to be paired with Becca though.

As soon as they had gathered in their assigned groups, Mr. Shane herded them in the direction of the front doors. It was kind of slow going, but everyone got inside without incident. Sol was pretty proud of herself for getting all the way across the parking lot without help. She couldn't help but smile when Mr. Shane leaned over and said, "Awesome job Sol, you're getting the hang of it now."

A woman's voice rang out, bright and cheerful, "Welcome to Companions for Kids. I'm Evelyn Shuster, and I'll be your guide today."

"Good to see you Evie," Mr. Shane said. There was a pause where Sol assumed they were shaking hands.

"They could be making out right now and we'd never be any the wiser," Trey muttered. Sol started to laugh, but quickly turned it into a fit of coughing.

"You alright Sol?" Mr. Shane asked. This only served to make Sol laugh harder, and she could only nod that she was fine. "Why do I feel like I missed something?" Mr. Shane said.

When no one said anything else, Miss Shuster said, "Well, then... let's get started."