Nelda finally came to the patio."Some one stacked lots of vases of flowers outside my door. It took me a long time to put them in the house. They are ...ust so beautiful. Whoever did it, thank you." Happy Birthday, Nelda," came from the entire group.Once she was sitting, she was inundated with cards and hugs. It only took a minute before big tears were streaming down her cheeks. "Thank you, thank you," she said, as she dabbed her eyes with a hankie. "This is the best birthday I've had for a lot. Since the meeting was an official school activity the principal offered that the district would spring for pizza and soft drinks.On the day of the meeting things got just a little hectic but I was pleasantly surprised to see how much help Kim and the other seven girls were. It seems I didn't have to do very much beyond sitting down with the new girls and chatting with them. They were so cute that I decided they all would be in the program even though the plan was that we would only field eight. "I'm fine," I said.We all sat down and had a bite to eat. I was a little relieved when they stopped asking if I was alright. While I was a little shook up I was generally OK and didn't want a fuss raised.I was getting a bit embarrassed at all the trouble I was getting in. Thankfully they decided not to make too big a deal out of things after that and we had a nice meal together.When we were done D and I did the dishes and then we sat and watched the TV while Gwen and Joyce went for a chat which. It was a high pitched drone, shouts and queries, and microphones were being stuck in close to her face. She couldn’t move, and she found that she couldn’t talk, either. She was frozen. * * * It was a dream, and she knew it was a dream. Faceless, sexless people in bloody green surgical scrubs darted in droves up and down the hallways, and she could see a mass of faces and microphones pressed against the glass doors, screaming questions and trying to get in. But no one would answer her questions..