Presentation

Note: I have this rated as E, but if I'm missing anything that would give it a higher rating, please let me know ASAP. Very few of my items actually end up qualifying for an 'E' rating ... but I figured since this is written almost from a 7-year-old's point of view, it should qualify.

Background Info: (when this is written into the whole story, this will become obvious.)
* Olivia is 7, has a new baby brother and just transferred to this school a few months into the year. Her previous school was way too far behind her, and she was totally bored with it. Her current teacher is much better, and has already begun to suspect there's more to her 'absences' than simply her personality. She's been having seizures since about the beginning of the school year. She is interested in science and math, and writes stories. It is spring.
* Setup: for some reason, school is starting late this day. Olivia leaves her house early to play in the playground, whether the school's or just one on the way. No other children are there, that's why she chose to go. The playground is empty.

_______

Olivia stood at the gate of the empty playground. She was glad no one else was there, nobody would ask to play with her, nobody would be in her way.

She threw her bag down on the ground and climbed to the top of the slide tower.

She was an important Starfleet Captain about to meet with an important Andorian guy who needed her help to find a cure for their horrible disease. But he was late!

He must be sick too! She had to hurry and save him before he got more people sick!

She ran down the stairs on her starship to Engineering. She pushed some buttons and told the engineer to go to Warp 22.

"But that's too fast!" the engineer said.

"No it's not. Look." She pressed some more buttons, and the ship went faster. "We have to save the Andorian guy fast!"

Captain Olivia grabbed onto a rail on the wall as the ship started to shake. "Oh no!" she yelled. "It's gonna explode!"

She ran back up the stairs. The Andorian guy was waiting for her. He was very sick and was laying down on the floor.

She gave him a glass of water. "We have to get out of here or the ship's gonna explode."

Captain Olivia told the ship to fly to a planet and drop them off. She told the Andorian guy to stand up.

Olivia blinked and looked around the playground. She'd just lost her ship of thought. Train! Train of thought ...

She found it, and the Andorian followed her down the steps. The ship started exploding behind them. "Run!" she yelled, and they jumped off the ship onto the planet. Just in time!

The big explosion above them knocked her and the Andorian on the ground, where they rolled into a big pit.

Olivia looked up from the sand and wondered why they called the thing she'd just lost again a "train," anyway. Ship made more sense.

So she had to climb out of this big pit and get the medicine to a safe place. But to do that, she would have to climb this ladder thing over a huge lake ... a lake of hot lava! The Andorian would be safe where he was, she could come back for him later.

She climbed the side of the ladder thing over the huge lake of lava. To be totally safe from the heat, she'd have to get on top of the thing.

Olivia grabbed the first rung of the monkey bars and started swinging. She was a lot higher up than she thought. She kept swinging, trying to get her legs up to the top, like she'd seen her brother do once.

Swing ... swing ... swing ... almost there ...

Her toes touched the bar! She swung backwards one more time ... her heels hooked on the bar!

That hot lava bubbled underneath her again. She had to hurry! But she was stuck ...

Olivia screamed as her fingers started to slip from the bar. She tried to hold on, but she fell ...

_______

She woke up with the sun shining in her eyes too brightly. Her stomach felt funny, like she was going to throw up. Her head was laying on the bottom bar of the ladder. It hurt.

Great, she thought. I'm gonna get in trouble for getting hurt now.

She rolled over on her belly and grabbed the sides of the ladder to help her stand up. Her head felt really funny now, like she was going to fall over if she let go. But she didn't.

She didn't really feel like playing anymore, so she got her bag and started walking to school. She would probably just sit in the library until it was time for school to start.

It was hard to walk when she felt like she would fall over, but she eventually made it to school.

School wasn't supposed to start for another hour, but the doors were open and they let her in. She took her bag to her classroom. Nobody was in there, so she sat down and put her head on the desk.

_______

"Olivia?"

She moaned. What's ...

"Olivia, are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah ..." Things slowly came together and she realized she was sitting in her desk at school.

"How long have you been here?"

"Umm ... I dunno."

Mrs. _________ walked away and Olivia put her head back down.

"Olivia?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you hear me?"

"Umm ... no?"

"I asked if you forgot we started late today."

"Oh. No, I remembered."

"How's your science project coming?"

"Umm, good." She put her head down again.

"Just good? You were so excited about it last week."

"I -" She suddenly forgot what she was trying to say. "Umm, what?"

Mrs. _________ sat down right in front of Olivia.

"Olivia, look at me," she said. "Are you sure you're feeling okay today?"

"Well, my head kinda hurts."

"Olivia!"

"What?"

"You keep staring off into space. What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"You're always thinking about something, Olivia. I know you."

"I'm not thinking about something and I'm not staring off into space."

" ... not right, I'm calling the school nurse," she mumbled.

"No! I'm okay. I don't wanna go home."

"I didn't say you have to go home, Olivia."

"I don't wanna go to the nurse, and I don't wanna go home. She always sends me home."

But Mrs. _________ was already at the comm station by her desk, calling the nurse.

So Olivia got up and ran outside, leaving her stuff in the room.

_______

Sitting under the big tree in the school playground, Olivia felt the back of her head where she had probably hit it on the monkey bars. It still really hurt. The spot was kind of wet, and it hurt more when she touched it. She kind of felt like crying because she was scare that she had really hurt herself.

When she looked at her hand and saw blood, she started to cry.

Maybe she should go to the nurse, she though, and go home. Even though she would get in trouble for trying to climb on top of the monkey bars and for getting hurt ...

Her stomach felt funny again, like she might throw up. She tried to stand up to go to her secret hiding place that only she knew about, but she only felt like crawling.

About halfway there, she did throw up, all over the ground. After that, she didn't feel like going to her secret place anymore.

Olivia crawled a little bit more, then laid down on the ground and fell asleep.

_______

Before (After?) Lunch

By the time they were done with Art class, Olivia was feeling better. Her head still really hurt, and her stomach still felt a little weird, but she didn't feel so tired, and she hadn't thrown up again.

But now, back in Mrs. _________'s class, Olivia started to feel kind of funny again.

She raised her hand. "Mrs. _________, can I go to the bathroom?"

They were just working on their workbooks, so she gave Olivia the hall pass and let her go.

It felt kind of hard walking down the hall, like she would fall over or something, but she made it all the way there. Sitting down to go to the bathroom was good, but she really felt like laying down and going to sleep.

When she stood up, her stomach suddenly flipped around, and she threw up, barely making it into the toilet. Her stomach didn't feel any better, though, like it usually did after she threw up.

She started to cry again as she walked to the sink. All she wanted to do now was go home, even if it meant getting in trouble for ...


She was on the floor. Slowly, Olivia looked around the school bathroom. What happened? She tried to move, to get up, but her whole body hurt. Maybe she had passed out. That had to be ... Oh no, she thought. That's not good.

Very slowly, she rolled over onto her front so she could get up. Her arms and legs felt tired, like she had done a lot of work. Her mouth tasted funny, too ... maybe from throwing up. She didn't remember washing out her mouth at the sink.

Suddenly, _____, one of her classmates, burst through the door.

"What's taking so long, Olivia? Mrs. _________ sent me to get you."

"I -" She wiped the spit off the side of her face. "I threw up."

_____ ran out of the bathroom, and Olivia trudged along behind her. Mrs. _________ met her about halfway down the hall.

"What happened, Olivia?" She put a hand on her forehead.

"I threw up."

"Take your hall pass," she said, "and go to the nurse's office. Even if she sends you home, I need you to go see her, okay?"

Olivia nodded.

"Go."

She walked away, slowly. It felt like she wasn't strong enough to even walk.