Chapter 15

“Has anyone seen Kofi Dwomoh or Anané Opuni today?”, Faith asked the students in front of her.

“Kofi’s family left the city yesterday, Ms. Opoku” answered Ámmá.

“Thank you, Ámmá,” Faith said as she shook her head, put a minus sign besides Anané’s name, and crossed through ‘Kofi Dwomoh’.

Her classroom was full again, but that was because Faith had inherited the students from another teacher’s classroom.  The other teacher had informed the school principal on Friday that she was not coming back this week, so at least they were able to plan ahead.  Just like the students, teachers were also disappearing.  Each day last week there had been at least one classroom where the students arrived only to find their teacher absent.  And those classrooms seemed to have the higher rate of future student absences, as parents discovered that teachers were abandoning their jobs.

“Again, for the students from Ms. Nkansah’s classroom, my name is Ms. Opoku.  I would like to welcome you into my classroom and look forward to working with you to prepare for final exams that will occur in two weeks.”

One of the new students raised her hand.  Faith looked at her seating chart she had created this morning to find the name she had written down for that girl.  “Yes, Táwia?”

“Why aren’t we in Ms. Nkansah’s class any longer?”, the girl asked.

Faith did not believe in lying or misleading any of the children, but neither did she want to add to any fear the children might be feeling. “Ms. Nkansah and her husband left with their baby to stay with her husband’s family in Basa.  She said she would be getting help from her mother-in-law to care for their son.”

“But why was she crying so hard on Friday when we left for the day.  She kissed each of us on the way out of the classroom and told us all to be careful.”, the girl said, looking both afraid and as if she herself was going to tear up.

“Ms. Nkansah loves each of her students like I love all of mine.  She wants the best for all of you,” Faith answered.

Another of her inherited students raised his hand.

Faith knew this boy since she had his brother last year.  “Yes, Kojo.”

“Was she crying because she is afraid of the aliens?”, the boy asked.

“Ms. Nkansah is a brave woman, Kojo.  She was crying because she is going to miss seeing all of you.” Faith didn’t like how the questions were already starting to focus on the aliens this early in the morning.  It would be hard enough to determine where each of her new students were at with their ability to learn and what the other teacher had already covered in their lessons.  Faith wondered if adding the emotions associated with the alien landing was going to be too much for her to handle that day.

Ámmá raised her hand again.  “Yes,  Ámmá.”

“Are you afraid, Ms. Opoku?” her student asked.

“Well of course not,” Faith said so quickly and forcefully even she was surprised a bit.

“Why not?” Ámmá continued.

Faith paused to make sure her own emotions would not control her response.  “The closest alien ship is in Nigeria.  The Omo Forest is 1,000 kilometers from here.  The aliens have asked for volunteers to go with them.  I personally have no desire to leave Earth, so I have no plans to go to the ship.  As we have seen on the broadcasts, there are tens of thousands of people who want to go with the aliens, so I see no reason why they would come here looking for me.”

“Why wouldn’t you want to leave?” asked another new student, without raising his hand.

“Because I want to be here with all of you,” Faith answered.  “I am a teacher and you are my students.  I want to be here with you to help you learn and to prepare for your future.”

The first period bell sounded over the school speakers, which was an indication the national anthem would be played.  All of the students stood up beside their desks, sang along with the anthem and then recited the National Pledge.

Faith was relieved when the children all sat back down.  The students used to being in her class were pulling out their language books as they knew that was the first topic to be covered for that day.  Most of the new students looked at her for direction.

“We will begin with language, so please pull out your language books,” Faith directed them.

Another student’s hand was raised.  

“Is it a question about language, Yaa?” Faith asked.

The student shook her head ‘No’.

“Then we will save the question for later in the day.” Faith replied.  “Please turn to page 247, everyone”

And they spent the next hour going over verb conjugation.

Faith was able to fit in mathematics and then onto an abbreviated session on human health before releasing the children out to the playground for open exercise.  The physical education teacher was one of those that had left, so there was no exercise curriculum.  Instead, they were able to find some parents to help organize what became a play session.

It was during this time that Faith tried following up with the parents of the absent students.  Even though Ámmá told her that Kofi left town, she tried contacting his parents on their commblock.  She was not surprised when they did not answer.  She was surprised when someone answered the call she made to Anané’s parents.

“Hello?”, said the woman whose face came on the screen.

“Hello, ah, Mrs. Opuni?” Faith said

“Who is this?”, the woman asked with both a worried and a suspicious voice.

“This is Faith Opoku.  I am a teacher at Anané’s school.   Anané has moved from Ms. Nkansah’s classroom to mine, and I am following up on those students who did not report to school today.”, Faith explained.

“Anané will not be coming back to school there, so you can stop bothering us.  If you are truly that interested in educating our daughter, then have Ms. Nkansah call me,” said Mrs. Opuni.

Faith started, “Ms. Nkansah is not here today…”

and Mrs. Opuni interrupted “And she won’t be tomorrow or the day after or anytime again!  She left town like so many others.”

Faith quickly jumped back in “Mrs. Opuni, please know that I am not leaving my position.  I respectfully ask that you let Anané return to school and to my classroom so she can best be prepared for her future.”

“Ha!” Anané’s mother laughed.  “Prepare for what kind of future?  Tell me, girl, that you really think mathematics will help fight off the aliens!  If you believe that, you are too silly to be teaching our daughter.  And if you don’t believe that, then there is no reason for our child to be at school.”  She sighed and said in a calmer, and sadder, tone.  “Listen, if you want to help people, then go into the mountains and set up a school where people will be.  Don’t waste your time staying where no one will remain.”  And with that, the commblock went blank as Anané’s mother ended the transmission.

Faith was shaking a bit and set her commblock down.  She had a number of calls over the past two weeks where people told her their child was not coming back to school.  But no one has been quite as direct and quite as fast as Mrs. Opuni.

Even though the call had been quick, Faith started preparing for the students to return to the classroom.  Their outdoor exercise session also went fast, and she didn’t want to seem unorganized when they returned.  As she brought up her notes for Information & Communication Technology, a message popped up on her commblock regarding a change in the schedule.  Faith was reading it over a second time when the students were returning to their seats, and a couple of the boys took advantage of her attention being elsewhere to continue the game of tag they had been playing outside.  A desk getting knocked over brought Faith’s attention back to the classroom.

Ms. Opoku raised her head, saw what was happening and quickly stood up.  “Play time is over, Jojo and Kobena.  Pick up Sisi’s desk, apologize to Sisi, and sit down, please.” she said firmly.

The boys thankfully complied, and calm returned to the classroom.

Faith looked at her commblock again, and then back to the classroom.  “We have a change in schedule that has been communicated to me by the headteacher.  We will have an early lunch today and then return to our classrooms where the time for Social Studies and Integrated Science classwork will be replaced with the option to view a live broadcast of the departure of the ship from Omo Forest leaving with the passengers heading to their new planet.”

The children were quite interested in this new development and began whispering to each other.  One of the students raised her hand.  Faith nodded, and the girl asked “Will we be able to watch the broadcast here, Ms. Opoku?”

Faith sighed and felt it was useless to try and convince them otherwise.  Still, she wanted to develop a sense of self-responsibility with the children, so she said “We have our lessons which will need to be covered regardless of the broadcast.  I have homework already set up, and will expect each of you to complete it before tomorrow.  You can decide if you would like to spend the time going over Social Studies and Science lessons after lunch, or if you want to watch the broadcast, which I’m sure you’ll be able to see at home later today.”

“Who votes to continue with lessons after lunch?” Faith asked.

About ten hands were raised, but then a couple of students lowered them when they saw how few others were interested.

“Who votes to watch the launch broadcast instead?” she then asked with less enthusiasm.

The remaining two-dozen hands shot up, along with some of those that changed their mind.

Faith announced, “We will then watch the broadcast.  Before I release you for lunch, we will review the homework assignments due for tomorrow.”

After reviewing the homework on the classroom screen and sending the list to each child’s tablet, she released them for lunch.  Faith had lunchroom duties, so followed the students down to the cafeteria, locking the room as she left.

There was much more excitement in the cafeteria compared to the usual volume.  The students were excited about the colonists’ ship leaving, more so about being able to watch a broadcast instead of having lessons, and most about having a shortened school day.

Faith sat down at the teachers’ table with her own lunch, hearing the conversation from her co-workers.

“Why do they even bother having us come in if they are just going to cancel school halfway into the day?”, Meri Danquah complained.  She was the other sixth-level teacher, but she had been given a group of seventh-level students to add to her class last week, since she had previously taught seventh-level a few years prior.  Faith knew she liked to complain, but she was one of the most knowledgeable teachers, so Faith respected her all the same.

“The headteacher will do what she can to make the school last through the end of 3rd Term, so if that means showing the children broadcasts and making it more tempting to stay in school for the next six weeks, she’ll do it.”, was the reply from Akosua Lokko, an eighth-level teacher.  “Do you think she wants to give up on any bonus she can earn from getting more children through the BECE?”

Nana Busia, the other remaining eighth-level teacher shared her thoughts in a hushed tone.  “What makes you think the headteacher or anyone else can keep this school open for another six weeks, Akosua?  One-fifth of the students and teachers have stopped showing up in the past three weeks.  And the pace of absentees is increasing each day.  We’ll be lucky if we have anyone to teach in a month.”

“That fast?” asked Ms. Lokko.

Nana looked at the other teachers around the table.  “Yes, that fast.  I’m guessing each of you is thinking about or have been talking to your husbands or parents about leaving.  I dare any of you to look me in the eye and say otherwise.”

Most of the others looked down at their food.  Faith, however, set down her fork and said “Ms. Busia, I truly hope you are joking!  I am not planning or even thinking of going anywhere.  These children need us more than ever!”

Nana smiled and looked at Faith eye-to-eye.  “I should apologize, Ms. Opoku.  You are one person I know will remain with these children.  And you should be blessed for that.  But please don’t be blind to the future, Faith.  You cannot take care of your students if you do not take care of yourself.  I have learned that, if nothing else, after twenty-five years of teaching.”

“But you are talking about abandoning these children,” Faith responded in disbelief that the other teachers at her school would even think of this.  “How can we take care of them if we are not here?”

Ms. Danquah joined back in the conversation. “Who is going to take care of all of the children that have already left or are going to leave?,” she said and then turned back to Ms. Busia.  “I cannot lie to you, Nana.  Of course I’ve thought about it.  But where do we go?  Where is it safer or better than in town?”

Now Faith started tearing up.  “I can’t believe what I’m hearing!  We’ve signed contracts and made promises to people!  And you just want to run away because we’ve learned we’re not alone in the universe?”

No one answered, but the quiet table was soon interrupted as a crash sounded nearby.  One of the students was lunging at another student who had just knocked his cafeteria tray out of his hands.  Faith looked from the interruption, back to her tablemates, and then got up shaking her head and went over to the boys to break up the fight before it got too serious.

Nana also slowly shook her head as Faith walked away.  “That girl has such a big heart.  It’s going to hurt that much more when it is broken,” she said as she returned to her meal.

After the fight was stopped, the boys were sent to the headteacher’s office, and the spilled food and dinnerware were cleaned up, the remainder of lunch passed uneventfully.

Everyone then returned to their respective classroom, awaiting the start of the noontime broadcast.  Before it started, Faith had one more announcement for her students.  “I know the official school day will end after the broadcast.  For those of you who would like to cover materials from Science and Social Studies, I will be remaining in the classroom for the remainder of the regular school day and will be happy to cover details in today’s lesson or answer any other study questions you may have.”

None of the students showed too much excitement when she announced this, and this wasn’t a surprise for Faith.  But she wasn’t going to be influenced by what was popular.

Faith activated the broadcast.  It was still fifteen minutes until the launch was to take place, and the announcers were not really saying anything of importance at this point, since they were purely speculating on exactly what would happen.  So Faith muted the sound and started asking questions.

“Why did the aliens create a separate ship to take the colonists back up into space?” she asked her students.  “Salma” she said as she nodded at one of the children with their hands in the air.

“The alien lander is stuck in the ground, now, Ms. Opoku.  It can’t fly away with all of the pipes and legs dug in like that.”

“That is correct, Salma.  Also, the shape of the lander has changed enough that it would not fly well, so they need a new craft which is more aerodynamic.”

Faith continued with the next question.  “How will the colonists get to the new planet?”  She picked one of her new students, Kofi, to answer.

“The ship they are on will fly them all the way there,” Kofi said confidently.

“Well, Kofi, this was a difficult question.  The ship lifting off in a few minutes definitely looks like it could travel very far and go very fast.  But just like the landing craft, the ship carrying the colonists into space has its own purpose, and I suspect it will not be able to travel the entire distance to the new planet.”  Faith saw another hand raised.  “Yes, Mensã?”

The small boy in the middle of the room said “I’ve heard there is another type of alien ship arriving from the asteroid belt.  Is it possible this will be the craft they will load everyone onto for the trip to the new planet, Ms. Opoku?”

She didn’t like to admit she had favorites, but it was hard for her to not see that was the case with Mensã.  He studied hard, learned well, and did not cause problems in the classroom.  And here he was helping with a positive flow of the learning process that Faith felt was much more positive than the children talking about how scary the aliens must look since no one ever saw them in person yet.

“It is possible, Mensã,” Faith answered.  “But then again, it is just as possible the ship leaving Earth today could carry the colonists all the way to their new planet and Kofi would be correct after all.”

Kofi turned to Mensã and stuck out his tongue.  Mensã grinned and did the same in return.

“Enough, boys!  My grandmother told me, when I was much younger, that if I stuck out my own tongue too much it would stretch too long and I would never get it back in my mouth.  I wouldn’t want to see that happen to you,” Faith said with a smile.

“Now, does anyone here know any of the people that have boarded the ship?” Faith asked and looked around the room.

One of the new girls in the room raised her hand slowly.  “Yes?” Faith said, momentarily forgetting the girl’s name.

“My mother has a cousin that works in Mexico.  She said one of her neighbors went to the alien ship to become a colonist,” the girl said.

Faith, never wanting to miss a teaching opportunity, asked her “Do you know where Mexico is located?”  

The girl shook her head sideways.

“Well, we’ll quickly review the different landing sites after the broadcast,” Faith noted.  “Do you know if this neighbor was able to get onto the ship?”

“No, Ms. Opoku.  My mother said her cousin hasn’t seen her neighbor in over a week.”

“Well, there are so many people in the world, it is hard to keep track of everyone,” Faith said, realizing as soon as she said it that it must not have sounded too comforting to the children.

“OK, let’s see if the broadcasters have anything to say,” she said quickly and then turned on the sound of the broadcast.

“… is no sign of any fuel system or other energy source, so we can’t tell if the ship is ready to launch or not.” said the voice of the CRYSTAL Info broadcaster.  “But we have been assured by the contacts at the African Space Technology Regional Alliance, the European Space Agency and NASA in the United States that all three craft from each of those sites will be departing at noon, local time here in the Omo Forest.  So we are just two minutes away from the most momentous point in human history.  While it won’t be the first time someone from Earth has left the planet, it will be the first time a coordinated effort has been made for those leaving Earth to actually start their journey to a new planet and begin human life far from the home in which they were born.”

“What will they encounter when they arrive?,” the announcer continued.  “Will it be a new Earth, but clean, clear and inviting to endless opportunities, as the colonists we interviewed two days ago hope?  Will it be a planet full of terror and endless struggles, as Dr. N’tende from KNUST shared his thoughts with us earlier today?  Or will they even survive the trip, as we do not know how human bodies will handle the alien technology designed to transport people across billions of kilometers at speeds faster than light can travel?”

Faith looked at her students, tempted to mute the sound again, since the broadcast was becoming too sensational.  But the faces in the class were glued to the screen, with no negative reactions noticeable.

“We can only hope that in the twenty-weeks the aliens have promised, we will hear back from these initial colonists and get the true story of exactly…” the broadcaster paused very briefly and then in an excited voice “It appears the ship is lifting off the ground!  Yes, we can definitely see space between the bottom of the ship and the ground.  It is definitely rising in the air, and – are you able to track this on the cameras?” the broadcaster turned to her lead camera to confirm they were also showing the viewers the live action.  “Good!  Well, the ship is moving up quickly and – oh my God!  Look at how fast it is departing!”

At this point, the camera was having difficulty tracking the ship, and even the alternate cameras stationed at different points were not able to manage keeping the alien craft’s ascent in focus and in the center of the view.  After a few switches, the view finally ended up on a wide-angle shot which did not have much detail of the craft, but kept a small object on the screen which, based on the lack of detail, could have been a bird or a human airplane.

“Do we have…?” the broadcaster was asking someone.  “Yes, we have confirmation that the ships from Kansas and Kremenchuk have both launched as well,” she said as she looked back up at the sky to find the ship.  Then, not being able to see any sign of it, she turned back to the camera.  “Well, once again, we can see how the alien technology and our experience with the alien visit is unlike anything ever experienced in the history of the world.  Let’s bring in our central tracking staff from CRYSTAL HQ in Accra.”

The broadcast switched to CRYSTAL network offices with a panel of commentators ready to speak.  Faith let the broadcast continue for another five minutes, but by then the children were quickly losing interest and she turned it off.

“Your thoughts?” Faith said as she turned to the class.

“Not very exciting,” Kofi said.  “No fire, no jet engines, no magnetic shimmer.”

Faith smiled as that was actually a positive outcome.  A boring event, which didn’t scare or attract the children’s interest.

“The ship just disappeared,” Ámmá said.  “I mean, it left so fast it was hard to tell if that was real.”

“It was real, Ámmá”, Ms. Opoku said, “but it wasn’t meant to be exciting.  No more exciting than a transbus leaving the downtown station.

“Why not?”, asked another student.

“Because this is not a drama or adventure VR series, Yvonne,” Faith explained.  “Not every moment of this experience will be exciting or interesting.

The looks on the students’ faces clearly showed disappointment.

As tempted as she was to try and fit a quick lesson in, Faith decided to use this moment a bit further.

“OK,” she said, “I told you we would find the other landing sites.  Send me the country and the nearest city where each of the nine landing sites can be found.  While you are entering those places, I’ll find casts from the other sites launching today and we’ll review those quickly.  And, as an extra incentive, the number of correct sites you list, you will receive an extra point on your next Social Studies test.”

This got the interest of the majority of class, so they all quickly got out their tablets and started typing.

Faith entered the sites into a grading rubric and then located casts from Kansas, Kremenchuk and Xian – the only other sites with launches today.  The remaining colonists’ departures would take place over the next five days and they hadn’t had as much time since the alien landers arrived at those sites.

By the time she had found the final video, all of the student responses had been received and automatically graded.

“Here are the answers and the class score.  We’ll reveal them from most correct to least correct,” she explained as she displayed the first result on the classroom screen.

“Nigeria, Omo Forest:  91% correct.  I have decided to give half credit if you got either the country or the location.  I’ll be honest and would have expected better on this one, since we all just watched a 15 minute cast from this location.  For those of you that thought the Omo Forest is in Ghana, you can rest calmly that the forest – and Nigeria where it is located – is nearly 1,000 kilometers to our east, through Togo and Benin.”

“Ukraine, Kremenchuk: 63% correct.  Thankfully I am not grading on spelling!  But I’m also surprised this was the second most correct answer.  What was it that helped you remember this site?” Faith asked her students.

Faith pointed to one of the boys who had quickly raised his hand.  “The battle, Ms. Opoku!  Well, it really wasn’t much of a fight, since those Russian planes all got crunched!”, he said with enthusiasm.

“I should have guessed as much, Majid.  I hear there is a VR simulation of the event.  Have any of you played it?” Faith asked.  More than half of the students’ arms shot up, and almost all of the boys’ hands.

“Well, let’s hope you’ve learned some geography from that, eh?” she responded.

“United States, Seneca is the correct answer when listing the country and the city as I specified.  But I accepted Kansas.  Remember that The United States is similar to Ghana in that the country is broken into smaller government administrative areas.  In the United States they call those ‘states’ and here we call them ‘regions’.  In any event, this was guessed by 59% of you.  I noticed there were a higher percentage of girls that correctly listed this site compared to Kremenchuk.  What made this memorable for you, ladies?” Faith asked and then pointed to Ámmá, who rarely raised her hand so quickly.

“The couple that kissed, Ms. Opoku,” Ámmá answered with a giggle echoed by some of the other girls.  Faith remembered seeing that on a couple of the entertainment casts about a week ago, and smiled herself.  While she dedicated her life to her students now, she still thought the time might come when she would someday meet a man with whom she could start a family.

Faith brought up the next site on the screen.  “The fourth top answer is China, Xian.  31% of you got this one correct.  It wouldn’t surprise me it was due to all of the casts that have been sent from China about their site.”

“Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam: 28% was a close fifth.  Does anyone have a guess as to how far away this site is from us?”  None of the children raised their hands.  Faith answered, “Almost 7,000 kilometers.  This is seven times farther away than the Omo Forest, and is only slightly closer than the landing site in Ukraine.”  The teacher in her was trying to impress the children with how large the African continent was by tracing lines from Kumasi to Dar Es Salaam and then to Kremenchuk, but the students were not impressed.

“Not many of you knew the final sites,” Faith said with some small disappointment.  She read from the screen.

“Mexico, Mexico City: 15%

India, Hyderabad: 9%

Brazil, Itupeva: 6%.  Note that I accepted Sao Paolo or any other nearby city.

And finally, Philippines, Panay, with only 5% – two of you – getting that location.”

Faith looked at the individual scores and her look of surprise worried a few of the more observant children in the front of the class.  “We have one person that got a perfect score!” she announced.  “Majid Ankomah, congratulations!”

All the students turned and looked at Majid with their own look of surprise.  He was not known for his academics.

Majid got a huge grin on his face and said “You said you heard about the VR simulation for Kremenchuk, Ms. Oputu.  Well, I found a simulation for each site and can finally prove that playing VR has definitely helped my studies.”

The classroom, including the teacher, burst out laughing.

After it calmed down, Faith brought up the casts from the other three sites and all were equally as boring, with only the Chinese cast having a decent view of the alien ship ascending into the sky.  She wondered if this was computer generated, since there was at least 30 minutes between the time the launch had occurred and the time the cast had been posted.

As they were finishing the Xian cast, the sound announcing the early end of the school day sounded.  “Remember your assignments, class, and also those who wish to stay and take care of them with me are welcome to remain,” Faith reminded her students.

Nine of the students remained in class.  Five admitted they wouldn’t be able to enter their homes as their parents were both working and the home would be secured until the end of the regular school day.  Four students, including Mensã, wanted to take advantage of the extra class time.

Faith completed the Science and Social Studies lessons and they completed the homework assignment together in the classroom.  Because of the smaller number of students, the tone in the class was much more casual and conversation led back to the colonists and the alien ships.

Yaa, the student who never got to finish her thought in the morning, directed a question at her teacher.  “You really have no desire to go to the new planet, Ms. Opoku?” she asked her new teacher.

Faith walked around and sat on the front of her teacher’s desk, directly in front of the small group of students.  “No, Yaa, I really do not.  Even with all the troubles we have on this planet, there is so much that is wonderful, and inspiring, and so many people here that I love, that I could not leave.  It would make me very sad not to be a teacher and not to be able to spend my days with people like you.”

“But what if I end up on the new planet?  Will there be teachers for me there?” the young girl asked.

Faith was at a loss for words.  Before she could pull together an answer, the sound announcing the regular end of the school day blared over the speakers.  It made them all jump, as they weren’t really watching the time that closely.

The students began gathering their items and packing away their tablets.  Before the classroom emptied, Faith called Yaa to her desk.  “Yaa, I can assure you that wherever you go, there will be someone who will be there to watch over you, take care of you and help you learn.”

Yaa’s shoulders relaxed upon hearing this and she gave Faith a hug before running out the door.

Faith was about to begin gathering her own items when she looked up and saw Mensã still at his desk.  “Did you have a question about the assignments, Mensã?” she asked.

“No, Ms. Opoku.  I finished all of the homework already,” he answered.

“You heard the sound for the end of school, didn’t you?” Faith then asked.

“Yes,” Mensã answered.

“Then why aren’t you heading home?” the teacher said.

“I’m not sure I believe what you told Yaa, Ms. Opoku”, the young boy said with a somewhat defiant look on his face.

“What do you mean, Mensã?” Faith said, taking a seat next to him.

“I don’t believe there is always someone to watch over us and help take care of us,” Mensã said, his chin now shaking a bit.

“What’s wrong, Mensã?  Is someone hurting you outside of school?”, Faith asked intently.

“No one cares about me outside of school, Ms. Opoku.”, he said, his voice noticeably quavering now.  “My parents left the city this week with all my brothers and sisters.”

Faith just stared at her student, not yet understanding.

“They left me behind!”, Mensã said, as he began sobbing.

Then it hit her.  Mensã had been abandoned.

Faith dropped to her knees next to the young, innocent and very vulnerable boy and hugged him tightly.  Between the tears she was starting to shed, Faith said softly in his ear “I am here to watch over you, and take care of you Mensã.  I will help you learn.”

And from that moment, Faith realized she had just started her very own family.

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