Prairie Lotus

Hanna is “mired in misery” (56) by the time lunch approaches on the second day of school, feeling as though all the students want to stare at and talk about her. Before Miss Walters releases the classes for dinnertime (lunch), she assigns them the task of preparing to share something about the place in which they lived before LaForge. Hanna pretends to say grace over her dinner pail as students exit in the hope that no one will try to say anything to her or about her within earshot. It works. While most of the students are home for dinner, Hanna walks to the shared water bucket and drinks a dipperful of water. A young girl of about seven asks for a dipper as well. When Hanna also offers to wipe the smudge of dirt from the girl’s face, the two smile at one another.

When the students return for the afternoon, there are three empty desks. The reader classes each stand and reveal something about the location of their last home: Freddie saw many trains in Chicago; Henry found fossils near Lake Superior. When it is her turn to speak, Hanna witnesses the class’s amazement when she says she came from California where oranges grow readily.