Baby Thomas

in his winter journal he writes about the baby that has come to the school to stay: “Baby Thomas” they call him he is so well and truly alone in this world his father brought him to us shortly after the mother died then the grandmother we could see by the way he was desperate with the squint around his eyes and the state of his clothing very nearly rotting off him the baby I mean but the father too all the children in fact had been wearing their clothing all the summer and it was disintegrating under the dirt and grime right in front of our eyes headmaster agreed at first baby cried every day but soon he began to learn the system of bells a bell rings to tell the children when to rise when to wash dress eat go to class work play sing sleep… I feared Baby Thomas would be crushed by loneliness as I have seen so many succumb to but the headmaster’s wife decided to make a pet out of Thomas our baby and everyone was then given permission—or so it seemed—to baby the child to give him affection and special treats he has become our collective project and slowly he has turned out happy much to our great delight when he smiles or laughs or shows affection thankfully he is not sullen like the older children can be