No child should live without their voice. Thoughts sleep in your mind with no way for them to live. Silence is lonely.  Buried deep, naked, very awake,  my next creative story summons a way to be heard. Treasures sunken, waiting to be discovered.

Known for her unique rapid prompting method, Soma challenged voices, and she gave them a pathway . Having dreamed nightly, voicing silenced at creative crescendo, visiting her filled me full of excitement.

The first time I remember meeting Soma she was so ignited,small but powerful, pushy but very pleasant. She welcomed me with brazen swiftness. I think she reunites with very little welcoming. Simplistic, quick, rude. While most people like when we meet turning to shake hands, thoroughly sewing their void together with hello, moving to words with trivial worth, trying politely to introduce themselves. Soma just thrusts right into you with what you are there to do.

Saving no time to check out my surroundings, she swiftly escorted me to a small room with a table. Sitting in a chair with something wedged straight in front of my legs, turning left I noticed there was a wall, on my right, small but sure, was Soma. Neither of my brothers were in the room, yet they sounded like they were watching later. Sitting right behind me were my parents.

She moves with you, then woven with seriousness, she requests responses very rapid, like when she would write the spelling of the word she would request you to spell for her on the letter board. Unusual phrases filled what would normally be pauses for most people. Well like, then, so this. Very quick with running voicing. She spoke pulsing information with spelling, using pieces of paper, writing words, telling me the letters, putting unusual pursuit on me. Taking special trouble to turn responses to teach me how to have a voice. Listening to Soma pulse information with spelling then pursuing my response showed me how to express my voice. She gave me quick lessons.  Listening to her was peaceful. Talking much like humming, rich, fluid, she makes people wake their voice while learning.

Feeling grateful, excited, but choking with anxiety, I began to move casting childish challenges forth. She had cadence from beginning to end, never damaging my acuity teaching no matter what I did.

While piquing the required response, she welcomed me to spell, turning the lesson into my voice. She was the first person to pull my missed voice while respecting me like an intelligent ten year old.

Finally my thoughts were free.  While I worked with Soma one on one, I saw many others coming with quiet voices too. Exiting, we stopped right at the front door to get a picture under the sign which spelled HALO. While this was an acronym, I knew I saw the light.

Chasing creative forms of communication, most brutal feeling, swaddled survival words but very limiting. Having so much more to say than choices that were preloaded in dreadfully difficult devices, the simplicity and potential of the letter board changed my future.