The White Horse

"She didn't want to relax; she had to stay on guard because people could turn on you any second. Even the people who said they loved you...."

The teacher stopped reading. From across the desk she could feel the girl's eyes on her face, like hands.

When she's not sure where she's headed or what's going to take her there, Raina writes, filling pages with the desperation she hides beneath a mask of invulnerability. But when her teacher, Margaret Johnson, finds these crumpled scraps of a youn... (show more)

"She didn't want to relax; she had to stay on guard because people could turn on you any second. Even the people who said they loved you...."

The teacher stopped reading. From across the desk she could feel the girl's eyes on her face, like hands.

When she's not sure where she's headed or what's going to take her there, Raina writes, filling pages with the desperation she hides beneath a mask of invulnerability. But when her teacher, Margaret Johnson, finds these crumpled scraps of a young girl's life pushed into her hands, she's not sure what to do with them. Almost against her will, she is drawn in by Raina's stories of her survival on and off the streets, her relationships with her junkie boyfriend and mother -- both alternately loving and abusive -- and eventually her pregnancy. Whenever she tries to get Raina to confide in her, however, Raina becomes suddenly cold, afraid to accept the help she has been asking for through her stories. Little does Ms. Johnson know that her praise of Raina's writing and her faith in her are perhaps the only "burning nuggets" in Raina's heart. And little does Raina know that she has something inside her to give back.

This poignant portrait of the relationship between a lonely but devoted teacher and her troubled student shows how we can tame the white horses of our nightmares and turn them into hope. (show less)