Teacher Helps Poor Girl with Halloween Costume, Years Later Walks Her Down Aisle as Dad — Story of the Day
It was Ellie’s favorite school day of the year, yet she hoped nobody would spot her.
The school auditorium was bustling with children dressed in different shapes and colors of spook and wonder. Some walked in as princes and princesses, some glided in as vampires and superheroes, and some made dramatic entrances as astronauts and historical figures.
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But one little girl walked in with slumped shoulders, hiding her face and hoping nobody would notice her grey pants and white T-shirt.
Ellie wanted to dress up as a princess that year. “Your costume will turn a lot of heads, I promise!” Ellie’s dad had assured her a few months earlier. But you know how busy dads are and how they sometimes forget the small important stuff while handling the big important stuff.
So when Ellie’s dad forgot to save up for her princess costume for the school Halloween party that year, she wasn’t mad at him. But she couldn’t keep her nervous tears back when the mean kids from her class started mocking her.
“What are you supposed to be dressed as? Ugly Ellie?” one of the boys chuckled and held up the end of Ellie’s ponytail with an expression of disgust on his face.
Ellie covered her ears and cried as she heard the kids chanting her latest nickname and laughing wickedly. Every face around her was unkind and indifferent to her sadness except one.
“Psst! Ellie!” an older voice whispered to her. It was Mr. Borges, her art teacher. He was trying to tell her something. The girl wiped her tears and managed to escape the crowd of children and walk past them, closely following her favorite teacher.
“Wait here!” Mr. Borges said and walked into the cramped up supply closet. A few seconds later, he was back, and Ellie couldn’t help but wonder why the man was holding a few rolls of toilet paper.
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“What’s that for?” Ellie asked, scratching her head.
“This? It’s for your Halloween costume. And it’s going to be the best Halloween costume ever!” Mr. Borges seemed as excited as a child.
Ellie stood clueless and as still as a statue. At the same time, her teacher began wrapping the toilet paper around her waist and upwards towards her neck, ensuring she was comfortable every few seconds. Then he began wrapping the toilet paper around her belly, legs, and arms, down to the little fingers and toes.
“Woah, Mr. Borges!” Ellie was finally starting to figure out the brilliant costume idea. “I look like a—”
“Hold on now. Keep your head straight. There’s one final part…” the man said and wrapped the last few rolls of tissue around and across her face, leaving just enough room for her eyes, nose, and lips.
“NOW…” Mr. Borges said, leaving random red blots of ink randomly around the wrapped tissue roll, “it’s ready!”
A teacher’s influence lasts a lifetime.
When Ellie saw herself in the mirror, she couldn’t stop jumping up and down, clapping her papery hands with sheer joy. “I love it! I love it, Mr. Borges. Thank you!”
Ellie hugged her hero and placed a tiny kiss on his cheek.
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When she again walked into the crowd of excited children, they covered their mocking mouths in awe.
To Mr. Borges, it may have just been a creative way to put a smile on a sad child’s face, but to Ellie, it meant everything! Nobody in school had ever done something that nice for her. In a place where she had only been mocked or ignored, Mr. Borges became the first person to notice her and help her out.
And Ellie would do everything she could to stay close to this kind adult, Mr. Borges. She took more interest in art;
