Sunday morning was calm, the kind of quiet that comes after heavy snowfall. In church, candles flickered softly, and later that day, Ms. Larsen posted the new task to the class group: “Mission #15 – Pray or reflect quietly for someone who needs support.”
Unlike most missions, this one didn’t require action — no glue, no shovels, no notes. Just time. Time to stop, think, and care. Some students prayed in their own way, others just sat in silence, letting their thoughts rest on someone they knew was struggling.
Emma lit a candle at the kitchen table and thought of her grandfather, who was in the hospital. Jonas sat in his room with his headphones off for once, thinking about a friend whose parents had just separated. Ida wrote down the names of people she cared about and folded the paper neatly, keeping it in her Bible. None of them told anyone. They didn’t need to.
The next morning, Ms. Larsen opened class by saying, “Sometimes the strongest thing you can do for someone is simply hold them in your thoughts — not to fix, but to care.” The students nodded quietly. There was no applause, no visible result — but the air felt gentler, and everyone seemed to walk and speak a little softer that day.
And though no one could see it, a quiet warmth settled over 7B — the kind that comes not from what you say or do, but from remembering that others matter, even in silence.
