The next few days in the home were interesting.

The one called Bella continued to sit on her bed, unresponsive except for her eyes. The technitions, nurses, and social workers tried their hardest to change that.

One lady brought in a storybook to read. Quite frankly, Bella is unlikely to know English. Her eyes grew glazed after about two pages. Towards the end, there even seemed to be some annoyance in her posture. I suppose she isn't used to a constant stream of loud sound effects and sharp movements.

The next attempt was a stocky man. He brought some of his son's toys to tempt our dear Bella with. He carefully placed them within her sight when he left the room. Bella showed no interest in the toys, of course. The only thing she's interested in is food.

When the others were discussing plans at the table, I slipped away. I'd been carefully watching Bella's reactions to each type of food we gave her -- The tiniest twitch of an eyebrow or hesitation to chew and swallow, the little forward lean when something is particularly good. For an 'unresponsive' child, she was easy to read.

Strawberry yogurt. Everytime she was fed yogurt, her arms would twitch and she'd lean forward enough that even one of the technicians noticed it. Mix that with her general cleaning toward sweet things, and strawberry yogurt was the perfect bait.

Inside her room, I acted as protocol for feeding time. I had my tray of food which I spoon fed her. Carefully, I left the yogurt for last. 

After two spoonfuls of it, I set the spoon down, glancing at her reaction. Oooh! That's the most annoyed she's ever looked! Her little face is desperately trying not to scrunch! Her fists clenched uncontrollably! Her arms shaking with the effort to not reach out and snatch the yogurt from my hands! 

I stifled a giggle. I needed to remain professional for the cameras.

Carefully, I set the yogurt on the table wrong. As it spilled, I moved quickly to pick it up incorrectly as well. Once all the yogurt spilled onto the table, I sighed. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bella lick her lips.

Perfectly done.

I congratulated myself silently and hurried out of the room. If anyone asked, I was getting paper towels. Really, I had already stashed paper towels in the hallway. Within a minute, I was back at the door, peaking in.

I watched the clock. Normally, Bella waits at least ten minutes to be sure we're gone before she moves around. With the bait yogurt in place, however, I'd be surprised if she lasted five.

Sure enough, Bella left her seat to get her treat after barely two minutes. Soon, she was completely engrossed in eating every speck of it. Slowly, I opened the door and shut it carefully behind me. Then, I went around her, keeping low to the edge of the room. Finally, just when she started looking for more yogurt to eat, I placed myself on her bed.

What a shock it must have been for her, looking for yogurt only to see me! Her wildly flickering eyes froze. Her breathing stopped. A slip second and she dashed under the table. She kept glancing at the shut door, but She'd never learned to open it. Finally, she slumped into a defensive posture, glaring at me with all her might.

I'd won.

I successfully provoked her to move in front of me without harming or antagonizing her in any way. I smiled down at her from my perch, and ever so gently, I spoke.

"Nice to finally meet you, Bella."

(597 words)