Here is my displaced fairy tale....
It was raining. Again. I had
neither an umbrella nor a rain coat as my rain coat no longer holds out water
and I don’t own an umbrella. So, I was left to walk briskly to school in the
downpour. It was a bit muddy walking along the dirt road; the bottoms of my
pant legs quickly became soaked and muddy. The footprints I left did not last
long as the water was eager to wipe them away. The road would lead me home
again though. I knew the path well. Maybe it would not rain after school.
“Hey! Are you walking to school?”
The voice came from my right, in the direction of the lone house that sat among the trees just off the road.
“Yes, I am. It’s not that far.” I
answered as Mrs. Jones walked up beside me. She was a science teacher for the
younger kids at school. I had never had her as a teacher, but she still had
that aura of a teacher and it always made me a bit jumpy.
“Would you like to walk with me
under my umbrella? I couldn’t have one of my students catch a cold.”
“Ok.” That was all I could manage
at first. She seemed to not notice my uneasiness, but took it instead as
shyness. Most people seemed to do that with me. Teachers at school often told
me that I was sweet and respectful; a model student and a friend to all.
Really, I just didn’t talk much. Talking was not something I did often due to
having an over bearing mother and two sisters who couldn’t take care of
themselves.
“How is Lily?” I finally asked. I
knew her daughter from school and we played on the soccer team together. Lily had been gone from both for some time
now.
“She has mono, the poor dear. She
has been sleeping a lot. It sure does last a long time too; 14 weeks so far.”
“I’m sorry. Will you tell her I
said hello?”
“Of course. You should come over
some time; she would love to see you.”
“Ok.”
“Well here we are. Thank you for
walking with me, I loved talking with you. If you walk with me to my classroom
I will give you a peppermint and some hot cocoa to warm you up.”
I didn’t want to hurt her feelings,
but I didn’t want to go to her classroom. I had other things to do. Luckily,
Cameron saved me.
“Hey! I have been waiting for you.
Alice and Claire have been bothering me. Come play? Oh, hello Mrs. Jones.” I smiled in answer as he jogged over to us. He
was always nice to me; he also was not too fond of teachers, especially Mrs.
Jones.
“Hey Cameron. I will let you two
play. Looks like you two are very affectionate with each other.” Mrs. Jones
said as she smiled down at us. I wrinkled my nose.
“Ew. Gross. Boys have cooties.
Besides dating is for old people.” I answered before I could think about what I
was saying. I thought for sure I was going to pay; teachers had that way of
getting angry over the smallest things.
Mrs. Jones just chuckled, “You just keep thinking that.
See you two around.”
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