02

The day ended an hour and a half later. Like every day I kneeled by the classroom door and hugged all my students. It was something they started themselves. From the first day Katie, the same girl who was arguing with Mitch earlier, came up to me and hugged me goodbye. From then on all the kids followed after her. It was probably the best part of the day for me.

I loved my job even though it wasn’t what I wanted to do when I graduated high school. My plan was to go into the medical field but after having to take care of my mom when she got sick I found that I couldn’t do it. Watching one person slowly die was enough for me.

So instead I went into teaching. After going to school for four years and doing internships at schools, I got the job here at Parker Elementary school. It was a new school that was built in my hometown which was perfect for me.




After my first day here two years ago I fell in love. It wasn’t until then I realized this was what I was suppose to do. Things always happen for a reason and this was one of them.

When I noticed my last student walking towards me I smiled. I looked at the cute brunette girl who was wearing all pink and a holding her pink barbie backpack.

« Bye Ms. Gardner. » I loved how little 6 year olds said my last name. And Sadie has a small lisp that caused her to say it differently, something I loved about her.

« Bye Sadie. Don’t forget about bringing in your favorite sweet for tomorrow. » I hugged her small form before letting go.

« Can I bring cupcakes ? »


« Of course ! I love cupcakes. Just bring enough for the whole class. » Sadie squealed before running out of the room towards her mom. I shook my head but smiled. If only we could all be excited about cupcakes like little kids.

Because tomorrow, Thursday, was the last day before the festival weekend I was letting all the kids bring in their favorite sweets for something fun to do. Their parents may not like it when they bring them home though.

After finishing up cleaning the room and putting my desk back together, I grabbed my stuff and headed home.

Pulling into the driveway of my house I turned off my car and looked up at the cute two story house I have lived my whole life. I sighed seeing the flower beds were dead, leaves from the big tree out front were all over the front lawn, the grass a bit over grown.

With it only being me it was hard to keep up on the yard work and everything else. I guess I knew what I was going to do some of this weekend. I inwardly groaned at that. I hated that it was just me here to do all the work but I wasn’t going to complain.

Opening the front door to the house I was met with silence.

« Welcome home. » I muttered.

Coming home to an empty house sucked. This past year has gotten worse with my younger brother, Lucas, now away at college. Before I knew he would either be here or be home soon, but now it was just me. Just me in a big house. Sometimes I didn’t mind it, but Annie was right I lived a boring life.

I lived by a regular schedule now a days. I got up, went to work, came home and made dinner for myself, and then watch tv until bed. It was boring but it was me, well the new me.




Shaking my head I headed for my bedroom. I didn’t want to think about such things, things that were in the past and that I couldn’t control.

« Okay everyone, we are going to have a quick spelling test. » A collective groan echoed around the class room. « Then we can eat those yummy treats you guys brought. » That got their attention immediately.


Smiling I grabbed the spelling sheets and handed them out. Everyone was jittery in their seats as they wanted to eat the snacks and go home for the long weekend. With the fall festival all weekend everyone in town was excited. 



The fall festival around here was a big deal. There were rides for the kids and teens to go on, food vendors that came from all over, booths to win prizes or to buy things from local businesses, and at the end of each night concerts went on and games were held. At the end of the weekend fireworks went off. It was a huge event here in Port Townsend.

Knowing the kids were getting antsy, I started the little quiz. Because they were first graders the words weren’t hard. Last night while I was eating dinner I made the list with a fall theme. That is usually how I spent my nights at home alone. I planned the next day’s lessons and graded the little homework I did give out.

Being a first grade teacher wasn’t as easy as everyone thought it was. Having to come up with a lesson that engaged the kids and helped them learn was difficult. With a bunch of 6-7 year olds their attention spans were next to nothing so to keep it interesting was harder than one would think.