To No One in Particular

A Fish Out of Water

Roman

“Children, shouldn’t you be at quiet time?” Mrs. Hopper stood behind them with her arms crossed and her raven cane hooked onto her wrist. She handed it to Caspian and pulled out a golden pocket watch from practically nowhere.
“8:03.” She had a smug expression on her face that Roman hated. “Three minutes too late.”
Caspian started to speak but Roman stepped in front of him and cut him off.
“Thank you, Mrs. Hopper. We are truly sorry.” She presented a low curtsy before rising and saying “We will be on our way back to our rooms. Forgive us for our tresspasses.”
Roman wasn’t sorry in the slightest, but she hoped that fanning Mrs. Hopper’s ego would get them out of whatever the punishment for breaking the rules were.
Mrs. Hopper's eyes gleamed in a way that sent chills up Roman’s spine.
“Very well.” She took her cane from Caspian. “Just this once.”
They trudged back to their rooms.
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Something about Mrs. Hopper didn’t click correctly with Roman. In the office, it didn’t seem like she had forgotten. It seemed like she was testing them. Roman stole a glance at her paperwork before Mrs. Hopper had pushed them out of the room. It had their birth dates, zodiac signs, least favorite foods, hair type (Roman apparently had 3A while Caspian had 2B), and everything down to even their shoe size. Mrs. Hopper had known their age. She was testing them.
But for what?
Roman took off her boots and let herself instinctively roll onto the floor. She had always found the floor was a good companion. She had even written a poem about it once. When she had finished writing it, she had shown it to Mother. Mother made Father put it in its own custom made frame that swung on a nail in the main dining hall-where every guest could see. It read:
“A fish out of water finds peace on the ground
But not in a peaceful way
The dirt and the sand fill up it's gills
And it's found dead the very next day. 

I am not fish, but a human that breathes
Through a mouth and a nose and a heart.
And the ground is a comfort, a hug, a friend
He has been there from the start.

I've learned to walk and crawl and dig
Functions that help me exist.
And the ground, the grass, the waves, the sea
Have been here for all of this.

So thank you to my friends who live underneath
The ones that help me grow.
For the gratitude I breath through my heart
You never now shall know.”
Thinking about it made her eyes threaten to spill over onto her cheeks. Forcing the tears back, she pulled herself off the ground and trudged over to her desk. She would rewrite the poem and hang it on the wall. But, this time, it would be for her parents.