August Taylor moves to rainy Willow Creek to take a teaching job. A place where death looms in dark corners and wolves roam at night. The young teacher questions himself when a student takes a liking to him. And the more time he spends in the town...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Nov. 27
-
I felt tears well in my eyes when my eyes landed on my mothers. They looked exactly how they had when I left.
My mom's curly hair was braided into two braids with small strands falling into her face. She was wearing a yellow sweater that starkly contrasted her dark brown skin. When her eyes landed on me her face broke out into a smile. She reminded me of the sun.
My mother was standing next to her, with her dark clothes, dark hair, and pale skin she reminded me of the moon. She was wearing a long black dress with a cardigan to match. When she saw me she smiled widely as well, making the tears in my eyes finally drop.
No matter how old I got I always missed my mother's. In this moment I felt like a kid being picked up from their first day at day care.
"My love!" My mom beamed.
They opened their arms to me and I quickly accepted the hug. My mom was much shorter than me while my mother was around my height of 5'10.
"You look so pale," My mother grabbed my face in her hands, observing me closely.
"I haven't seen sun in days." I said truthfully, there was no way my vitamin d levels were normal. "It's cold, lets get you guys in the car."
I helped them load their bags into my car, but due to my car's size it took a minute. When we were finally done my mother took the passenger seat while my mom took the back. The radio was already set to the Christmas station. The voice of Nat King Cole flowed throughout the car. Everything felt so correct in this moment the dimness of the evening sky, the fog, the music, and my mother's presence.
"How are your students doing?" My mom asked from the back seat. She always made sure to ask for updates on my student's progress throughout the year. I figured her curiosity was from her own time as teacher. For her, the job was fleeting because of the low pay, but she loved it. Loved meeting people who she said had the most amount of promise and hope. Meeting people who were destined for great as long as the world treated them kindly.
"They're doing good but I can tell they lost a bit of their motivation as the breaks got closer. But hell, I did too. Some of the assignments are late, but their writing has more feeling." I pondered for a moment, a small laughing escaping my lips. "Nothing too concerning though."
When I read a piece of work that had emotionally distressing implications I took it upon myself to check on the student. It was part of the job description as the kids got to write about whatever they wanted. Over the past few weeks I had gotten to know every single one of my students. I had watched the formation of crushes, the breaking of friendships, the forming of friendships. It was interesting to watch, fascinating. As a teacher you learn the kids like the back of your hand when they assume you're not watching.
I noticed the way my student Sana became more and more annoyed with her friends when they cut her off mid-sentence. Or the way Ezra seemed to stare at Josiah Dubois just a little too long.
