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...
اوووه! هذه الصورة لا تتبع إرشادات المحتوى الخاصة بنا. لمتابعة النشر، يرجى إزالتها أو تحميل صورة أخرى.
-
Dec. 10
Today was the day, the Christmas sleepover. I was dressed and ready in my ugly Christmas sweater and Santa hat by six p.m. Cheesy yes, but worth it. The school hallways were decorated with tinsel and lights. Ms. Edith didn't really hide the fact that Christmas was her favorite holiday and I couldn't really blame her.
As a kid Christmas was my favorite right in front of Halloween. Every year until I turned ten I left cookies, waited for Santa, and acted surprised in the morning. I knew Santa wasn't real but I loved what my moms did every year. They would make dirty boot prints in front of the fire escape, eat the cookies, and leave presents from both them and Santa.
The Christmas season added a fair amount of structure to my life. It told me what music to listen to, what movies, and baked goods to bake. A pleasant amount of normality to my life.
My eyes found Alex at the end of the hall in the sea of teachers. He had elf ears on, a dopey looking hat, and a red and green stripped shirt. A wheeze escaped my lips at the sight, an elf was fitting for his stature. He wasn't that short, but amount teachers he was definitely the shortest.
Alex met my eyes, somehow sending a look between a smile and a grimace. He approached me quickly, Sierra in tow. Sierra was dressed in a simple burgundy dress.
"I lost a bet." Alex gritted his teeth.
"I can see that. I think you look good, it's fitting." I muttered, going to flick one of his elf ears. He grabbed my wrist tightly causing me to laugh. "You look very beautiful Sierra."
"Thank you kind sir." She bowed her head, putting her arm around Alex's shoulder. "The students will be on their way back in an hour or so, they'll trickle in. Hopefully they'll make it back before it starts raining again."
My eyebrows furrowed together. "The storms are still going on? I thought they stopped."
Sierra shook her head. "Apparently not, no one really knows what's going on."
"We are on food and movie duty for the first few hours. I don't know if they were smart for putting us together." Alex linked his arm with mine, linking the three of us like a chain.
"Too late now for them to back out." I smiled widely.
Maybe tonight would be fun.
-
The students started to trickle in one by one in mitch-matched combinations of pajamas, big shirts, and sweatpants. A few parents helped load food and snacks into the school. It took us a total of thirty minutes to get our assigned activity classroom ready for the night. We had set out a table of snacks the students could enjoy during the movie and before the dinner. Then we made sure the projector was working and the movie ready. The students voted to watch The Polar Express. Wether that was a sarcastic choice or not I still wasn't sure.
