My First Day of School

I was one of the fortunate ones. I still had my mother, or at least a version of her. She wasn’t the warm, fuzzy funny person I remembered from my Kindergarten days; however, she still looked the same…except the eyes. Her eyes scared me now. They were glassy, vacant, and totally black. But she was still with me at least. Most of the children stood alone, or in small, huddled groups being herded towards the big glass door by their robotic minders.

I knew behind the big glass door was something called a classroom. I had no idea what it might be like, but I knew I was going there to learn. I had no idea what I might be going to learn, or why, or how. The door concealing this mystery was a glorious riot of colourful iridescence. Its beauty was mesmerizing and somehow reassuring.

I started and crept back towards my mother, when the beautiful doors suddenly drew back, with a pneumatic hiss…

Mother gave me a gentle push. She rarely touched or hugged me these days, so I leant into her palms, even as they propelled me away from her.

I had been thrown off balance in that moment. Behind the doorways a room of breathtaking beauty was revealed. Every wall was a riot of intricate and bold artworks and as I was later to learn instructional posters. On the floor there were multiple soft fluffy cushions and bolsters of every size and shape. Beneath these, were carpets the like of which had only seen in the old fashioned books mother used to have. I had been told that I would meet someone called a teacher and that they would not be a robot or from the ruling Clarnicans. I couldn’t see anyone or anything. Not at first.

I could not take in the visual cacophony, breathtaking though it was, and started to get a bit panicky. I turned around and mother was gone. Like the majority of the children I was now alone standing outside the beautiful room, too afraid to move either forward or back. I started to feel very scared a feeling that jarred with my stunning surroundings. I heard him before I saw him. A rich baritone emanated from the far-left corner of the room. “Come in Children, come in and sit down, there are plenty of cushions and beanbags for everyone!” “Find a spot!”

Then I saw him, and gave a little gasp. He was around my height, that is to say less than 4 feet and was the most incredibly handsome person I had ever seen in my short life. And his eyes, his eyes were like my own. Blue surrounded by white with only a little black in the centre. I wasn’t used to seeing adults with eyes like mine. And I knew that he was definitely an adult, despite the fact that he was no taller in fact maybe a little shorter than me.

I hoped fervently that he was going to be my teacher and wasn’t just there to be “crowd control”

A bold child to my right piped up “Can I sit on that cushion there?” Indicating a large Orange fur fabric bolster. The rest of us were agog at his temerity, we had learnt the hard way in the past two years, asking questions could be dangerous life threatening even, those that had asked too many or voiced their thoughts too freely were either never seen again or at best, never ever the same again.

We collectively held our breath. The beautiful small man responded in his melodic tones, with a smile, “Go for your life kid.”

I think we all knew then, that our first day of school, under Clarnican rule, was going to be ok.