The Greatest Magic

“a, b, c, d, e, f, g,

h, i, j, k, lmnop.

q, r, s,

t, u, v,

w, x, y & z.

Now I’ve sung my abc’s.

Won’t you come & play with me?”

~~~~~~~~~~

The teacher stood before her small garden of children, hands lifted from her sides, palms up, middle fingers lightly touching her thumbs, her eyes closed wistfully as she cast her spell. The normally rambunctious tots sat enchanted with the tender joy of her song.

“Do you believe in magic?” she asked, opening her eyes to embrace her twelve diminutives with all the fullness of love contained within her heart. Her question, for all their insecurity as to how they should answer, suffused them with wonder & anticipation.

Looking into their wide, breathless eyes, she continued. “We’ve spent the past few weeks rehearsing this song, singing it together until each of you has it memorized & can sing it on your own. You’ve learned how to draw each letter so that now they have become familiar & you’ve already begun reading them.”

“What I haven’t told you until now, is that this is not just a song. It’s an incantation—a magic spell, if you will, like those in the fairytales—only this one has the power to open up all those worlds of which so far you’ve only heard, & so much more. Today, I want you to experience the power of its enchantment with me.”

All twelve pairs of eyes focused on her, rapt & eager.

“Raise your hands like this to your sides,” she purred, lifting her head slightly to gaze lovingly upon her charges. “Palms up, middle fingers lightly touching the tips of your thumbs.” Even speaking, her voice was like a melody washing over them.

“Close your eyes & sing with me.”

Together they chanted, as sweet as a lullaby—in thirteen different keys if you could call them that. But to her, their sound was like a Mozart symphony, as simple & pure as a Brahms lied.

At the end of the song she paused, lifting one eyelid just enough to catch a glimpse of her students.

“Ah!” she scolded gently. “No peeking. Keep your eyes closed. Let’s try that again.”

Once they had finished their second time, she cooed almost with a moan, “Oooo, do you know what kind of spell you just cast?”

The children opened their eyes & looked anxiously to their classmates to see if any had a clue. None did. They turned back to their teacher, some of them shaking their heads.

Holding her hand to her chest she blushed, “You cast a spell that filled my heart with such comfort & joy—you made it so warm I thought it might burst. My cheeks feel absolutely flushed!” she exclaimed with amazement, holding her face between her hands. “Did you know that you could do that? And so well! You’re really good at this!”

The children beamed with pride, even as they remained spellbound.

“Oh, but that’s not all this little incantation can do. Did you ever think that our song could actually get you doing all kinds of fun things & acting silly? Depending upon how you say or sing it, of course.”

Several mouths dropped at the mere suggestion.

“Here, let’s join hands in a circle, shall we?” They gathered round, finding & fumbling with hands until the ring was formed. “Now, let’s try singing it this way.”

As she opened her mouth to sing in a lively jig, she began skipping to her right. The startled children did their best to follow along, stumbling a bit which made them laugh. After “lmnop” she reversed direction, skipping to her left while ducking her head comically for each phrase. Several of the children fell over on top of one another, barely managing to scramble back to their feet before she returned to skipping right for, “Now I’ve sung my ABC’s,” followed by a step to the center with hands upraised on “Won’t you come &,” then a step back & a bow to the center on “play with me?”

Everyone bent over rolling with laughter after that, their teacher actually collapsing to the floor holding her stomach.

“Okay,” she admitted through the grin on her face, “that could probably use a little more practice. Want to try again?”

“Yeah!” the kids shouted together, jumping up & down with excitement. This time she sang & danced somewhat cautiously, making sure everyone was ready for each part.

Then, as though she had to ask, “Ready to dance faster?”

“Yeah!” they shouted even louder. They sang & danced over & over again, each time with a bit more speed, until everyone finally collapsed dizzy & exhausted.

They sat there reclining for the longest time, some even rolling on the floor, cheerfully catching their collective breath. Then, a small child looked into her eyes & asked, “Will you teach us another? Are there more magic spells we can learn?”

Their teacher held up one pointer finger as though pausing to think for a moment. “I believe I have just the thing,” she replied as she rose to her knees reaching to grab the dry-wipe board from behind her. Magnetically attached to its face were all the letters, both small & in caps, as well as the numbers zero through nine.

Holding it in front of her so the children could see she continued, “Using just these letters from our spell or song—rearranging & selecting just a few from them—we can create all sorts of things.”

She looked around, considering her audience, then selected three letters, placing them together in an empty space.

Gesturing, she said, “This is just for the four of you boys. Can you sound this out & tell me what it says?”

The little girl sitting in front & to the left raised her hand & began waving it excitedly.

“Be patient, Phoebe. You’ll have your turn in just a minute. I want the boys to work on this one.”

Chandler began tentatively, “L…., lllaaaa…, llaad. Lad!”

“That’s right!” his teacher praised. “But now, with just a little bit of magic we take these two letters, place them beneath the first & the last & slide them up. Now what do we have?”

Phoebe raised her hand again with even greater anxious determination. Her teacher shook her head & waved her off with a single finger, though a little smile crept into the corners of her lips & her eyes twinkled toward her ever-so-eager student.

Once more, Chandler began, “Mmmmm…, mmaaaa….”

“Man!” Ross cut him off. Ross liked to figure things out in his head before opening his mouth.

“Very good!” she beamed at him. “Do you see how with just a little help from our magic letters a little boy—"lad"—like you can grow up to become a man?”

Even Joey nodded thoughtfully at this suggestion.

“Now,” she said, turning to the rest of her class, “shall we try one with our eight young ladies?”

Phoebe smiled with anticipation, Monica looked intent, Rachel appeared worried, & everyone else leaned in to watch as their teacher moved one of the first discarded letters beneath the “n” & placed another letter beneath the “m”.

Before she could even ask, Phoebe’s hand shot high in the air. Her teacher could not help but chuckle, “Okay, Phoebs, out with it.”

“Gal!” she proclaimed triumphantly.

“Wonderful!” All watched as she then slid the “m” & “n” back down.

“Man!” shouted Rachel.

“Yes, that’s right,” their teacher snorted involuntarily. “You already know that one. But what if we put something in front of it?” she queried with a sly look, placing two new letters on the board with the other three.

Even Phoebe took a little time with this bit of magic before looking up quizzically with a thought. Her teacher gave her a little shrug & whispered, “Why don’t we let one of the others try it first.”

Phoebe almost looked relieved.

“W…, woe…, woe…?” Monica tested the sounds out.

“Why not try more of a ‘wu-’ sound?”

“Wu…, wuuu…, wuuu-man? Woman!”

“Great job, Mon! Well done all of you. And just like with the boys, little girls or gals like the eight of you, with only a little bit of magic, can grow up to become women!”

Everyone nodded with the fresh wonder of this discovery.

Joey couldn’t help but ask, “With magic could I grow up to be a woman?”

“Not in the state of Florida!” their teacher laughed. None of the kids got the joke. Once she recomposed herself, she continued, “That magic’s a bit advanced. It’s probably going to be a few years before you’re ready to learn about that.”

Joey nodded once again, content with her response.

“But there is a magic that’s a whole lot of fun I think you can probably handle. Would you like to try?”

No one said a thing, but every head nodded & leaned in with curiosity.

She slid the previous letters off to the side, then selected three fresh ones, this time all in caps. Before she had finished placing them, Phoebe’s hand was frantically waving as high as she could possibly stretch it.

Without even looking up, their teacher nodded with mock resignation, “Go ahead, Phoebs.”

“DOG!”

“That’s good. But, if I add three more letters, mix them up like a little alphabet stew, & use a little 'Hocus Pocus'…. Now, what do we have?”

“DRRRR….”

“DRAA….”

“DRAAA…, GON,” came Janice’s voice, followed by her signature nasal “chah”rtle.

“Fantastic, Janice! Which, by the way, is just what this kind of magic can do for you. With these simple letters you can create entire fantastical worlds, dream things that have never been dreamt, & become whoever you want to be. It’s magic for a lifetime that will open up worlds of adventure, both funny & serious, dangerous & wonderful, magical & romantic….”

At that last suggestion, all twelve kids blushed & began to giggle.

“Okay, maybe that last one can wait a few more years, too.”

No sooner had the last word slipped from her mouth than the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

“Saved!” she smiled to herself as her twelve blessed charges put everything away, grabbed their jackets & rushed out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~

Epilogue:

She’d sunk into her chair behind her desk, basking in the afterglow of the morning’s lesson, thrilling to the wonders of all that is five years old. She had some paperwork to finish & reports to fill out, but that could wait until after lunch. Right now she just wanted to enjoy the moment.

She was deep into her happy place when she heard the gentle creak of the classroom door slowly opening. She looked over to see Matthew peering sheepishly in.

“Come in, Matthew,” she said, gesturing for him to enter. “What is it?”

He entered tentatively, holding something behind his back. As he approached he brought forth a bouquet of dandelions.

Holding them out to her he said, “These are for you.” Then throwing his arms around her he gasped, “Thank you for being our teacher.”

She wrapped him in her arms & held him there as her eyes brimmed & a tear made its way down her cheek. “Oh, Matthew,” she choked, “you may not know this, but you might just have discovered the best magic yet.”

~~~~~~~~~~

~ For Matthew Perry & all his friends who are missing him so.