2 ~ MASHI~
The teacher started to check the attendance of her class.
" Number 1, Number 2...".
A girl of eight rushed with fast footsteps and paused at the door of the class. She is gasping heavily.
" Sorry, Ma'am. I'm late".
" it's okay, Mashi. The bell just rang. Don't panic. Take Care of your time always. Now get in". Teacher allowed her in.
Mashi got into the class. Sarah, her close friend, smiled at her from a far distance. Mashi moved to her. She gave her a space to sit beside her.
" Hey Sarah, My Mom made a special dish for us today". Mashi told in a low voice while she took the book.
"Really! How sweet of your Mom". Sarah replied.
" OK children. Listen here. Yesterday we listened to a story about a Hen, right? How was the mother Hen? Did everyone like her?".The teacher asked the children.
" Yes Mam". The whole class echoed in a single tone.
" Hey Mashi, the mother Hen is just like your Mom". Sarah whispered.
" Mm? why?" Mashi asked.
" Because she too collected special worms for her kids". She replied in a naughty tone.
They both giggled together.
'DRAW THE PICTURE OF A HEN'.
Teacher wrote on the board.
"This is your task, children. You have to draw a Hen right now". The teacher told them.
" Okay Ma'am " again the tune came.
All of the children started to draw the picture. Teacher walks to each bench and observes the drawings of them. She didn't forget to make good comments about the pictures they drew and she encouraged them with a broad smile on her face.
As such she walked for around ten minutes and she paused once at Mashi and took her book.
" Woow... So beautiful! So you made a sweet home for your Hen and her kids?". The teacher happily asked.
Mashi Shook her head and giggled.
" Great! I just loved the trees and flowers near the home. Good good keep going Keep going". She gave back the book. She bought the book and continued to draw.
All children are busy with their drawings. In between the peon entered the class and gave a Memo to the teacher.
"All of you listen please. Due to the sudden strike of the Political parties we won't have afternoon classes today. So you can leave the school at noon". The teacher read the Memo.
By hearing this some students are happy and some are not. The discussion of the students seems like the chirping of the birds.
" Keep quiet, Do the work". The teacher said in a raised voice.
The whole class became silent as one stopped the engine of a vehicle.
The bell rang. it's started to drizzle outside. The children came to the verandah and stretched out their hands to feel the rain. They collect the chilled rain drops and sprinkled each other. The air is filled with the burst out of laughing and screaming.
Teacher came suddenly.
" Why are you all here? Go inside the Class". Teacher ordered.
The children ran inside the Class within seconds.
The rain got heavy and started to shower big drops. Children are enjoying the rain inside the Classroom.
" Are you enjoying the rain?". The teacher asked.
"Ahh...Ahh..." They replied.
" Okay then I'll sing a rain song for you". The teacher told them.
The whole class got excited to hear the song of their singer teacher.
🎵🎶🎼
it's raining, it's pouring
the old man is snoring
He went to bed and he bumbed his head
and he couldn't get up in the morning.
Rain rain go away
come again some other day
rain rain go away
come again some other day."
Boom !!!
Suddenly a loud crack occurred. All the children screamed along with the earth-shaking thunder.
" it's okay Children. No need to be afraid. it's all about the naughtiness of the nature. You all are at a safe place now. Be Brave".
No one can penetrate through the minds of a child as a teacher does. A very single word of a teacher can change one's attitude. Now the children have become calm.
Hours passed. The long bell strucked to announce the ending of the school.
" Okay Children. Please line up quitely. No need to rush. The floor is all wet. You should be walking slowly to avoid slipping. See you on Monday. Have a happy holiday. Thank You All". The teacher told them.
" Thank you Ma'am". Children lined up as the teacher told them.
Mashi and Sarah stood near by in the line. Sarah placed her arms on Mashi's shoulder. They chit-chatted about the little things of their fantacy world. They stepped down to the courtyard of the school.
" Your bus has not arrived yet". Sarah told Mashi while stepping down the stairs.
" Ah yes. It will come soon". She replied.
" Mm then Iam leaving. I want to walk home quickly before the next rain". Sarah said.
" I too will come with you to the gate". Sarah Smiled at her.
" COME".
They both walked hand in hand to the gate. They seperated their locked palms when they reached the gate and farewelled each other.
" Bye, See you on Monday".
" Bye" Sarah waved at Mashi and left the school. Mashi turned back to the schoolyard to wait for her bus to come.
She stepped three to four steps. Some boys are playing touch and catch a game there. Ditch water can be seen here and there in the yard. To the bad luck of Mashi, a boy about ten jumped into one ditch and splashed out the muddy water on her. Mashi got stuck for a few seconds. The boys were indulged in their play and even didn't notice the Mashi mere once. Her face reddened.
" Idiots". She murmured angrily.
She walked to a bench kept in the verandah of the school. She placed her bag on the bench. The skirt, as well her bag, are covered with mud.
" Oh God! What a Day!". She said to herself.
She wipes out the mud from the bag. It spread over the bag even worse than before and her hand got muddy too.
" Shit!"
She took the bag and looked around once and went straight to the bathroom.
As she moves forward the voice around gets fading. Her footsteps became more clear and in addition to that sky covered with rainy clouds started to drop down the raindrops.
Tik... Tik... Tik... Each paces on the floor echoing as she is in a cave. When she entered the bathroom her footsteps seemed to annoy her too badly. The sharp steps between the utterly silenced walls paused her feet from moving for some seconds. She looked back once and then she pressed her palms on ears and ran to the very end of the bathroom door. The Last one is spacious when compared to others. It has a sanitary disposable machine for the grown-up girls and a space to keep their belongings. And moreover, the bathroom has enough light in the day time because of the transparent glasses of the upper windows. Mashi took out the things inside the bag and kept it in that provided space and opened the pipe fully and showed the muddy area of the bag.
She almost cleaned up the bag, kept it aside, and started to pee. Still, she didn't turns off the pipe. She noticed a pink-coloured chalk piece that had been kept in a hole on the wall by somebody. She took it out and started to draw a line from the bottom of the door while urinating.
Outside, the rain becomes torrential along with the wind. The school buses all arrived at the ground and children started to get on the bus. Almost all the children left the school already.
Ram, the peon of the school walking towards the main door of the bathroom. He tries to keep him away from the rain shower so that he walks so close to the wall. When he reached the door a strong wind blew and Ram shrank to himself. He quickly took a bunch of keys from his pocket and searched for the key. He wipes his face,
" Damn Rain!"
He Pulled the half of the door and followed the other and locked the door with a THUD!!!
