Circle Of Life (558 hits)
Category: Quotes & StoriesRating: 0.81 on 10 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by polanaka (View user info) at 2005-05-03 18:07:50 EDT
"Mary had a lit-tle lamb, Lit-tle lamb, Lit-tle lamb... Mary had a lit-tle lamb, its feet was
white as snow," Jacqueline sang to her first-grade class.
Everyone in the class laughed.
"No, sweetie, not 'feet', it's 'fleece'," Mrs. Henderson corrected.
Stacie piped up. "What's fleece?"
"Well, it's like the fur."
"So can I call my hair fleece?"
"No, not exactly. Stick to calling it hair."
Intercom: Mrs. Henderson? You have a visitor at the office. I'll send someone down to
substitute."
"OOHHH!" the class taunted as if their teacher was in trouble.
"Class, I'll be right back. While I'm gone you better be good. Josh, erase the board;
Sarah, water the plants. Everyone put your desks back in order."
The substitute walked into the room, exchanged a quick 'hello' with Mrs. Henderson, and
sat at the desk.
"I'll be right back, just have the kids take out their math workbook."
Mrs. Henderson walked out into the brightly decorated hallway. She could smell crayons
and cafeteria food as she walked farther down the hallway until she got to the office
door. She pushed the door open slowly, making sure not to hit anyone on the other side.
"Your visitors are waiting in the conference room," the secretary stated blandly, without
even glancing up from her computer screen.
Mrs. Henderson smirked to herself because she remembered the Christmas party from
last school year, when that same secretary got sloshed and tried to come on to the
married gym teacher. It's a shame that she didn't remember doing it.
Mrs. Henderson opened the heavy, wooden door to the conference room. She was
greeted by her daughter, Madison. In Madison's arms was a tiny baby.
"Mom, I think there's something wrong with Caleb. He has a fever, what do I do?"
It was obvious to Mrs. Henderson that this was Madison's first child. New mothers always worried about the slightest little problem.
"It's ok, just take him to the doctor and have it checked out."
Madison gave her mom a quick kiss and left the school and headed to the doctor's office.
Mrs. Henderson thought to herself, "A mother's work is never done." She smiled to herself. It had only been 8 months since her husband died. He never got to experience being a grandfather, but Mrs. Henderson saw so much of him in the new baby.
She walked back down the vibrant hallway to her classroom. She loved teaching the children during the day, but she loved going home to a child-free environment every night. She entered her room again and sat at her desk, listening to the children read aloud in their books.
Madison called the school an hour later to let her mom know that the baby was fine, it was just a little temperature.
The school day ended and Mrs. Henderson got into her car and drove home.
She entered her dark, empty house and turned on every light. Ever since she lost her husband, she had an irrational fear of the dark. She wasn't afraid of monsters or shadows, she was afraid of realizing that she was alone.
She walked into her bedroom and over to a jewelry box. Inside was a folded piece of paper. She knew it by heart, she read it every time she felt lonely. It was well-worn. The outside had her name on it. It was dated 35 years earlier.
"Dearest Joan,
I'm writing this as you sleep next to me, in the home we've lived in for barely a
year. I will never give you this letter- you will find it on your own when the time's
right (or wrong, depending on circumstances). Since the day I met you, I have
loved you. I watch you every day and love you more and more. Even as you get
this, know that I still love you more each day, even if I'm no longer around. I've
always wanted to send you love notes, but I've been afraid that they wouldn't mean
as much; so I write you this, hoping that you'll find it and realize how meaningful you
are to me.
Love, Gary
P.S.- If you get this by snooping in my wallet, put it back so you can find it when you
really need it. I love you!"
She received the note with the reading of her husband's will. It was the happiest surprise she had ever received- proof that her husband loved her even after he was gone.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed as she stared at the note, but the telephone rang. She knew before she picked up the receiver that it was Madison. Call it a mother's intuition.
"Mo-o-om, can I come over? The baby's driving me crazy!"
"Sure, honey, come on over."
"Thanks, we'll be there in 10 minutes."
"Bye, dear, please drive safely."
"Yeah yeah yeah, I love you."
They each hung up. Mrs. Henderson carefully folded the note back up, kissed it, and placed it back into the box.
Soon, the bell on the screen door jingled. Madison walked in with the little boy in one arm. She marched right up to her mom and handed the baby over.
"How did you raise 3 children? I can't even handle one. I should have never gotten pregnant."
"Maybe you should have waited. Or at least use protection."
"Mo-o-om, look, I'm sorry, but it's too late. Please don't judge me."
Madison stomped out of the room. Mrs. Henderson followed.
"Sweetie, I'm sorry. But you've got to accept the consequences. Responsibilities."
"GRRR," and she stomped away again.
There was even a lot of her husband in Madison. He was just as stubborn, but when it came to his children, he was the greatest father in the world. Anything the kids wanted, he found a way to get it, even if they really couldn't afford it. If he couldn't buy it, he made it. He used to make due with what he had, and he never gave up on anything.
As she sat alone with her little grandson, isolation began to set in. The love of her life was gone, and her daughter couldn't fill his place in her heart. Mrs. Henderson looked down at little Caleb and stopped feeling lonely again. Every day she taught her students that life goes on. Caleb was Mrs. Henderson's proof.
User Reviews
Submitted by Zackstersmackster (user info) at 2005-05-03 23:24:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Very Nice.
Too bad some assholes exist here just to -2 everybody.
Submitted by williamson (user info) at 2005-05-03 20:13:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
+2worthy
Submitted by yermom (user info) at 2005-05-03 19:58:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Normally I would have only given this a +1, but I think from now on I'm going to +2 anything that's not a shit post, empty, less than a paragraph, or MS paint.
Good work for actually writing something.
Submitted by misanthrope (user info) at 2005-05-03 19:03:43 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
No Comment
Submitted by Yes (user info) at 2005-05-03 18:48:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Is this something you wrote in class while Mrs. Henderson was out of the room? Keep working on your writing, write every day, every chance you get, take any writing classes available and keep working on it. You can form complete sentences, now you just have to learn how to write stories.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-05-03 18:45:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Screw it, I couldn't do better.
Submitted by thorpe (user info) at 2005-05-03 18:44:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
Good... not insanely good.
Submitted by lisist (user info) at 2005-05-03 18:29:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I enjoy fine writing, its a shame uber rarely provides that. Kudos for not writing crap!
Submitted by purringbubbles (user info) at 2005-05-03 18:23:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Ouch man, I tried.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2005-05-03 18:14:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
what a lovely story :-) Thank you.