I want to add another part of story that makes Beth more compelling. The main character should be a person you care about and I wasn’t sure if people would really care that she was in such precarious situations. Like being stuck in the car with a man who had recently been released from jail or having to persuade the board of education that she wasn’t trying to ruin kids’ minds with her “city books.”
The last post I talked about the care she took in setting up the classroom. Now I want to write about her interactions with students.
Here we go, continuing story #1
One winter morning, Anita Thompson came to school in tears. Her hair was a bit raggedy, her dress rumpled. Beth took her aside after she had greeted each student and everyone was putting their backpacks on the hooks and picking out which lunch they wanted that day–cheeseburger or yogurt or cold (meaning they brought their own lunch).
“Anita, are you okay?” asked Beth.
Anita looked at her fellow students, embarrassed for crying.
“Do you want to talk in the hall?”
Anita nodded her head.
“Fifth grade, make sure you start on your morning writing prompt and write everything down in your planner for the day. I’ll be right in the hall.” Beth instructed. She stepped out in the hall with Anita, but she had her foot in the door so she could see and hear the class. This wasn’t her first rodeo.
“Alright, girly, what’s going on?” Beth asked, squatting down a little. Although most of the 5th graders were her height or taller, Anita was actually much smaller than her.
“Um, well, my dad yelled at me. I forgot my lunch at home and he said he wouldn’t go home and get it because it’s my responsibility and the reason I forgot it was that I was so tired because the baby was up all night crying and I just don’t know what to do!” Anita let out a sob she had been holding in and slid her back down the wall and onto the floor. She continued to cry, seeming to close in on herself with her body, her arms hugging her legs closely like they would run away if she didn’t.
Beth nodded her head, telling herself to keep calm. It doesn’t matter if you’re a kid or fully grown, when you’re in tears, delicate words are necessary.
Beth squatted down next to Anita, somewhat awkwardly since she still had a foot wedged in the door. The students in the room were chatting quietly and Beth knew she didn’t have much time before they started to get out of control.
“I’m sorry that happened, Anita, that sounds rough. Could we put you down for a hot lunch? And then you can hang out in the class library until we go to PE?” Beth put her arm on Anita’s shoulder, who winced slightly and then relaxed and nodded her head. Beth wondered if Anita’s father had done more than yell, although she didn’t see any marks on her body to signify things had gotten physical. Beth made a mental note though to keep an eye out.
Beth held open the door for Anita who stood up and walked into the room. She finished putting away her things, grabbed a book and sat on a comfy poof in the reading corner. Beth let out a sigh of relief before addressing the class.
“Thank you, fifth graders for being responsible while I was in the hallway. Let’s get into our morning circle. You have one minute…go.” said Beth as she hurried to the front of the room to get the timer started.
I didn’t quite make my July goal for writing, but I’ve started another goal for August. This goal is only 5,000 words since school will be starting and I’m already feeling very preoccupied. I still want to try to write a little bit as many days as I can. I mean, I want to see what happens with Beth!
