The Promised School

Phil the Genius

"Catch! Come on Rossi, pass it to me... That's it! Chris, get him down, get the ball..."

Don, Rossi, and Chris were playing a slightly more mixed up version of pass the ball, and the sound of Don's excited shouting ecoed around the sports hall. 

"Run, Run, RUN! Hurry up Chris, he's catching up..."

Meanwhile, Phil sat with Anna, Gilda and Nat, scribling in a colouring book as he listened to them talk. Dominic was seated on a giant stack of hula hoops a few steps away, Conny and Mark were being pushed on a punchbag by Jemima, who occasionally got knocked over, and they were clinging on and squealing as loud as they could.The rest of the students were still playing tag in the corner, where a few slides and ropes stood. 

Nat gave a loud yawn and stretched.  

"I love PE. "

"Me too!" said Dominic. He had fallen inside the long ring of hula hoops and was now lifting them of one by one to be freed.

Anna sighed. "İf only the teacher was here though...I was looking forward to our game."

"I wasn't! I hope he forgets about it!" said Gilda nervously. 

"But Gilda...You can run really fast! You would beat Don, woudn't you?"

Nat stepped in. "But Don can run super fast too..."

"I KNOW! And I can't run fast, and I don't want to compete against Don anyway!"

Anna shrugged and picked up her PE bag. From inside, she took out a large book. "Homework"

She explained to her friends. 

"But why are you doing homework NOW, Anna?" 

"Well, why not?" Anna took her pencil as Nat watched with disbelief.

A few minutes passed, Anna writing neatly in her schoolbook, Gilda flipping through an old story  book, and Nat watching Don shout orders from the sidelines to Chris and Dominic. 

Then Anna gave a sigh. "Gilda? I don't understand this question..."

"Let me see..." Gilda put her book down and leaned over, frowning at the question. 

"Uh... Well..." She sighed. Science had never been her strong point. 

Hmmm...Dry water... Does it exist?

"HOW are we supposed to know if dry water exists!!" Sniffed Gilda. "I mean, did we even LEARN this?!"

"Well, we were learning about the elements..."said Nat, glancing nervously at the question. "And I was listening, of course, but..."

Both Anna and Gilda raised their eyebrows. 

"FİNE! I WASN'T! BUT I COUDN'T UNDERSTAND THE TEACHER ANYWAY! AND YOU TWO DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER EİTHER!!"

"Well... " Anna sighed. Was there such thing as dry water?! What kind of a question-"

"Don? Maybe Don knows. He seemed to be listening anyway..."

Gilda gestured for Don too come over. Nat shook his head, but Don didn't see. 

"Hiya! What can I help with?" 

"Anna needs help with her homework"

Don swallowed. "Oh, uh... Yes. Sure. Let me see..."

He stared at the book and went a strange shade of green. 

"You were listening, obviously..." said Gilda. 

"That's why we called you, because you would know the answer..." said a hopeful Anna. 

Don swalowed again. He had actually been daydreaming. 

"Oh...Heh heh... Of course I know the answer..." He looked around desperately for a distraction.

"BUT..." Don had no other choice. He gave the bouncy ball behind him a hard kick without turning around, hoping Rossi had stayed where he had told him to, and hoping Anna, Gilda and Nat hadn't noticed...

The ball hit Rossi hard right in the face, and Rossi, for the second time that day, got knocked over and lay on the ground. Chris bent over him and took the ball from his grip. 

"OH! FOUL! So sorry, Anna, but I have to go! Good luck with the question!"

Don turned, and Anna, Nat and Gilda watched open mouthed as he sprinted to the door, opened it and disapeared down the corridoor. 

"I WİN!" called Chris, doing his victory dance around Rossi. 

" I don't believe it..." Gilda looked horrified. Nat burst out laughing and Anna covered her mouth. 

"He... Ran away!" She said, shaking her head. Gilda scowled. "What a coward! I mean..."

"Now how can I get my homework done! Emma and Norman are busy, they can't find Ray, and I need to do this homework before the last lesson!"

"You're  doomed..." Nat shook his head sadly. 

Just then, Phil raised his head, a big smile on his face. "Well, I can help!"

"Oh Phil!" Anna gave him a big hug. "Thank you, but it's a very hard question..."

Phil smiled even wider. 

"Well, the question was: is there such thing as dry water! So, the answer is yes! Some say it's called 'Powdered Liquid!'. Basically its drops of water the size of sand which are surounded by a silica coating. İt İS 95 percent liquid, but the silica coating prevents it from becoming one bulk liquid. Some also call it: Empty water!"

Phil beamed at them, then collected his colour pencils and colouring book, and then wandered off. 

"Whaaa..." gasped Anna, steadying herself with her hands. Gilda blinked twice. 

"HUH?" said Nat. He rubbed his eyes. 

"Somebody write it down" managed Gilda, and the three of them tried to remember what the four year old had told them.