The Garden [G.BLYTHE]

[15] WATCHING WATER SLIP OFF FLOWERS

'she stuck a bookmark in his heart and walked away'

Aurelie sat on the floor once again with the class. Tiredly, she leaned her head on Moody's shoulder, awaiting for Miss Stacy, who was preoccupied with Marilla Cuthbert, to give instructions.

"Alright, class. Let's begin." Announced the woman. She looked to Gilbert, who sat beside her on a chair, studying. "Gilbert?"

He looked up, quickly shutting his book and joining the class, who all now stood around her desk, since she had set up a display on it. As soon as he did, Miss Stacy began her lesson. "Science changes the world for the better. Does anyone know what electricity is?" She inquired. She dumped out a few metal plate-like objects onto the desk.

"Light." Anne stated confidently.

 "Yes. And?" Miss Stacy continued. 

"A form of energy." Aurelie and Gilbert mentioned at the same time, causing the two to glance at each other. Aurelie now noticed that Gilbert stood just beside her.

"Electricity is indeed a form of energy." Confirmed the teacher. Gilbert and Aurelie continued to glare at each other competitively for another moment, before Aurelie forced her eyes back to Miss Stacy.

"If you ever watched a thunderstorm, with mighty lighting bolts darting down from the sky, that's electricity. Powerful stuff." Explained Miss Stacy with enthusiasm. "A bolt of lightning is a sudden, massive surge of electricity between the sky and the ground beneath. Electrical currents live inside atoms. And atoms are small particles that make up all matter." The woman continued to set up her example.

"But they're so small that it takes billions and billions of them just to make something useful like a nail." She held up a nail. The class chuckled. Miss Stacy began sticking a few nails into potatoes that she had set on the table. "All objects that take up space and have mass are called matter." She informed.

"And everything around you is made up of matter. Chocolate cake is made up of matter." Explained Miss Stacy. The class laughed once more. "These walls, the school is made up of matter. You are made up of matter." She added.

"Now, today, without a standard power source, like they have in the big cities, we are going to make our own electric current in order to illuminate..." Miss Stacy raised a small glass object. "...a light bulb."

The class murmured in excitement. "How many of you have ever seen one?" Wondered the woman. Aurelie, Anne, Gilbert, and Diana raised their hands. 

"In New York, actually." Gilbert stated. 

"We have one at my house that my father brought from the city." Aurelie spoke.