One Shots 'The nursery nurse'

Night in the Nursery

It was an ordinary Thursday when the snowstorm began. At first, it was just a light flurry, but soon the wind was blowing with such force that you could hardly see anything outside. The storm was raging, but Marjorie was so engrossed in her work that she didn't notice much of it.

But the classrooms remained empty. No children appeared. Sorscha and Charlotte had been playing Ludo for an hour. Winter and Reece were in the office, throwing paper balls into the rubbish and counting points.

Janice was doing her nails in an elaboration. Autumn paced through the empty nursery. The kitchen was cold, neither Chef nor Junior had come today because of the storm. Carly and Lydia hadn't turned up either. Agatha had phoned an hour ago and had also cancelled. Siobhan hadn't turned up either. She was staying at home with Vivian and Jamie.

So Autumn made her way to the office to pay Marjorie a visit. "Oh, hello, Autumn."

" The nursery is empty. I think we should all go home before the storm gets any worse."

Marjorie frowned and looked out of the window for the first time. The whole area around the building was white. The snow was so thick in the sky that it hung in the air like a mist. " Oh wow... Well, we can't just leave. We need to get permission from the." she raised her index finger. "Head Office."

Autumn rolled her eyes. "Then call my father. Let's see what he says."

Marjorie started dialling the number. " You know Autumn, I have to say, this Christmas has been the quietest I've had here so far."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, last year, the nursery burnt down," Marjorie replied. Autumn cringe by the mentioned of that. " Don't remind me."

" And two years ago, I gave Summer her notice at this time. But nothing's happened yet this year."

Autumn crossed her arms. " Well, Marjorie, now you've jinxed it. Now, something is going to happen." With that, she turned and left the office again. The deputy decided to make a detour to the classroom where Charlotte and Sorscha were. To her surprise, she also found her brother there, who was now also playing Ludo.

Sorscha was rolling the dice and laughed triumphantly. "Ha!" Reece groaned in annoyance, and Charlotte crossed her arms. "How can it be that you keep winning?"

"I'm just lucky," replied Sorscha, grinning broadly. "Don't be so smug," said Reece. In response, Sorscha stuck her tongue out at him. Autumm grinned slightly. It was nice to see everyone just having fun. Winter appeared behind her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I think we can call it a day soon, don't you, my love?" he said. "That depends on what my father says." The two of them entered the classroom and sat down on the beanbags in the reading corner.

Marjorie came into the classroom after a while. "Bad news. We have to stay here until it's officially closing time." A murmur went round the room.

" This is so unbelievable.." muttered Sorscha. "Well, does anyone else want to play Ludo against me?"

"No!" shouted Reece and Charlotte.

The hours passed slowly. There was nothing to do. No one rang in, and no emails were sent. The staff at Knight Nursery were really being paid to sit around today. Outside, the blizzard continued to rage. Winter had fetched the radio Agatha had at reception and placed it in the middle of the classroom. The programme was constantly interrupted with warnings to stay at home, that it was impossible to get anywhere by car and that there was already a power cut in some areas of London.

There was boredom throughout the room. Charlotte took the opportunity to tidy up the room. Winter and Autumn were talking quietly. Reece was lying on a mountain of stuffed animals, fast asleep. Sorscha was texting with her wife. Marjorie had disappeared into her office to occupy herself somehow, and Janice had finally finished her nails.