Split

School

A week passed and it was time for us to go to school. Only me, Kelli, Lucy and two boys were going to Robin Manor from room 5, but there were more from the other rooms. I ambled to school with Kelli and Lucy and we were there in 5 minutes. It really wasn't far away! We went into the building and Kelli and I went into a room saying 'Class 7a'. That was our class. Lucy went all the way down the corridor to Class 9b. She waved goodbye and hopped into the classroom. When we got to our desk, everyone was staring at us. We feebly smiled. A tall boy walked in. Everyone stared at him including me and Kelli. Then our teacher walked into the classroom.

'Goodmorning class. I am your teacher, Miss Wing.'

'Goodmorning, Miss Wing,' we all chanted.

'Today, we will be doing arithmetic, history and we will talk about the Art of Flight. Now. I will hand out history books and you should write your name and class on the front. Then open your books and write the date. You will find a quill and an ink pot on your table.'

'Excuse me, Miss Wing,' I asked, 'Why are we using quills and not regular pens?'

'It is a tradition to use quills here.'

I found using the quill very awkward. I had to dip it in the ink pot after I write 7 words and then it makes a big blotch on my page. Kelli was having the same problem. When we finally finished writing the date, we were told to close our books and listen as Miss Wing read a book titled The History of Feather Ville.

'In Feather Ville, people can fly, if they were given the ability and the bracelet with a special charm. You cannot fly without the bracelet on.'

'Do boys also have to wear a bracelet?' The tall boy shouted out.

'Let me finish,' she said sharply, glaring at the tall boy. 'Boys do not have to wear a bracelet, and instead they wear a bow tie. Beginners will have the letter F on their charm or bow tie and this will change as you improve. If you fly a lot and do well, the F will turn into an E. Then if you do well with an E , it will turn into a D. The highest rank is A. However, if you do badly, you will go down in ranks. F can fall to a G. And if you go below H, your flying ability is taken away and you must start again. But you do not go back to Start Ville. You go to Restart Ville, where everyone who has failed must go and take the test again.' Miss Wing explained as we all listened. 'Now, open your textbooks to page 6 and read it. It will have information about how Feather Ville came to be, and...' she droned ON and ON and ON. And I learned to loathe the subject history. Thanks a lot, Miss Wing. But I DID enjoy arithmetic! I was one of the best at it in the class. (I'm not boasting.)