Moments

Story 16 - School Day

Keren was playing with her dog. Her mom was almost shouting at her by then. "Keren !! If you're not here now. I'm giving away Jack."

Keren quickly jumped up & ran as fast as she could. "I'm here. I'm here" she kept saying as she was a bit breathless, her dog Jack ran behind her wagging his tail. Keren's mom bent down & looked at her daughter's eyes. "I know you want to play with him as long as you can. But you can't skip school." "Okay."

She quickly climbed into the school bus. As she took her seat by the window, she saw Jack wagging his tail. "Bye. Jack. I'll be back soon."

When the bus began to move, Jack tried to run to Keren, but was simply bouncing from where he stood as he was held back by Keren's mom. Keren's eyes began to tear up, but she didn't want Jack to see her sad. So she smiled as wide as she could.

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Emi felt a bit sad to see her daughter almost cry. "But this is what parenthood is about sometimes" she said to herself for the millionth time, "Making tough choices for the sake of her kid." Still that didn't make it any easier. 

But she did feel happy, that her girl is turning out to be a such a kind person. At least it meant she was raising her well.

Suddenly she felt something move around her. It was Jack circling her. She laughed and sat down. "Fine, I'll play with you", she said scratching under his jaws. Jack shook her off & jumped back a few steps wagging his tail. "I'm not as young as you are, you know?" said Emi. "Come here." Jack looked at her & then turned around.

Emi heard the sound of the school bus again. Before she could stand , Jack was already on his way to the gate.

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Juhyun was feeling a bit nervous. She wasn't sure how Keren's mom would react. She definitely didn't want a parent to raise a complaint against her on her first day. She could hear heart beat rise as Keren's mom walked out. The dog was already at Keren's feet, who was still doubtful whether or not to play with him.

"What is it ? Did you forget something ?" she asked Keren.

"Oh great.. She completely ignored me." thought Juhyun.

"Erm.. Hi Mrs.?" "Smith." "Mrs. Smith. I'm one of the teachers at your daughter's school."

"Oh, Nice to meet you." said Keren's mom & held her hand out. Juhyun took it.

"It's just I was wondering if she could skip school today. And you know.. " she said tilting her head towards the dog.

"Keren !!" she said firmly.

"No, no, no. Keren didn't tell anything. In fact she wasn't speaking to her friends either. She was just there , trying not to cry." said Juhyun. She could tell that Keren's mom was feeling bad now. So she continued before she thought too much.

"I've spoken with her. She will be sure to come to school tomorrow. Won't you ?" she asked.

"Yes. Miss Juhyun." replied Keren timidly.

"It's just that I don't think she would've been able to do much, even if she attended today. I'll be sure to talk to her homeroom teacher & sort everything out. So you don't have to worry about anything."

Keren's mom seemed a bit taken aback by everything.

"I understand if you feel that she can't skip her ..." "Thank you." "What ?"

"Thank you." said Keren's mom again.

"Well... Then .. I guess.. I'll be leaving then." said Juhyun pointing at the bus.

"Thank you Miss Juhyun" said Keren with a huge smile on her face.

"Just don't skip class tomorrow please" she requested her. Keren let a soft chuckle saying she won't.

"I want to see my dog too." shouted one of the older students from behind, in a mock sadness.

"Shut up Kibum. We don't even have a dog at our place" said Juhyun to her little brother & everyone laughed.

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(A/N : Been wanting to write something that was  "mainstream cheesy" :P  , for a while now. So gave it a shot at last. Hope it turned out okay.)