Dust (in) & Sky (lar)

1997: When Sky Met Dust

1997: When Sky Met Dust

Skylar (Year 1. Aged five)

September 5, 1997

The tingling smell of jostling students smote her first. She didn't like it very much. There were so many of them. Just as her foot crossed the classroom's threshold, three raucous boys excitedly pushed their way past her to meet their friends. She knew for sure now that she really didn't like it at all. Just so many children around me. They might have looked adorable to another but to her, they were scary and intimidating.

Skylar looked around her; hoping to catch something extraordinary. But the faces were just a blur in her memory, like footprints on water- easily washed away.

She chose to sit by a cool spot tucked away in the corner of the room; away from the sunny spot. She gleaned a quick glimpse at a boy who whizzed past her with great childish enthusiasm. He occupied the sunny spot. Skylar soon found herself thinking how bizarre it was that some people actually preferred 'hot heat' to 'comforting cool'.

A few minutes passed in the air, muffled by the students' constant chitter-chatter.

The door then opened to frame a lovely lady with greying hair that somehow accentuated her experience and genuineness- all clad in various shades of blue. She introduced herself as Ms. Hall.

The children played a few basic introductory games in the first hour. Skylar learnt a bunch of names- Mara, Penelope, Kevin, Susan (who had insisted on being called 'Suzie'), Dustin, Naomi, Jonathan... She doubted herself to remember any of their names tomorrow. Except for Suzie's.

They learnt to write in cursive handwriting and sang a rhyme called 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly'. What a weird rhyme to teach at a school.

The following days fled by in nothing but a haze. And as predicted, she remembered no names...

September 9, 1997

Ms. Hall issued their first assignment for the weekend- to either write a story based on 'There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly' or recreate a story with its moral.

They could bind it into a card boarded book or narrate it to the rest of the class.

It was only due on Monday but Skylar found herself looking forward to penning down her words already...

September 12, 1997

After three hours of writing with her mum on Saturday, one hour of binding it into some cardboard with her dad on Sunday, and another two hours of just designing and colouring in the book cover- Skylar's first book was ready.

The story that lay within its pages followed a young girl- much like Skylar- who was determined to discover the truth about her missing puppy and traveled great lengths to retrieve him. Her mum said that her story was wonderful (for a five year old). Skylar only hoped that it really was as good as her mother made it seem to be.

On the way to school, Skylar could barely contain her excitement as the book sat inside her backpack, ready to be read and devoured.

At class, she realised that she was the only one who had chosen to ink out the story. Suzie, Naomi, Jonathan- all of them- had chosen storytelling. She suddenly felt a little insecure and odd- like a fish out of water.

Ms. Hall appreciated her efforts. Skylar could feel the feathery rose petals climb up her cheeks as she did.

After breakfast and a lesson on numbers, Ms. Hall asked the rest of the students to present their stories.