The morning was bright, nothing like yesterday. The sunrays shone through the tiny gap between Sandy's bedroom curtains casting a shimmer over the walls. Mrs Drewett entered the room armed with a small pile of clothes, Sandy's school uniform. She placed them down on the floor beside Sandy's bed and gently rocked her daughter awake.
"Come on Sandy," she said. "Time to get up. It's your first day of school, remember?"
Sandy's eyes opened slowly, blinking into the light of the room. She sat up in bed and gave a huge yawn. As she looked up at her mother, she smiled, an awkward smile. She was not looking forward to today.
It was seven o'clock. Mr Drewett had already left for his first day at work, his empty cereal bowl on the kitchen worktop was the only sign that he had been around. Billy was sat at the table ramming a spoonful of corn flakes into his mouth. He was still in his pyjamas, his legs swinging excitedly as he ate. Sandy pulled out the chair next to him and sat down, another yawn dominating her delicate face. Mrs Drewett walked over and placed a bowl of corn flakes in front of her.
"Here you go," she said. "Best eat up, you're going to have a busy day." With this, Sandy reluctantly began to eat.
Billy had now finished his cereal and was chatting away to his mother enthusiastically about all the things he was going to do at play school. Mrs Drewett then lead him out of the kitchen and upstairs to get ready, during which time, Billy did not stop talking.
"Wish I had lots to talk about," said Sandy aloud, her expression frowned as she nursed her food. She finished the last few spoonfuls of cereal, pushed her bowl aside and left the kitchen. As she passed the living room, she could see that the TV was still on. It had been left on one of the children's channels Billy must have been watching before having his cereal. This infuriated Sandy a bit more. She wished she could stay in all day watching TV instead of sitting, bored out of her mind at school. She made her way up the stairs, turned into her room and began to get ready.
It was approaching quarter to nine. School started in five minutes. Mrs Drewett pulled up outside Sandy's new school, said goodbye with a kiss, and dropped her off. Billy was in the back seat waiting patiently to go to the play school next door to Sandy's school. Mrs Drewett was going to stay there with Billy for his first day to make sure he would settle in alright. As Sandy watched her mother drive off towards the car park, she turned and started up the small stairs leading up to the school entrance. She pushed the door open, and walked inside.
After wandering around for a few seconds, Sandy was approached by a kind looking lady.
"Hello there, are you lost?" asked the lady.
"Um... yeah, it's my first day today and I don't know which class I'm in."
"No worries," replied the lady. "I'm Miss Cole, the receptionist. I can help you. Follow me."
Sandy followed Miss Cole to the reception desk and watched as she typed away madly on her computer. After a minute she looked up.
"So you must be Sandy Drewett," said Miss Cole, without taking her eyes off the screen. "You're in classroom 6B, I'll show you the way."
Sandy followed Miss Cole down the corridor and up to a the room at the end of the corridor.
"Here you go Sandy," said Miss Cole with a smile. "I'll leave you to go in on your own. Last thing you need is a big entrance."
Miss Cole gave another smile and turned away and headed back up the corridor to her desk. Sandy was now alone to enter her new classroom. For a second she felt like just turning around and walking out the school, but then decided that it was better to just get this out of the way. She reached for the handle and opened the door. As she entered the room, a wave of faces turned and stared. The room was large and square with desks running horizontally through the middle. At the front of the room the teacher sat at her desk, smiling at Sandy as she walked in. In the back, Sandy could see two desks up against the back wall. Perched on top of these desks were an old battered computer and a small television. On the wall hung several paintings of faces. It occurred to Sandy that the class had recently painted self-portraits, which the teacher had proudly displayed in her classroom. The right hand wall was covered by huge windows, which looked out onto a large field that stretched into the distance.
YOU ARE READING
Fight of the Nymphs - The Master of the Dragons
Fantasy"Spread out across the bank, on the far side of the stream, were three miniature doors, all of which were identical to that of the one Sandy had seen yesterday. It wasn't this, however, that made Sandy stop in her tracks. It was what she saw sitting...
