"John," a voice gently urged. "John, wake up."
John lifted his head. He rubbed his eyes, which were blurry from sleep. Standing above him was his older sister, Jane.
"Good morning," she greeted him.
"Why are you waking me up?" John asked through yawns.
"It's your first day of fifth grade! I wanted to be a nice sister."
He remembered now. It felt like just yesterday was the last day of fourth grade and Jane's last day of eighth grade. Now it was the start of a new school year, and John wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.
"It's already 6:50." Jane informed her little brother. "You need to be at school at 8:40."
"I know that," said John as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. "And I can be ready for the bus in an hour and a half." He wasn't even angry for being awoken at such an early hour for an elementary schooler.
"Well, I have to run," Jane said. "The bus is here." She waved to her brother as she left. "See you!"
When Jane was gone, John slowly stood up, staggering for a few seconds as his vision looked like static. When he could see again, he walked at a slow pace downstairs and towards the kitchen. On the kitchen counter was a plate of pancakes with maple syrup and a slab of butter, prepared by his father. John ate them slowly, not bothering to sit down at the table. After finishing, he started getting ready for the day by putting on his clothing, washing his hair, and packing his lunch.
John opened the fridge to find food when he saw a brown paper bag with his name written on it in thick black marker. A note was stapled to the bag. It read:
SON,
IF YOU ARE READING THIS, YOU ARE BEGINNING YOUR FIRST DAY OF FIFTH GRADE. YOU ARE CLOSER TO BECOMING A MAN NOW. I AM SO PROUD OF YOU.
DAD.
Sitting on the floor was a note for Jane about how she was starting high school and was almost a woman. It had been attached to her lunch. John took his lunch and went to slide Jane's note under her room so that Dad wouldn't see it lying, unread, on the floor.
As he did this, John could hear the school bus rolling and screeching to a stop at the end of the street. He gathered his stuff and ran out the door.
YOU ARE READING
Skaia Elementary
FanfictionIt's the first day of school at Skaia Elementary. The fifth grade class is semi-eager to begin their new year. (By the way, you may have come to read this for Arasol or Karezi, my ships have changed and I am removing those two. If you have started r...
