A Paw Behind You

Mrs. Arilese

As we both entered the Headmistress' Office, I glanced around, observing the different objects in the room.

Her room was unusually clean, pretty much expecting it to be a paper mess of documents and files. Her glossy wood table sparkled in cleanliness along with her neat cabinets of both steel and glass wood. As soon as she sat on the turnable leather chair, I too sat on the comfy woolly seating in front.

"Dear Margaret, may I request your help please?" the feathery headmistress practically shouted towards the outside. And with around ten seconds passing, an old, weary lamb approached the opened door frame. She was at least around sixty, if it's just based on observation.

"Yes, Mrs. Arilese?" she asked croakily.

"Can you please..." She pondered silently for a while, before answering again, "Actually, I'll do it myself. Sorry for troubling you, Margaret."

"Oh please, Headmistress," The lamb laughs a while, "I am more than capable of walking towards the kitchen.

"No worries, Margaret. I can do it mysel----" Just before Mrs. Arilese could even finish her words, the office secretary had already left the door frame long before then.

After a few quiet moments of cooling winds, the old lamb from before speedily came back with fast haste, even for an old woman like her. Immediately, she placed the steaming-hot cups of tea on the desk and later walked back outside. But as soon as she left, Mrs. Arilese swiftly got up, push the wooden door to a close, and sat back down with quick actions.

"I apologize, Sky. I have a pet peeve of open doors and also not serving something to anyone that arrive within these walls," she looked sharply at me, with her cup now on her beak, sipping softly.

"I-it's ok, Madam."

"Anyway," she paused fora slight while placing down her steaming cup, "I called you up here to discuss about your elective subjects."

I gulped a bit.

"I'm mystified of why you chose business studies, even more so when I see you in the Music Room where, clearly, your classes aren't there."

"I-it... I don't actually know why I'm even here honest speaking."

The headmistress took a puzzled glance at me. But when she observed longer, her earl-black eyes turned to an enlightened look, "Ah, okay. You must be Thomas Flair's son. No wonder you look so familiar."

Now I was extremely confused, actually much more from before. When she looked at me, I guessed she noticed my telltale sign of frontally drooping long ears of confusion, as she stood up slowly from her chair. The mysterious headmistress turned her raven head towards the cupboard at the back, grabbing something out of it.

As she sat back down again, Mrs. Arilese gave whatever she had on her clawed hands, some small pats from dustiness and dirtiness, before handing it over to me. Maybe it's what ravens lack, no facial expressions except their eyes, since she didn't express much from giving me the mysterious item which I now know to be a chester-brown-framed picture.

"Years ago, when I was just a young feather instead of this old body, so many classes had I ventured around..." And... story time.

The Headmistress took a short moment for a breath. From that brief period of silence, her constant eye-flickering and heavy-looking eyes with even visible eye-bags were evident of how exhausted she was. The job of Headmistress in this weird school is pretty taxing...

"There was a particular class that left a long-lasting memory in my years of teaching," she pointed at the frame that I held on my white paws, "I could still remember at the back of my head the day we won the national prize for the musical we did."

As I observed the framed picture, an image of a few unfamiliar strangers stood side-by-side. Looking at it, standing on what seemed to be a lit stage, was a large smiling panda, a devilishly smirking, leopard-like feminine lynx, two long-horned antelopes laughing joyfully, and at the direct middle, was a particularly fogged-out white wolf. His face was nothing more but a blank face, no smile whatsoever unlike the others in the photos. Intimidating with his unusual red eyes, it would've frighten someone else a bit, but for me, the already self-familiarized expression was ordinary of the recognized white wolf.

"Lang was my prop designer and technical lead, dear Alice possessed the voice of an angel. but the acting skills of a coconut, and the twins were the polar opposites of each other, but had the same mindset in acting."

As she finished, she turned her chair towards the non-blinded, exterior-overlooking windows that allowed a bright sunlight to enter from. Scanning her barely registrable face, I could only guess her to be pondering blankly outside.

"Your father, Thomas... He was the ultimate wildcard of the team," she fidgeted, and clutched onto the gleaming jade necklace hooked around her neck, "He was... something, that's for sure..."

She took yet another deep, stress-filled breath before continuing, But just as she wanted to speak another word through her black beak, an unfamiliar, blank-expressing red panda barged into the office with a loud bang.

"Ma'am, Adam Zarath wants to see you immediately."

As Instant as the name 'Adam Zarath' voiced out from the young-looking red panda, Mrs. Arilese immediately beamed a formal and apathetic as she was nimbly adjusting her dark overcoat.

"If you don't mind, Mr. Flair, I am now needed in another appointment. Come here at Friday evening so we can continue our discussion."

And with that, she exited the room with a sudden, but weak floral scent that she suddenly possessed around her. And when she left, I too followed since I saw no other purpose to sit in an isolated office.

As I closed the double doors that lead into the small lobby of the offices behind, I wandered around the strangely desolate, noiseless hallways without a specific destination. Lazily, I slipped it out my jean pocket, and checked my phone for any information about my seemingly messed-up schedule for today. But before it could even light up, a white symbol appeared on the empty screen below.

Dammit, forgotten to charge! I sulked to myself. I must've been too tired to even care about it last night.

Since I didn't had much paths of choices to continue on, I decided to just return to my dorm for a quick relaxing rest while my phone charges behind the scenes. And since it's already break time soon... might as well.

Walking out the office lobby, and into the longer, and larger school hallways, the silence of the entire place, the cold spring wind blowing...

I felt droopy-eyed, and wanting to sleep with the soothing natural winds.

Although, a specific question still sparked in my head...

What... How... When did my so-called 'father' studied here ever?