trouvaille

benjamin smith

- wren -

I walk into the classroom to find Ben sitting at his desk. Asleep. Of course. I wake him up, shaking him a bit and he wakes with a start. I take a moment to look around the class, the smooth cream white walls, the bookshelves, the cabinets full of cameras, the photos taped to the walls with names written in scrawling handwriting. The whole room screamed Ben.

"Wren? Is that today? Ugh. Well, at least I won't have to teach." He whispers the last sentence, reaching for his now-cold coffee. "How was the flight?"

"It was alright. United Airlines is crappy as always." I say, chuckling a bit at his exhausted humor.

"And your tarot readings? Is the world ending yet?" He asks, hopeful.

"Nope, not yet. Just more hell."

"Pity." He smiles, but I can see the truth behind his words.

"How's the garden going? Did the charm I emailed you work?" I ask, curious as to whether my source is as veritable as they claim to be.

"It worked great. Thank you, those aphids were terrorizing my plants." He smiles again, more genuinely this time, and I smile back, happy to be with my friend again after all these years.

We keep talking, going over my time back in England and how my cat, Telphie, is doing. We only stop when the bell rings, signifying that students are going to be streaming in any moment.

I grab an extra chair, and find a nice little spot in the back. The students will be shocked when they see the guest teacher walking out from within them towards the front. Hopefully the shock factor will be enough to overcome the fact that I'm only a year or so older than them, if that.

I can only pray this goes well.