Rúna

[2009] [2]

It is Monday. The perhaps worst day of the week, even for teachers. And what can make this day better? Rain, exactly. Dark clouds are covering New York City and the bright lights of the classroom are blinding. The students have no motivation left in their bodies, because it is the last lesson and everybody just wants to go home and do whatever these teenagers do at home, while it rains. Playing video games or chatting with their friends, or dying of boredom.

If you would look into the classroom, you would see the blonde teacher sitting in her chair reading a norwegian book while drinking coffee and keeping an eye on the students. And you would see the students, at least some of them, doing the tasks she got them about the Norse Mythology. Some were drawing on the sheets, some were talking quietly and some were just looking at their paper without any kind of clue what to do.

"If you do not do these tasks then you won't pass the exam. And we cannot go into the museum, which is actually pretty good. They have big statues which some people build decades ago after some pictures of old norse villages, even though there are not a lot", she said without looking up from the book.  The students were impressed the first time she did that, but now it's normal for them. And they know not to cheat in tests, because the first time they did that she saw those students without even looking at them and she knew exactly were they got their notes. Creepy.

And because of her abilities to see and hear everything even though it shouldn't be possible in some situations the teenagers looked at each other and then began to work. It was the last lesson of history. Almost. If you count the museum also as a lesson then not, but other than that...

After some minutes one student, an asian guy with glasses that knew Karate, raised his hand. For the first time this lesson Rúna looked up from her book and nodded to the student.
"Can you tell us more about the museum?"

The blonde woman thought about it for a little while. She visited the museum some years ago, but never in the past few years and a lot has changed.
"The last time I visited there was a quite large exhibition of the norse mythology. Also of the Egyptian and the Greek one but mostly of the Norse. But that was years ago and I do not know how much they got new into it. I heard from big statues of the gods and even some kind of weapons the god have used. At least that is what they believed. And I even doubt that the statues resemble the gods actually. But however the rest with the stories and some biography of the gods is quite right, not completely but mostly. I think you can look forward to it! First you go through the Egyptian Mythology, then through the Greek and then you get to the biggest - The norse mythology. I do not know much more about it, I am afraid."

The students were now talking among each other and whispering what they would like to see. Some were even packing in their stuff. It was almost time to go, so Rúna did not say anything to them, because in this exact moment the bell rang and the students were leaving her classroom but not without telling her goodbye.

~~

Rúna sits on her seat in the bus and reads her book, while Adam tries to keep the students calm. The bus ride was about half an hour to the museum because of all the traffic New Yorks. It is friday and the students do what they want, because it is a field trip and secondly it is the last "lesson of history". Does it bother her? Not really.  But does it bother Adam? Definitely.

"Rúna, can you please say something? They can't do what they want to do!", he asks her quite angrily.
"Adam, calm down. If they do not behave in the museum, then I will talk to them, but now I think everything is alright. No one is dying, the bus is clean, the bus driver has not asked them to be quiet and it is a field trip. You were like this too", she explained calmly.  Adam looks at her, mutters a quiet 'unbelievable' and then sat down in his seat next to her. She was right though.