Wisdom

Wisdom
                                                                                                         
  Wisdom didn’t enter into the equation for Sara, with her textbooks and a pale pink striped pencil case clutched under her arm. Panic became her only companion as she sat solemnly at her desk.English wasn't her favorite subject.  The ticking clock struck 10 AM. The English exams were about to begin,

‘Heads down, pens to paper-begin the exam,’ said Mr. Douglas sternly, the year eleven English teacher all red faced, like he had an all year round- case of sunburn.

  The classroom was in chaos; Justin was always acting the fool. A ruler glided passed Mr. Douglas’s sideburns, knocking his steel framed glasses into the blackboard, then bouncing off his cluttered desk and splintered into tiny shattered pieces onto the wooden floorboards. This all happened in a matter of seconds after he picked up his special piece of bright white chalk.

  ‘Who needs to take a trip down to the principle's office?’ he asked bellowing.All red faced like a fried tomato, his voice loud and then wavering as he staggered clinging to his chest.

  Sara started to feel troubled. What to do next she thought. She turned to face Justin and said, ‘See what happens when you clown around. You should be shot at dawn Justin Murphy.’

  ‘It’s no big deal. One less teacher...no skin off my nose,’ he spat back.

  Thoughts clouded Sara’s mind, echoing out Justin’s vile controversies. She could see that Mr. Douglas was in dire need of help.

  Memories flashed back to the day she was playing quietly with her dolls in her hot pink bedroom. She would have been no older then seven or eight.  The shrill scream from Mum,  yelling for help had startled her.  She came hastily out of her room and froze where she stood at the top of the stairwell. At the foot of the stairwell laid Dad. He had his right arm clutching his chest. His face bared a resemblance to the same shade of red as Mr. Douglas had!

  ‘Sara quickly, go grab your Father's heart tablets from his black striped suit jacket... that’s hanging off the coat stand,screamed  her Mum, 'while I call for an ambulance.’

‘Yes Mother,' she whimpered .When she put her hand into grab his pills, she also pulled out a photo of her Dad, with a young lady and it was not her Mother. She knew then something was not quite right. That day after was never quiet the same for Sara and her Mum!

  ‘Mum I can’t find them.I found his jacket, but his heart tablets weren’t in any of his pockets,’ she said, before hiding his heart tablets and the photo in her special hiding place.

  ‘This isn’t happening,’ said Mum, before racing up the stairwell to search Dad’s pockets.

  Sara gazed at her Father alive for the last time, clutching his chest, he drew his final breath. Ambulance sirens were heard in the distance.

  On Sara’s arrival at home, her Mum was standing in the foyer, and said,' look what I found while I was rummaging around for items to sell at the garage sale.’

  It was her music box, Sara’s special hiding place, which she had hidden in the basement. Sara thought wisdom had come to her that day. What to do next she pondered. She turned to bolt the door...                                  By Julie Dix.