A Frog and a Prince

I sat frozen.  The Dragon Lady stood front and center of the one-room school house.  In one hand she held her weapon of choice: a ruler with a sharpened edge.  In the other, she held twelve-year-old Charles by the scuff of his collar.

“Well?” she screeched, her breath billowing in the frosty air. She had rationed our coal because someone had complained it was too cold.  Her way of teaching us, I guess, what cold really was.  “What do you have to say for yourself?”  She gave Charles a sharp shake for good measure.

I stood before I could think it through, “Ma’am?”  What I had planned to say though, I will never know. Images of the beating my pa would give me chased away any good intentions I had had. 

“Suzanne.” She never called me Suzy. “Unless you are planning to confess to putting that slimy creature in my lunch pail, I suggest you sit down.”  Charles caught my eye and winked.  Stunned, I sat.  What was he doing?  I knew he hadn’t brought the frog to class.  I knew he hadn’t put it in the Dragon Lady’s lunch pail.  I had.

Before I could speak up again, the teacher had already leaned Charles against the wall and had commenced giving him a good whoopin’.  He never made a sound, though I doubted he’d be able to sit comfortable like for quite a while. 

When it was over, the teacher righted Charles and dusted off his britches.  “Now, young man, let that be a lesson to you.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Charles nodded and turned to saunter back to his seat.  He eased onto his bench next to mine.  “So, Suzy,” he whispered, “can I walk you home after school? Maybe stop by the creek and catch you another frog?”   



Word Count = 299