Ah, the end of the school year! Most kids are looking forward to it, but not Blue. End of the school year meant having to be stuck at home. Home, a place she feared to be alone, with her father, all summer…
School ending always meant testing and for three days now she had to take tests that were to show if she was ready to go to the next school grade or if she had learnt all that was taught. Each year at the end of the school year, it always was the same and each year, Blue did a good enough job to pass onto the next grade. This was a good thing because if she had to repeat the same grade again her parents would be angry. Testing days were the most boring and mundane things, as you can imagine. Sitting at your desk for hours and hours, only getting a few short breaks to go use the restroom or get a sip of water, and about thirty minutes for a lunch break. No talking was allowed during testing and you almost felt like you was in a prison. Each teacher stared you down from your head to your feet, watching and waiting as if they were detectives trying to see someone cheat on those tests. It was intense to say the least.
Blue was eagerly waiting for the last school bell to ring, and signal the start of the summer break. As the bell rang, she watched kids with their arms full of things leave and disperse from the school halls. The noise was loud and deafening. The chatter was a mix of happiness, fair wells, and excitement. Often that day was a happy time, but Blue had mixed emotions. She really welcomed the start of the summer break because that meant she would be free to play outside or spend time at her grandmother’s, more than during school days, and she wanted that. Sadly though, that was not all she thought about. She also knew that she would have to stay at her sister’s and then in the evening while waiting for her mother to get off from work, her father would pick her up and take her home. This would give opportunity and confrontations that she did not want, from her father.
With a mix of emotions, she still managed to smile, knowing she would have time to spend in her favorite place, the woods just outside her house. Those woods brought her so many new adventures, so many things to see and do. She really loved having that time, even if she could not stay there day and night. In the woods she felt happy. She had no reason to hide there, no reason to cry, there. The woods were a part of her life she still thinks of with fond memories. Nothing else was as special as her time there. She used that wonderful imagination she had and made a world for herself that was as special as she wanted to feel.
Ah, summer break! Into the woods she would go, to feel safe and happy.
To be continued...
MwsR
Mws R Writings 