Sitting at the table she gazed at her students while thinking of what she would do after work. Maybe I’ll go to the gym or stop at the market for something to eat tonight. Mechanically she continued with her lesson on the short letter“a” with her students. “The letter‘a’ makes what sound？”“a, a, a”, the students sang together going through the empty motions. The clock dragged away the minutes teasing her with the tediousness of the day.
Won’t it end？ She thought as the phone rang out its morse code for her room. Sighing she stood up and walked through the maze of students desks to get to the phone. Picking up the receiver the other voice seemed a hundred miles away. Oh, how I wish I were anywhere but here. Her mind wandered to the hot exotic beach of Cabo, Mexico, where she had spent her last summer break. She still remembered the cool breezes that caressed her skin as she lay on the gritty2 sand.
“Miss Smith， did you hear me？” the secretary annoyingly asked her. “Oh, sorry. What did you say？” “Can you send Carla to the office？” the secretary impatiently asked. “Oh, course,” she replied as she hung up the phone. She turned from the phone and yelled out Carla’s name. Carla, who was one of the many who always seemed so needy that were in her class this year. Carla looked up from her desk, her hair hanging like a matted displaced doll. Her face was lined with dirt that gave her the appearance of one of those munchkins from the Wizard of Oz. “You need to go to the office”, she said while Carla slowly rose from her desk. “Why do I have to go？” whined Carla. “It’s between you and the office—just go up,” she hastily turned her back as Carla walked out of the room. Like having free school uniforms is the answer. It would be nice if just once someone called saying s