Morning all. woke up early and found I didn’t need to water due to rain in the night. I’m hoping I can linger over coffee a little while after this gets posted as I actually have a few minutes to spare since I didn’t need to spend it in the garden. I can’t remember the last time I managed to linger over coffee instead of drinking it as I scrolled through morning e-mails. I think I’m going on the porch to enjoy the not yet hot morning. But first, the prompt. Ready? excellent, fifteen minutes on the timers and off we go.
Huh. There is a lot to work with and many questions. Who is her family, what does the letter say, why does the teacher want to keep the world at bay and what about this brewing war? So many lovely little bits to play with. I’m rather pleased by this.
Tuesday, June 13th: Give that to me this instant.
“Give that to me this instant,” she demanded, holding out her hand imperiously. I looked at the thick envelope in my hand. It was puffed up, clearly holding more than one sheet of paper in it.
“No,” I said. I held the fat envelope to my chest. “It’s my mail. Addressed to me.”
“You can’t read your mail in my classroom,” she informed me. Her hand was still held out.
“I just picked it up from the post office,” I said. I was going to put it in my bag before class began.”
“And?” She said. Her hand finally lowered.
“And I am going to put it in my bag now,” I said. “Before class begins.”
My bag was on my desk. I took out my notebook and textbook for the lesson as well as the assignment that I was to hand in today and slid the mail into the bag. I zipped the top closed and set the bag under my chair. It was out of the way but I had one foot pressing down on the zipper so that no one could take it from me. I doubted Mrs. Warren’s minions would try to get it from me during class, even she would not ignore so blatant a disruption, but I knew that while I foiled her initial attempt to take the letter from me there would be future fights.
Mrs. Warren somehow seemed to believe that while students were attending the Perderoy Academy any news of the outside world was a distraction to be avoided. I knew that she had a habit of confiscating it all, from newspaper clippings to birthday cards. She believed firmly that while the girls were here only the world of the Academy existed.
I knew better than to bring the letter with me, but the post arrived while I was in the office and I didn’t have time to run back to my room. Now the letter was safely in my bag. I knew that as it appeared to be a larger than normal letter, Mrs. Warren would be extra keen to confiscate, however I also knew that had she actually seen who it was from then I wouldn’t have made it to the chair with the letter at all.
My only hope was in ignoring the letter until I made it through class and to slip out of the door before any comments could be made. I would keep the letter tightly sealed in my bag until I was out of sight, knowing that Mrs. Warren would be lurking and waiting to confiscate illicit material.
Not for the first time I sighed in annoyance at the new rule. Some books deemed inappropriate had been brought in by some of the older girls. What they were and what made them inappropriate was not known. Each rumor was more salacious than the last. While no one knew for certain what they held, those involved were expelled and now anything being read in public was studied by all of the teachers. Mrs. Warren took it to the extremes but I knew more attention would be paid to the letter than I wanted.
I worked very hard while I was here not to let anyone know of my family and I wasn’t going to let Mrs. Warren ruin that for me now. As class began, the letter seemed forgotten, but I knew better and prepared to be on my guard. As I dutifully took notes, I thought about the books and letters that got the others expelled. While most of the rumors leaned towards sexual deviance, I suspected given the silence and immediate expulsion, as well as the girls involved, that the material was more than likely of a political nature. With the latest changes, the senate was in an uproar. Civil war loomed and the Academy could not risk it fermenting here.
Ten til Midnight 