Morning all. Finally Friday. I have been kind off off balance this week. No clue why, just something felt a little off. Still we are ending on a good note. had a dream where a hippopotamus named Ethel was doing my taxes. She had one of those green visors and was tutting about my outrageous squid expenditures this past year. I was protesting that I hadn’t bought any squid when I woke up. Fun. But on with the day and into the morning prompt. Timers set and off we go.
Oh there is certainly something Bernadette doesn’t know. Not sure what, but something.
Friday, November 21st: Bernadette charged ahead.
Bernadette charged ahead. She would be the first one. She would get the prize and the praise. She deserved it, earned it. None of these others were worthy of it. She placed her papers down on the desk and received a small smile from Mrs. Haverty.
Bernadette tried to look gracious. Mrs. Haverty did not smile. She had a neutral expression at all times. The small smile she received for completing first was as extravagant as a confetti strewn parade. Bernadette turned and walked back to her seat as she waited.
The rules were clear. Only the first ten who completed would be allowed to move forward. Speed was just as important as the actual answers on this leg of the trial. You had to not only know the answers but be able to supply them quickly. If you weren’t quick on your feet you couldn’t pass.
You couldn’t win.
She folded her hands in front of her and tried not to look too much at the others as she wondered about the nine people who would be competing with her. One by one the others came to the desk. The nine that followed her were placed in a pile with her papers. Each set being marked with a number signifying the order in which they were turned in. She felt a thrill knowing that number one was written on her paper.
Bernadette waited patiently. The others were allowed to finish of course. They too were marked with numbers as they arrived, but they were placed in a different stack. A secondary one. She knew that after the exam the test results would be studied and if one of the ten had too many wrong answers an alternate would be chose from the stack. They too would be selected from stack in the order they were delivered.
The wait was not long. She may have been first but a glance at the clock told her there was less than two minutes between her paper and the last of the papers arriving on the desk.
Bernadette tried not to look superior as she saw Elsie turn her paper in last.
With all the papers turned in and marked, they were dismissed. They could rest and relax for the rest of the day, or they could spend it preparing for the next set of papers. Bernadette planned to study. She was first this time, but the others hadn’t been far enough behind her.
They were too close and she wouldn’t risk her place.
She hurried across the lawn and into the library. She settled herself at her favorite table and took out her notes for the next set of exams. To her surprise, Elsie walked in as she set her papers down. She assumed that having come last Elsie wouldn’t bother.
As Elsie walked past, Bernadette couldn’t help herself. “I don’t know why you bother,” She said. “Given your current placement it really doesn’t matter what your score is, does it?”
To her surprise Elsie looked amused by Bernadette’s comments instead of annoyed, flustered or even ashamed.
“You really think that don’t you?” Elsie said. Her voice was incredulous. There was laughter edging the words.
“They only allow the top ten in,” Bernadette said. She tried for a confident tone, but her puzzlement showed in her words.
Ten til Midnight 