Anna goes to school

        Anna looked forward to the day of school with mixture of curiosity and wonder. Every boy and girl she knew - Suzie, Esther, Tom and even rude Jack - were going to school and when she heard Mum and Dad talk about it, she wouldn't stop  bothering them, asking if she could go to the same school as Suzie. Dad was clueless, but Mum knew what was going on. With her big blue eyes she looked at Anna and promised to take her to the same school as her friend.

 

        Before Mum took her to school, she asked her Dad about what the school was for.

        "Well, thats a silly question Anna, isn't it?" Dad replied and he took the girl to sit her in his lap. "You will learn how to read and write and count..."

        "But I already know how to do that, Dad!" Little Anna replied. "Mum taught me." She smiled proudly.

        "Liz, are you sure we need to send her to school?" Dad asked teasingly. "The girl already knows everything."

        "That may be so, but her friends are there, Booker." Mum replied. "I will go with her, and then you can pick her up afterwards."  

        "Ain't that right," Dad huffed, faking annoyance. "All I ever do is keep running and picking up you two." Anna giggled and so did Mum, but Anna failed to notice the look she gave him.  

 

        The weather wasn't particularly warm, so both Anna and her mum were wearing long skirts, blouses and jackets over them. Both were were wearing blue, their favorite color, although Anna's hair was tied with a pink ribbon, while her Mum kept her hair short. They were now few blocks away from the building of primary school.

        "Mum, will I get to read books in there?" Anna asked.

        "Of course, thats what you do in school."

        "But I mean books like we have." Anna insisted. "I want to read those long stories, like about Odysseus, or Icarus, or Poe stories!"

        Mum laughed. "I'm sure they will find something interesting for you to read."

 

        By the time they got to the gate of the school, Anna was running towards her friends, who were already readying themselves to go inside, standing alongside their parents. Mum smiled and exchanged few pleasant hellos while Anna joined in laughs with Suzie and Esther. not long after, parents said goodbyes to their little ones and children were ushered to the classroom. There, an elder but kind lady sat them down in alphabetical order. Dewitt came before Peabody, so Anna had to sit in a front row, while Suzie was put in the back.

        "Children, my mane is Miss Thomson, and we will be learning about letters today."

        Anna's hand was already in the air. "Miss, when will be reading?"

        "Well Anna, you will have to wait. You can't read stories if you don't know the letters, can you?"

        "But my Mum already taught me!" Anna replied instantly.

        "You will have to wait. It is better if everyone reads together, hmm?" Miss Thomson smiled kindly.

        "Will we be reading Poe stories?" Anna did not let up her barrage of questions.

        "Poe? Where do you... hmmm." The teacher looked at the little dark-haired girl, wondering how to solve the problem of an overachiever in her class. "Tell you what, I will give you something to read, while I teach everyone else, ok? We will read together tomorrow."

        "Thank you miss!" Anna seemed so eager and smiled wide when Miss Thomson gave her a fat book. 'Grimms' Fairy Tales' was the title and with large eyes Anna begun flicking through the pages, looking at titles and illustrations for the stories in it. She stopped upon seeing the picture of a tall tower and a long, golden braid falling out of it. At the bottom of the tower stood a tall, young man, looking into the tower window. For some reason Anna knew that she would like that story.

 

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        Anna was stuck in the book when Miss Thomson announced the end of the lesson and called for a lunch break. The children scattered outside to eat their lunch or to simply play outside, whie the teacher walked over to the black-haired girl that appeared to be unaware of the break.

        "Anna? Anna, its lunchtime, you can stop now."

        Anna took her eyes off the page to look at Miss Thomson. "I'm sorry miss, but those stories are so interesting!"

        The teacher laughed. "I know they are Anna, but you can read afterwards. Go outside and play with your friends."

        Miss Thomson closed the book and took it to put it away back on the shelf while Anna ran out of classroom to join Suzie and Tom and Esther.

        "There you are! we were waiting for you." said Suzie, a girl with straw-colored hair.

        "Yeah, we were going to play cowboys and injuns." added Tom, a round boy with shining cheeks. "You can be squaw." He added, looking at Elizabeth.

        "I'm not a squaw! I will be a princess. Princess Birdsong." She stated proudly.

 

        The game at the school courtyard was fun but short, too short for Anna's reckoning, as children were brought back in after the lunch hour passed. By the time they were back in their seats, Miss Thomson managed to prepare two large maps, that were now hanging in front of the class, obscuring the blackboard. Miss Thomson was already equipped with a pointing stick. One was of a map of America. Anna knew the shape of it, she saw it often in books and newspapers that both Dad and Mum read. The other map was bigger and had America on it too, but also other places across seas and mountains and other countries too.

        "Children, today we will also be learning about our country and about the world." Miss Thomson looked at the maps. "There are many countries in the world, just like United States. All countries have capitals. can anyone name our capital?"

        "Washington!" The children in the classroom replied in one voice, and the teacher smiled. Can anyone tell me about other capitals? Anyone knows?"

        Miss Thomson was sure she would be the one answering those questions, after all, those were little children, who would tell them about those things? But surely enough, a girl in the front row had her hand up, waving it energetically.

        "Yes Anna?"

        "Paris is a capital of France," girl said out loud.

        Miss Thomson was somewhat surprised that the girl was so knowledgeable, but she quickly caught on to the fact that she would know more than other children, for one reason or another.

        "Very good. Do you know where Paris is? Show us on the map." Miss Thomson tapped at the world map with her stick and Anna got up. She pointed with her finger at New York and then traced with it across the ocean, straight to Europe and planted it in the middle of a large country.

        "Splendid, thank you." Miss Thomson was continuously amazed by the little bookworm, so she decided to entertain the class and go with it. Anna sat back at her desk.

         "Let me tell you about Paris then, since Anna already showed us where it is..." Miss Thomson begun in a sagely voice and a vision of a beautiful city instantly unrolled in Anna's mind, with the tall metal tower in the center, amidst the lights and sights.  

 

        The school day was over and a stampede of little people spilled out of the building, with parents waiting on them. Anna was still talking to Suzie when she saw a tall man in a pinstriped suit sticking out of the crowd. She always knew where her Dad was - While Mum wore the bluest of all outfits, there was no man bigger than her Dad. She quickly waved a goodbye to her friend and ran towards him.

        "Daddy!"

        "Hey!" He picked her up effortlessly and she gave him a hug. "How was your first day?" He asked her as he set her on the ground. She grabbed his hand and they begun walking home.

        "It was great," Anna said enthusiastically. "First, Miss Thomson taught us to read, but I didn't have to listen, because Mum already taught me and Miss Thomson gave me a book to read." She spoke quickly, bursting with joy. Dad only chuckled.

        "Yeah, you girls read all night and don't let me sleep at all." Anna grinned in return.

        "After that, me and Suzie and Tom and Esther and all others, we played cowboys and injuns, and I was a princess!"

        "Really?" he asked, amused.

        "Yeah, I was Princess Birdsong, and they tried to catch me but I wouldn't let them and then the lunch ended and I didn't have time to fly away." She finished her story with a disappointed sigh.

        "So, what else did Miss Thomson teach you?" Dad carried on.

        "Oh, I told everyone about Paris, and then Miss Thomson told us about it, and then we had history, and Miss Thomson told us about the Founding Fathers."

        Dad chuckled again, but Anna didn't notice that it was a somewhat forced chuckle. "So, you liked it?"

        "Yes, I want to go there tomorrow too."

        "You will, Princess Songbird."

        "Its Birdsong, Dad!"