I wish I would’ve had a better beginning. Yes, looking back on it now. I could’ve started better… but I thought I knew everything back then. I suppose who better to teach something than the one who knows everything?

I had immigrated to Manitoba with my sister Selena and her new husband but it was time for me to make my own way in life. After everything I had been through, I thought I could handle anything that would come my way.

In any case, shortly after I sent in my application to the school board, I received the glad tidings that I had been hired. It was time for me to prove myself!

Thankfully, my first assignment was to be at a one-room schoolhouse on the prairie near Gladstone, Manitoba, Canada. My new home.

I thought it would be an easy assignment but my first day of teaching was to give me a rude awakening.

***

A flock of birds chirped and chattered in a cluster of trees near the entrance of the schoolhouse. The sun was warm with the promise of morning. All in all, it felt like a good day to start teaching.

The teacher took her place before the classroom and struck the pose of a strict disciplinarian. Shoulders straight. Perfect posture. The black dress and glasses of a girl who didn’t have time for colors of frivolity.

“Good morning class, my name is Miss Auclair and I’m your new teacher.” The only sound that greeted this pronouncement was the slight impact of chalk hitting the floor. The teacher knelt to pick it up and then continued. “I suppose I expected some sort of welcome. Anyway, this morning we’ll be studying mathematics. Oh, excuse me. “She grabbed at the chalk that had had somehow escaped her fingers once again. After she had successfully snagged it, she stood and began writing on the blackboard.“Now, if we have two apples in our lunch pail and add two apples to them, how many apples do we have?” The children stared at the girl before them and said nothing. “If anyone knows the answer go ahead and shout it out. Go on. Anyone? My. My. You are a quiet bunch, aren’t you? Alright then. If we have three bananas and add two more bananas to them how many bananas do we have? We have…oh my goodness, there goes that silly chalk again.” The teacher felt her temper growing as she crawled after the wicked white stick.

The sight of dress shoes just before her nose brought her progress to a sudden halt. Her head jerked up. A middle-aged but handsome face was staring down at her. “Oh, hello,” she blurted as a blush spread like a rash across her girlish face.

“Going bananas are we?” The man remarked as a smirk toyed at the edges of his lips.

“Oh. It’s not what it looks like.” The teacher paused, searching for words. “I was just teaching the children a lesson in mathematics and…”

“And what?” A beautiful woman snapped as she took a place beside her man.

“Um…I guess I must’ve made quite the spectacle crawling along the floor…” The teacher offered without much confidence.

“You could say that,” the man proclaimed.

“You certainly could say that,” his woman repeated.

Driven by nervousness, the words began to flow like a spring flood. “Well, you see the chalk fell from my hand and I don’t have any other chalk, so I needed to fetch it to continue the lesson and that’s why I was crawling and…”

“Stop being ridiculous,” came the words as contempt twisted the perfect face of the woman of fashion. “A girl should stand on her own two feet…Stand up!”

“Oh, yes, of course,” the teacher stammered as she stood to attention.

“Much better.”

“Now that we have your attention…” The man paused for a moment in order to straighten his expensive-looking suit. “I was wondering if you have room in your classroom for two more children.”

“Um…I suppose…I…”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m Bernard B Stauffer and these are my children Edward and Bobby. Ahem. I would’ve brought them in earlier, but I had other engagements. Say hello to Miss…”

“Miss Auclair,” the teacher said as she sized up her adversaries. A well-dressed man and woman stood beside two young boys. It seemed to be a picture of the perfect family.

“Hello,” said the taller, more serious-looking boy.

“Hello,” repeated his younger, mischievous-looking, brother.

“I’m pleased to meet you.” Miss Auclair began herding the children toward two empty chairs. “We have places for you right over here.”

“But, we want to sit over there,” the boys protested as they pointed toward the opposite end of the classroom.

“Just sit down please,” Miss Auclair ordered.

“But we don’t want to sit there!”

“I said, sit down! Both of you! Now, where did I leave that chalk again…”

The boys sat and giggled as they watched the foolish young girl search the dusty floor for her precious trophy.

Bernard watched this performance for a moment, he seemed to be about to speak but changed his mind. “I’ll be by a little later to check in on them. I certainly hope I won’t be disappointed in what I find going on in here.” With that, the man and woman made their way from the classroom and out into the clean air of nature.

At the pace they kept, striding along the path worn into the mat of prairie grass, the drama of the little white schoolhouse was soon behind them.

“If you ask me, you should call the school board together and fire that woman!”

“Rebekah, it’s her first day. We need to give her a chance,” Bernard said with the mild tone of a man who had heard it all before.

“Crawling around on the floor like that…my goodness, what a spectacle! She certainly isn’t a good example for the children.”

“Certainly not!”

“Remember,” Rebekah purred. “You have the upcoming election to think of as well.”

“Just let me think on it for a while. If I decide to fire Miss Auclair, you’ll be the first to know about it.”

“I don’t want to tell stories, but I’ve been heard that Miss Auclair is a dramatic type…If you know what I mean.”

“She’s an actress too, is she? Hmm.” Bernard crinkled his thick blonde eyebrows. “We certainly don’t need any actors around here. Our town is in enough trouble as it is.”

“If you ask me, Miss Auclair should’ve never been hired in the first place.”

“I didn’t ask you,” Bernard sighed as they made their way toward a Model T waiting just beyond the path full of holes.

Meanwhile, back in the little white schoolhouse, the scene had reached a climax.

“There it is!” Miss Auclair held up her prize. “It’s always nice to have chalk when you are using the chalkboard!”

“That was profound,” Edward Stauffer cackled as he high-fived his younger brother.

“Now where were we?” Miss Auclair studied the blackboard full of figures. “Oh, yes, we were studying mathematics. Now, if you have three bananas and add two more bananas to them how many bananas do you have?”

“10!” Edward shouted.

“3!” Bobby added.

“Um. Maybe we should move on to something else. Class…look over here please.“ The children were divided about this advice, some looked this way and others looked the other. The only thing they had in common was that none of them paid the slightest attention to the direction given them. “Class, look this way, please. Ahem.” In desperation, Miss Auclair slapped her pointer against the blackboard, snapping it into two pieces. “Children!” She stopped herself before she said something that she shouldn’t. For a moment, she stared down at the pieces of the broken pointer at her feet. “Oh, what’s the point…it’s almost lunchtime…why don’t you just go outside and play?”

Surprisingly, the children heeded this word of instruction. It didn’t take long at all for them to exchange the prison of the schoolroom for the freedom of the great outdoors. The perfect place to plot more mischief.