Lying in between the first two rows of desks and staring up at the neatly decorated ceiling above seemed to be a nightly ritual until she was forced to leave the elementary school. A year and a half ago, once she had been assigned a permanent room, Diana Hart had stolen a ladder from the janitors closet and spent an entire night painting glow in the dark stars in between the fluorescent lights. For a while the administrators had been highly unhappy with her and probation followed her rebellious acts of happiness and decorating. She was still a teacher, although her boss was not very fond of her, and she was a pretty damn good one at that.
As her students rushed off to lunch and recess, Diana found herself lying back on the ground once more, wishing she was staring at the real stars and not some cheap painted ones on the ceiling. The teacher room would be packed with faculty members enjoying their lunches and time away from ruthless children. Diana didn’t feel welcomed into that room but, well, her stomach was churning with hunger. Of course, packed in a paper bag was a peanut butter sandwich and a container of chopped apple slices. No drink, though. Yes, she needed a drink to go with the peanut butter or she’d be forced to, well, choke.
Rising from her position on the tiled floor, the woman grabbed her slightly crushed paper bag and slowly shuffled her way from her classroom and down the hall where the teacher break room was located. Immediately the people talking and chatting dulled upon sighting her. She self consciously lowered her head, grabbed a bottle of cold water from the community fridge and found a lonely looking table near the back of the room. Ignoring the cliché teachers, Diana began to unravel her makeshift lunch. One of her favorite parts of the day was sinking her teeth into a fluffy sandwich. “Mmm.” She hummed, placing her fingers over her lips as she tried to chew the sticky food.
There was a window beside the table she chose, which allowed her to watch the children play at recess. She picked out a few in her class before finding more interest in a squirrel who happened to be running across the large span of grass, avoiding the feet of children. It looked lonely, as lonely as she felt. Well, still, it was a good life she led. Diana began to wonder if this animal lived a good life as well, or if it was dealing with a large amount of issues. She would never know. Finishing the sandwich, Diana ordered the slices from longest to shortest before beginning to eat them as well.
For a moment she thought on the life she had been presented. Her sister, Alleace had recently passed away. It only threw Diana over the edge and brought out the deep mental illness inherited from her mother. Her older sister, Noelle, was happily married to a successful man. Where was she in all of this? Bi polar, lost with love and barely surviving in her job. Still, she had a home, a classroom and a car. she had food and clothes and a working shower, which was all she felt she needed. Who needs love when you have, well, necessity?
Last edited by baretteknee on Thu Dec 31, 2009 11:14 am; edited 4 times in total