WonDrOus

The white board was wiped clean of the previous etchings and I wrote the next word on the board. Using my best grandeous handwriting; expecting the students to reach far into the recesses of their brains to give me the meaning of the word.

Hoping to direct their thoughts toward the heavens- to the starts, planets, the moon!

Quickly I made spider-like legs grow out of the word so we could place the ideas that came to us as we searched for its meaning.

"What does wondrous mean??" I asked walking down the middle of the desks looking for the quietest child- one who had listened to me ask that they raise their hand, rather than shout out the answer.

I felt a quietness inside myself as I searched the chaotic waving of hands, wiggling bodies and chatty children.

Looking down I saw a slight boy with; a small scar just an 1/8 of an inch below his left eye.

Putting my left hand on his desk, to signify I had chosen him to answer the question, he swallowed and lowering his hand and looking firmly up into my eyes,said:

"Me."

Silence. My face felt a calmness come over it, tension left my mind and a clearing of thought came to my own mine.

silence. I breathed in deeply and slowly let out a breath

silence.............

Nodding my head, as the first true smile of the day broke like sunshine onto my face, I stood next to him. I unable to move because he'd entranced me with his soft eyes. Finally, I looked around the room until there was class silence eventually, I turned back to the white board, erased the spider legs and left: Wodrous, alone on the board. And an invisible underlining went under the letters U and S.