Darren!!! Time to get up!!
I was awaken from my deep slumber by a high pitched voice piercing into my candy dream. Usually, I needed to be shaken at least several times to get my ass of my bed. But it was a special day and I was really excited. It was my first day going to a primary school.
After my favourite scrambled eggs and french toast for breakfast, I changed into my white and blue school uniform. Mother gelled and combed my hair so neatly that I thought that even Typhoon Suzy wouldn't lift a strand of hair.
"You looked very smart today boy, be good at school okay?" my mom reminded me.
I put on my shiny white shoes and mom gave me a quick lesson on tying the shoe laces. She Then I climbed on to the back of my mom's bicycle and off we went to my new school under the dark sky.
As the sky brightened and upon reaching, I saw many children at the school gates. All of them were boys. Some refused to get off their cars and some were crying profusedly. Many parents were accompanying their kids into the school compound. We were greeted by a teacher as we entered into the school compound. After they verified my particulars, I was told to wait at a designated spot.
"Listen to the teachers, there's a bread in your backpack and wait for me at the gates after school. Don't wander off with strangers, understand? Will you cry?" mom asked me.
"No, I am fine. You go work." I mumbled.
"Okay be good and take care." she reminded me again.
Mom bade farewell as I watched her cycling away until she stopped at a distance. She turned around and wave to me again to stand near the teacher. I obeyed and she continued her journey to work.
I was alone now. There were two kids standing near to me which I recognised who were from my village. We exchanged smiles and stayed close to each other. Suddenly, one kid cried very loudly as his parents left him with the teacher. He ran towards his parents but was restrained by the teacher. His mother hesitated and wanted to return but was stopped by her husband. Then they quickly turned away and went off.
That kid didn't stop crying and infact, he even cried louder when he could not see his parents. The teacher took him to a quieter spot to pacify him. Well, this cry baby set off a chain of reactions and many others started to cry. I was baffled and couldn't understand why such a commotion on first day of school. Then one of my newfound village friend begun to weep silently at a corner. The other friend and I comforted him and told him it's for only half a day without having actually grasp the sense of time.
The teachers huddled all of us to the school field and began to divide us according to different classes. I was put into Class 1H. After reaching the classroom, the teacher ramdomly assigned our seatings. The taller of them sat at the back while the shorter ones were in front. I sat in the middle with four desks grouped together. As the teacher were calling our names again to make sure all were in, I looked out the classroom windows and saw many faces of anxious parents peering into the classrom. It was really noisy with kids chattering, crying, chairs rocking and parents talking to their children.
The class teacher introduced herself but I couldn't remember her name. She begun to brief us but I couldn't understand what she was saying. I didn't bothered and my eyes begun to wander around the class looking at the antics of other boys. Then the teacher stepped out of the classroom and asked the parents not to talk to their kids and to stand slighly further away.
Suddenly, a few kids shouted to the teacher to go to them. A kid has peed in his shorts perhaps due to unbearable fear. Actually, the stench was unbearable and everyone pinched their nose. Not long, a lady came in with a mop and a pail of water to clean the mess.
Before I could make sense of my surroundings, the bell rang. I saw many other children running out of their classrooms to the canteen. The teacher explained it was recess time and we must return when the bell rang again. As I was walking out of the classroom, the parents rushed in to hug their weeping kids. I sat at a bench followed by one my village friend who was assigned to the same class as mine. I opened my backpack and ate the peanut butter bread.
When I finished, I wandered to the corridor of my class and saw several of my classmates. We sat together in a circle and started to "intro" ourselves. As we chatted happily, one of them called Phillip begun to mock me, knowing that I came to school from a village on a bicycle. I tried to ignore him but he kept irritating me. One thing led to another, we were kicking each other while still sitting.
Somehow, I accidently kicked him in the face. Oh uh, my mom's reminder suddenly came back to haunt me. Unlucky mistake.
I could still remember his vicious screams. His face was red and his lips begun bleeding. The other kids who witnessed the altercation was horrified and moved away from me. The bell rang and the teacher returned. She was stunned on seeing the boy crying and bleeding. All fingers were pointed at me when she queried the kids. She scolded me and kept asking why I had hurt Phillip. I remained silent and refused to explain. I was very scared but I did not cry.
Actually, Phillip was sitting in the same group of desks with me. Due to the incident, I was isolated when we returned to class. In a short moment, his mother came in after knowing what happened to her son. She was our English teacher.
When the school bell rang at the end of the class, all the students rushed out to be greeted by their parents. I looked at them with envy because my mom had to work and was unable to pick me up on time. I looked out again and saw Phillip standing outside with his mother waiting for me. Without a choice, I walked out and they confronted me. Phillip's mother was very fierce and berated me. I felt like crying but I held back my tears. They left after the scoldings and I went to wait for my mom under a big tree at the school gates. I guessed my teacher must have noticed me and she walked towards me. At the same time my mom arrived on her bicycle.
The teacher greeted my mom and they talked about my fighting incident. After a while, the teacher left and mom turned to looked at me angrily. I looked away sheepishly but she did not utter a word. I climbed to the back of her bicycle and embraced her under the hot sunny day. When we reached home, she took out the mighty cane. Before I could explain myself, she unleashed the cane on me. I cried in anger.
When she finished teaching me a lesson, she asked why I had not listened to her to be a good boy and kicked a boy in school. After I explained everything to her..
"Why didn't you tell me earlier when we reached home?" she exclaimed.
Ah... my "exciting" first day at school.
