Page 1 of Asher's Assignment

One

Days like today were ones where Esther Campbell questioned her life choices. Rain pelted the window to her classroom, doing little to drown out the sounds of the twenty kindergartners busy at their desks. No one was screaming, so she took a moment to glare at the weather. She had to drive in it soon. And not to her house, which was only a few minutes away. No, she’d picked up a tutoring job and now she had to drive across the city in this weather.

At least it wasn’t snowing. She very much disliked driving in the rain, but she despised the snow more.

The shrill screech of one of her students turned her head. A moment later, Zoey stomped toward her. The girl held up two ends of a crayon, a fierce frown on her face. If kindergarteners could have a murder face, it would be the look on Zoey’s.

“Evan broked my favorite blue crayon.”

Esther glanced up, looking for the boy. He sat at his desk, tongue poked into the corner of his mouth while he concentrated on his work. He didn’t look like he’d been causing trouble. But with a classroom full of five- and six-year-olds, she didn’t always see everything.

“Let’s go talk to him.” She put two fingers on the girl’s shoulder and turned her around.

The little girl marched over to Evan’s desk and slammed the two pieces of crayon onto the tan surface. “You’re in trouble now!”

“Zoey.” Esther waited for the girl to look at her. “Let’s be calm and polite, okay?”

The frown on the little girl’s face deepened. “He broked my favorite blue crayon,” she said, like that explained it all.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Evan yelled. “It fell!”

Esther patted the air. “We need to keep our voices on the indoor setting. No one needs to yell.” She looked at Zoey. “Is that true? Did it fall off the table?”

She nodded. “It rolled off, then he stepped on it.”

“Not on purpose!” Evan glared at her, then looked up at Esther. “Zoey’s always tattling. I didn’t do nothing.”

Esther counted to ten. These two had been bickering all day.

“Zoey, I’m sure Evan is sorry he stepped on your crayon. Right, Evan?” She cast a quick look at the boy.

He nodded. “I didn’t mean to break it, Zoey.”

“See? Now, what do you need to say to Evan?”

The girl’s bottom lip popped out. “Sorry,” she grumbled, then held up the pieces of crayon. “What about this?” That bottom lip started to quiver. “I liked this one. It colored nice.”

“Come here.” She took Zoey’s hand and led her over to the cabinet, where she kept all the art supplies. Opening the door, she pulled out the bin that held all the blue crayons. “How about you pick a brand-new one?”

Zoey handed her the broken pieces of the one she held, drama forgotten, as her eyes widened at the sight of all the fresh crayons. She peered into the bin and picked one.

“You think that one will work?”

“Yep!” She scampered away. “Thanks, Miss Campbell!”

Esther sighed and put the bin back, shutting the cabinet door. Sometimes, all a girl needed was a sharp crayon.

The last thirty minutes of her day passed without incident. Once the kids were packed up, Esther led them down to the dismissal area, where they were split into car rider and bus rider groups. She was on car rider line duty today, so she stayed with those kids from her class.

“Yuck!”

Esther looked down at Zoey, who’d come up to her side. The girl stared out at the rain, her nose wrinkled.

“I agree, Zoey. I’m ready for some sunshine.” They’d had several days of rain. Sometimes it was no more than a drizzle. Other times, it was a deluge. But it hadn’t stopped since it started Monday morning. Right now, it was somewhere in between.

An image of a pristine beach, soft waves, and warm sunshine popped into her mind. It was hard to believe two months ago, she’d been sipping cocktails on a beach in Costa Rica with her sister, Edie, for Edie’s vow renewal. Her sister was living it up, surfing every day, and walking in the soft sand with her sexy husband. All while Esther was stuck here, mitigating arguments over broken crayons and contemplating how fast she could run to her car in her high-heeled boots.

The radio in Esther’s hand crackled to life, pulling her from her daydream. The teacher outside, reading off the names on the placards in the parents’ vehicles, called Zoey’s name.

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