Page 28 of Teaching the Kot'oll Coach

I force a smile. “Stay safe.”

The kids disperse to the shelves, busy looking for their next read, which is what I love to see.

For me, it’s depressing to think about what happened. It’s not an accident happening to me, but I can’t stop seeing an injured Telke in my mind and my sleep. It must suck for him...

I head to the window, where I should be able to see him and the floatball team.

He drives me crazy even though I don’t have to care that much about him. He makes my heart race... He also haunts me like a ghost...

The floatball team is smacking the ball with the bats in the field. The floatball is a weird transparent ball with a red core, almost like a seed of a fruit with transparent flesh. I think the core can be turned on and it will shine in darkness. The transparent part of the ball is not completely hard like the surface of a baseball, which... I don’t understand.

The players aren’t on the sports spaceships for now, maybe they are warming up. I followed the plan Telke wrote out for the team. All I knew to look for was whether the ball scored a goal or not.

Telke just loves to bring me trouble. Because he tasked me with training the team for a session or two, I watched a few floatball matches with Ossa through the night. I think the sport is growing on me.

It doesn’t take long before the team stops and Telke lifts his bat, probably talking about something to them.

One of the kids gives him a ball. He tosses it with a hand, smacking the ball with the bat. My eyes follow where the ball should be flying toward, but... There’s no ball.

Turns out, the net on the top of the bat held the ball. The nets seem to be made of wire, which should be hard, and the ball will bounce off easily even though it isn’t hard. Maybe this is what they will be practicing. I saw a similar technique on the television, but never figured it out. Those players can catch a flying floatball with the net, change its direction, and pass to their teammates. It was fascinating to watch.

I think there was one who was fighting the other team for the ball, their ships crashed, and...

Well, with how the ships are like a floatball themselves and covered with rubber that’s meant to sustain crashes, it is just one of the ways beings play floatball.

I shiver when the air-conditioning seems to get stronger. Maybe I should focus on my work instead. The after-school hour is a slow and relaxing time. I’m pretty much free to do whatever...

Fuck...

Students are lining up at the counter with me staring out the window like an idiot...

I hurry over, hoping the students won’t give a second thought to my stare at the floatball team.

The cart for the books waiting to be put back up on the shelf starts piling up. I silently sigh while keeping up a smile for the kids. I like to let the kids read more, but re-shelving the books is quite a thing. I enjoy putting them back into the slot, but staring at a big pile makes it tempting to throw my hands in the air. Figuring out where to start is the hardest.

Not to mention, after meeting the beings from a publishing house, there’s another box of books to be shelved. I haven’t even created the labels and filed those books.

Ossa is going to miss me. Maybe... If his cat bowl gets too empty to his liking.

It would be great if I get another pair of hands to help, but for now, I’d better finish borrowing and returning books for the kids.

The books can wait to get to their respective shelves anyway.

Focus...

Chapter 16

Winnie

The last kid waves me goodbye with her newly borrowed book in hand. I smile and wave at her in return.

Now, I can lock the door of the library and work on refilling the shelf. What’s left can be sorted tomorrow, so there’s no pressure to finish up within the day.

I stretch and sip on my cup of tea. It is a long day, but a nice day filled with smiles and laughter from the kids. They make me happy. Sometimes, it feels like I’m transported to another world when I’m with the kids.

Sometimes, they run around in the library, playing hide and seek between the shelves, but more than often, they give insight to stories that I would never come up with. It’s all good. Maybe this is the job I’m meant to have.

The library is so quiet now, giving such a stark difference from mere minutes ago.

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