What Jess Really Really Wanted

Years ago they'd marked her card -
dog-eared by this time.
Trouble-maker, that was Jess.
Ask her what she wanted most from life
she'd say to see the school
and all her enemies
go up in flames -
or some such thing.

And then there were her cronies,
six or seven girls
who called her heroine.
The Devil Crew.
You could walk into their class
(thirty pupils plus)
and feel the vibes.

No one had an answer.
Jess Morrison - beyond the pale.
That's how it was and always had been,
that's how it remained
until the day that Mrs Grayling left
(as many others had - from stress)
to be replaced by Mrs Morrison.

The custom of the school
was for teachers to address
the students formally
by family names.
But calling "Morrison" felt awkward
for new Mrs Morrison.
She called Jess, Jess
and Jess, we think, believed
herself now privileged
and favoured.
And Jess responded,
lost her anger, dropped
her snide remarks
and settled down to work.
Quite accidentally
the key to Jess had come to light.

So when the class was asked one day:
"What are your dreams?"
most wrote of colourful scenarios,
but Jess described "a little house,
a baby and a garden with a swing,
and in the bedroom,
carpet that will go from side to side
and underneath the bed".

Written for The Think Tank Thursday #92 Key