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Sunday 14 July 2013

Open Day


Too hot to eat,
school dinners go to waste;
too hot to play,
the kids look to the shade.

Nurse Rose gives two
(who'd fainted on the field)
her ice and water cure
when through the open sick room door
they see The Stranger -- quickly changed
to our new teacher for next year!

Tall, in six inch heels,
a conflagration of red hair,
and arms piled high with books,
she walked down to the hall -- they said --
and disappeared.

The rumour quickly spread,
I tried to kill it off:
Where is she then...?
The heat... a mirage... and
the school's a brand new building. New
buildings don't have ghosts --
and would I take on someone
dressed to kill?


The feeling was, I would!
And so the story clung, and I
pooh-poohed it best I could --
until I later learnt
my wife had seen her too.

Claudia at dVerse Poets asks us to write on mirages, summer heat illusions, etc

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice twit at the end, David. Great description of the "teacher", too. She was wearing a red dress, wasn't she?

Anonymous said...

hahaha! Just as I hit the send button I saw that "twist" had somehow become "twit". Typos can make one laugh out loud sometimes.

kaykuala said...

Too real and maybe too pretty as a ghost that others see her! Nicely Dave!

Hank

Anonymous said...

ha, very cool - love the turn at the end, totally unexpected. playful, yet haunting... a marvelous write.
~Miriam

Laurie Kolp said...

Thanks for making me smile, Dave... so cute!

A Cuban In London said...

Wow, I loved the short land quick build up and the ending. You left me craving for more. Many thanks.

Greetings from London.

Brian Miller said...

dolp your wife had seen her too...hahaha...we were on similar wave lengths this week dave...ah those mirages...and sometimes at school you might need them...smiles.

brudberg said...

Sounds like the school is up for some changes... If two people sees a mirage it might actually be true.. This could be an introduction to a film I think :-)

Mary said...

Interesting. Now you have me wondering...was she or was she not real?

Always glad to see a poem from you, Dave!

Anonymous said...

Oh wow that is a great twist David! Enthralling writing =)

The new prompt is up if you are interested =)

Helen said...

Dave, it WAS real. Her name was Margie Lou Wortman ... she taught seventh grade, had a mane of red hair and drove an aqua colored convertible! Love this one.

Claudia said...

smiles... now that is a teacher that would bring many a boy back to school me thinks... mirage or not..certainly hot with the 6 inch heels and the red hair...nice

Tabor said...

Schools are always haunted. HOw could they not be with some much energy unleashed each year?

grapeling said...

Ha! What an ending. ~ M

Tommaso Gervasutti said...

The ending is a marvellous explosion. Fulminating, great portrait David, the gallery goes on!

Cloudia said...

Va Va VOOM, Pedagogical Wraith!




ALOHA from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° >

Carl said...

Maybe because it has been so hot here this summer... the descriptions really clicked in for me. Great read.

haricot said...

It is somewhat suitable story for a too hot day. Thank you!

Carol Steel said...

This was a fun read with a great twist of red hair.

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Fascinating! I want to believe this is autobiography, not fiction.

Dave King said...

Charles
A yellow dress actually, if memory serves me. Thanks for the commennt - and the laugh!

Hank
Yup, I think you're right on both points!

anotherwanderingsoul
Thank you so much. Good to have your comment.

Laurie
Thanks for seeing the humour.

A Cuban in London
I think she left quite a few craving for more! Thanks.

Brian
Take your point. Yes, at school they could come in very handy!

Björn
They were great buddies and always backed up each other's stories.

Mary
Thirty years I've wondered exactly that! All I can tell you for sure -- she was NOT the teacher I'd engaged for the following term!

Mindlovemisery
Thanks for saying - and yes, I do find the new prompt VERY interesting. Hope to find the time.

Helen
NOW you tell me!

Claudia
I don't think there's any doubt about it, yup, the boys would have flocked in!

Tabor
Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for the observation.

grapeling
Thanks. Good to have your visit and your comment.

Tommaso
Thanks as always for great encouragement.

Cloudia
I don't think the boys were thinking too much about the pedagogical side of things!

Carl
We have temperatures touching the 90s - which is what brought it to mind, I guess.

haricot
I agree!

Carol
Thanks for saying. Always good to know your thoughts.

Rosemary
It is 85% autobiography.