Soon the noise of the boisterous children brought her attention back to the task at hand. Teaching.
She gently tapped her ruler on the wooden desk to get their attention.
“Children… quiet now.”
It took a while for everyone to settle down. As she patiently waited, Sarah looked around at each student to see if she could find a hint or clue as to who left the apple. In the far back corner sat little Donny Brown, his head down as though that would make him invisible. The Brown family struggled the hardest in this small farm community. She knew that giving up an apple, even one that was nicked and bruised and half eaten, was a far greater gift than the most perfect apple given by another.
The room became quiet.
Sarah stared at the back wall as she tried to figure out whether or not to publicly acknowledge her gift. She decided against it.
“Students… I’m having a hankerin’ for some apple pie. If we can get through this afternoon’s lessons without too many distractions, I will bake one tonight and bring it in tomorrow so we can all have some.”
No sense in wasting an opportunity to bribe for compliance, she thought to herself. I’ll need more apples.
The children cheered. Folks didn’t do a lot of baking since ingredients were so precious. This would, indeed, be a treat. Teacher Sarah smiled at her students as they murmured among themselves. And when she finally caught the eye of little Donny Brown she gave him a quick wink.
Check out the other entries in this week's Magpie Tales challenge here.
24 comments:
I love your Teacher Sarah, she is just the kind of teacher I wanted my Sarah to be in the Saga of Sarah.
Love how my heart just reached out to little Donny Brown.
CC you are such a gifted writer. I love your Magpie Tales.
A few Still Life Art Challenges are up on the blog.
oh Wanda, I forgot about 'your' Sarah. Sorry about that. Its a name I've used often and today I was too lazy to think of any other name.
(I tried the figs. It sucked, so I'm going to try it again tonight. Maybe one of the other still life's as well.)
Beautiful story, the chidren my daughter teaches come from homes with very little, I know her children would love a treat like this; and it takes a special teacher to know her children well.
Don't be sorry I'm thrilled to see another teacher names Sarah. It a good name.
Chris emailed me a copy of her hawk, I think she thought it was too late to post it on her blog.
I think she will check the comments on the Art Blog, so I'd just put our comment there. I really thought she did a great job on it to.
So you got some bad figs huh?
I felt that way about the jewelry and veggies!
I love the story, but an apple pie no longer fits the nutrition policy of schools. Isn't that sad?
Wonderfully written and inspiring.
Lovely tale and full of characters I'd love to her more of.
This was a delight to read...and my daughter's name is Sarah..and she is a teacher...good choice
We need more stories like this with virtue wisdom and love
good job
A lovely story CC. A precious gift.
Sweet and lovely ~ your apple Magpie!
Great as usual... Felt the compassion in the post..Loved it.
Lovely short story - and I love apple pie!
a treat almost as lovely as your writing...a wonderful tale....nice mag
Love your story. Love the teacher and especially love the little wink at the end.
Thanks for all your kind comments.
there should be more teachers like sarah - excellent write
here's my magpie
a sweet story-loved it!
inspirational and sweet tale.
thanks for sharing!
An uplifting example of how we all should treat one another! A story of kindness and love....
Rick
What a wonderfully charming tale! I remember bringing an apple to my teacher on occasion.
A gentle tale, full of wisdom and insight!
Best teacher ever! no wonder he gave her the apple in the first place. a well written magpie.
This former teacher loves this delicious tale. Nice job!
Sweet story!
Such a sweet story. Clearly, this little one may not have much but he's learned what it is to give from his heart.
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