TSLB3252 CREATIVE WRITING : PROSE FICTION

A teacher’s gotta do what a teacher’s gotta do

I knew they said being a teacher is a real challenge, and I am expecting that. But I never thought it would be this soon?!

Oh, hi. My name is Hidayah and this is my first day as a school teacher. They said your first day of school as a teacher will be one to remember. Indeed, it is. This funny memory will be deeply embedded in my mind, even fifteen years later. You are probably wondering how my first day went and honestly, I don't even know where to start. Excitement. Nervous. Scared. Forgetful. Trust me, these are all symptoms you will encounter during your first day of teaching. I did what many teachers did and prepared my lessons to the hilt for my first day. I even had lessons prepped for the week and four different icebreaker activities memorised and ready to go.

“Kringgggg”.

7.45 a.m. Sharp. The school bell rang. Suddenly it was so cold I saw polar bears wearing jackets. I took one last glance in the mirror, picked up the copies of drawings and grabbed my brand new shiny handbag with my left hand. 

The sense of excitement and nervous apprehension raised my adrenaline and got my heart racing.

“It’s going to be alright.” I mumbled to myself.

The clickety-clack of my 2 inch heels echoed along the school corridor. I could see from afar the pupils sneak peek and craned their necks out the windows to catch a glimpse of their new English teacher.

“The new teacher is coming!!” a boy exclaimed while others whispered.

The moment I set foot into the class, I could feel the atmosphere changing. The pupils were all quiet and in awe, as if you could hear a pin drop a mile away. 

“Nice, I’ve got their attention.” I smiled at myself.

After introducing myself and answering thousands of questions from them, I began distributing the drawings that I have prepared. Today was going to be an art activity which involved scissors and cutting. The mention of the activity made the children’s faces lighted up and I could feel the excitement building in the air. 

It was going well until I turned my head for a moment and caught a boy holding up his scissors, in an attempt to cut his hair. 

My eyes widened at the sight. “Afif, do not cut your hair and be careful with the sci..!” 

As I was finishing my sentence, I heard a girl shouting and followed by some cries. 

“Teacher! Umar just cut Aireen’s hair with the scissors!” 

I knew it was going to be the worst nightmare that I had imagined when I heard the cries and a few gasps. 

I turned around to see a girl with a red face and tears running down her cheeks.  I went to her to take a closer look and noticed there were some hairs in her hand.

She got two braids on her head and one got snipped off in half. I hugged the girl and asked her what happened.

The girl pointed her tiny little finger at a boy, who I guessed was Umar, while sobbing “He. Cut. My. Hair.”

Her cries got louder and I was too stunned and astounded by the situation. I mean, my day had just begun and this was never part of the plan. 

My eyes immediately laid on a boy on my left who had a nervous smile, hiding behind his friend.  

I turned to the boy, putting a straight face and called his name. 

“Umar, why did you cut Aireen’s hair?”

“Um..I..She scolded me for cutting out her drawing. I was just trying to help.”

“You cannot just cut people’s hair, Umar. I want you to apologise to Aireen now.” I said. 

“I hate you. I want my hair back!” Aireen exclaimed. 

“Calm down, sweetie. Don’t worry, it will grow back.” Well that just made her cry louder. 

“Don’t cry. I will fix it and put your hair back in, okay?” I said, hugging her while trying to hide my nervous voice. The girl rubbed her eyes and the whole class went silent. 

Wait. Did I just say that I am going to put her hair back in? How am I going to do that? It is like trying to show them a pig that can fly. I should have stopped listening to those little voices in my head. 

Aireen turned to me with her big moist puppy eyes. 

Uh uh do not look at me like that! Said the little voice again. 

I let out a nervous laugh and squinted my eyes scanning the classroom looking for my knight of shining armor. And there was a sellotape! It was the only thing I could think of and the tape was just exactly what I needed! 

I grabbed the tape and started sticking her braided hair back together. It feels like I am holding my breath while underwater. The whole class gathered around to look at the preposterous scene. It was so funny and I was trying so hard to hold back my laugh.  

“Okay, done! See? You’ve got your hair back! Stop crying, okay?” I looked at her and put the biggest smile ever on my face. 

The girl wiped her tears and nodded her head. 

“Kringggggg”. The bell rang.

Whew! It was my first class and I already had two pupils cutting their hair! 

I left the class wondering what I am going to tell the parents soon about the girl’s hair. Sometimes a teacher’s gotta do what a teacher’s gotta do. And that was just day one.