Good Morning

"Good morning.....oooh wah oooh wah ooh wah oooh.....good morning......"  the morning announcements blared through the trailer.   I hear that song now when I open my eyes in the morning and even in the shower.

"So...if this guy pulls up to you in a van....even an old white man like the guy in the video....he looks weak but he might not be....."  the new, part-time counselor explained, trying to do a little in-service for the fifth graders.
"Van...no....."  the kids sighed.  
"I'd snatch that money and get away...."

"What if he catches you?"

"I'd kick the windows out....I ain't gettin' in no van....."

"Ms. Wagner, are you going to retire?"  Kaw asked.

"What do you mean?  People retire when they are like, sixty."

"Yeah, are you going to retire?"

"How old are you, Ms. Wagner?"  Jorge asked.

"Forty-nine."  I answered.

"Wait.  Stop right there.   Please do not tell me your grandma is forty-nine."

He paused.

"My grandma....is forty-nine."
"I've had it with you, evil children!!"  I yelled in my brain.

"I banish you from my utility trailer!!"

"Odor.  Odor is your vocabulary word of the week.  One time, my dad left a sandwich on the floor of my car and I didn't know he left it there.  My car smelled awful until I figured out he left it there.  It left an ODOR."  the first grade teacher explained.  

Lola had another tumor removed.  We don't know if it is malignant or not.  Alec picked me up from the Housing Authority and I saw her cone on the floor of the car, after what was supposed to be a rudimentary vet visit.  She has stitches in her side.  

Angel Island. Fifth grade Social Studies lesson.  You might have not heard of it before and I didn't either, until a couple of years ago.  It's the west coast, Asian Ellis Island.

"Is that how we got here???"  Kaw whispered furiously to Paw Ku.

"Nah, dude, we came on a plane!"  she scream whispered back.   

"Odor, define odor." the first grade teacher requested.

"You got a stanky car."  a student answered.  

"Samentha, that's beautiful."  I commented, looking at her drawing.

"You always draw the ocean....the waves.....maybe it's Haiti, maybe it's the island...."  I speculated.

She stared me straight in the eyes.

"I dream about it."  she responded.