SCHOOL

1.

The last pennies of summer were spent at the fairground. This made going back to school a little more bearable. They stood in line outside the main hall,
recounting their exploits in the fields and country lanes. Any big event took place in the main hall, which also functioned as the gym and dance hall. At morning assembly, on their very first day at school the Head Master had led everyone in the lord’s prayer; the deep mellowness of his voice when it echoed in the vast space had worked an hypnotic effect upon them, they’d believed every word. (They were after all only children.) They were lectured on the wrong and right way to brush their teeth, not to run in the corridors and to always be available for sports days.
Now they were starting their third year. The Head Master they’d learned from some of the older boys was a ‘wanker’. It was quite awhile until they found out exactly what that word meant. Although this didn’t seem to detract from the enjoyment they got from whispering it under their breath when they passed the Master’s office and the staff room. It was as if they were saying- You can pat us on the head, you can see us smile, you can think that we are happy here learning what you force upon us, and you can go on thinking that, because we are whispering curses to ourselves. We are dropping rotten eggs in the windows of your cars.