The Writing Machine

Stories by Christian Cloud Abraham

Blizzard of 77: School in the Gym

MEMOIR PROJECT ROUGH DRAFT

School didn’t escape the blizzard and the cold either. The grade school wing of the school froze up and the heat quit working so the elementary classes were moved into the brand new gym where the new heater kept the entire gymnasium nice and toasty. And if you can remember back to school days, the bleachers usually collapsed into the walls, leaving a space as wide as the basketball court around the court itself with the exception of the areas under the baskets. The classes were set up in this area around the basketball court, with the court left open. So in the morning, I’d meet on one side of the gym, report to my 2nd grade home room, then walk over to the other side of the court and attend my 3rd grade courses, then walk back again to the other side later to complete my 2nd grade courses. Meanwhile, during our lessons, a class would be on recess playing basketball on the court while stray balls made a habit of bouncing through our room, and it was hard to hear our teacher over the echo of a few dozen basketballs smacking the floor in irregular rhythms. But it was fun, and different, and interesting, and I was sad when the snow started to melt and the heat began to work in our old rooms and life resumed to its normal usual doldrums of routine.

END
© 2006 Christian Cloud Abraham

Posted on July 19, 2006 in
Emotion: Elation, Type: Creative Nonfiction