Anna under the
Stars
Anna thought quickly then wrote “867” on top of
the math problem. Her mind wandered off, then returned as she felt Miss
Gregory’s eyes piercing into her. 367,
what is that plus 689? Let’s see… She wrote the answer and tackled the
others. Finally when she was done, she brought the paper to the stacker. Going
back to her desk, she got out a book and started to read as she waited for the
others to finish. She couldn’t concentrate though, her mind kept thinking to
the next night. Her and her best friend, Cathy was going to have a
campout/sleepover kind of thing. She was so excited! She had already packed her
bags, and all sorts of fun items for them to do. Cathy was bringing the tent,
so Anna was in charge of everything else. She hurriedly put the book down as
Miss Gregory stood up.
“Class, get out
your math books.” She instructed firmly.
“What?” Kelsey’s
hand shot up.
“Yes, Kelsey?”
“We never have a
math lesson when we have a test.” She reminded Miss Gregory.
She stared at
Kelsey, “Well, you were off Monday so we have to make up for it, eh?” The class
looked grim. Monday had been Earth Day so they had been off, but this stunk.
Kelsey sighed and
looked at the black board. Miss Gregory went on, “OK, today we’re learning
about circles. The term for a thing which stretches from one end of the circle
to the other is the diameter and the…” Anna sighed and thought Miss Gregory is pretty strict all right!”
________
It was the day after, and Anna had just come
home from school. She bounced into the house happily. Setting her book bag and lunch
box down she scampered up to her room. Sitting on her bed she got out her note
book and looked at the list she had written. OK, I did this… this... she
looked down the list, nope, nothing she had forgotten. Getting up, she put the
note book down and walked out of the room. Going to the staircase she yelled.
“MOM! I want an
after school snack.”
“OK,” The voice
was distant.
Sighing, Anna decided to take matters into
her own hands. Walking to the kitchen, she got some chocolate chip cookies and
a glass of milk. She had to take milk because her dentist had recommended it.
And ‘recommend’ meant ‘you have to’ usually. So she was stuck with milk. But it
wasn’t too bad. After the snack, she went back up to her room. She pulled all
the bags together and set them in a corner. Next she tackled her bedroom, she
was sure Cathy would visit her room, taking the stuffed animals; she piled them
on top of her dresser. Grabbing the dirty wash, she stuck them in a hamper.
After scurrying around a little, she got the room perfectly clean. After that,
she went downstairs to the kitchen table to work on some homework.
“Uh… Mom… I need
help in Grammar.” She shouted to Mom who was in the wash room.
“Soon,” was the
only reply given to Anna. Sighing, she pulled out her Math homework. Even
though it was only Friday, she liked to get her homework done early, just in
case she couldn’t get it done. Just then her mom called out, “Hey, Anna, better
go get a better pair of clothes on… Cathy will be here any time.”
Anna let out a
squeal of excitement then went up to her room, shouting on the way, “OK,
thanks!!! I guess I’ll just get my homework done later.”
“OK.” Mom shouted
back.
Anna raced all the way back to her now-clean
bedroom. Looking around in her closet, she realized she hadn’t cleaned her
closet. The Lord of the Rings Book
was lying on the floor, the pages flipped open carelessly. Another pair of blue
and gray converse shoes was lying on the floor with a little box of candy stuck
in between. Sighing, she slipped a plaid shirt on and a jean skirt. Racing
downstairs, she saw Cathy.
“Aaah!” Cathy
rushed out to meet her. They gave each other a great big bear hug, and talked
excitedly.
“Ready to go?”
“Yeah, where are
your bags?”
“Oh, upstairs,
want to come?”
“Sure but make it
quick.” Cathy said hi to Mom then followed Anna up the stairs. When they got the
bags Cathy’s mom drove to the place, a nice breezy park where they were going
to have the campout.
_______
It was ten o’
clock, and the girls were still chatting happily inside the tent when Cathy
made mention of sleep.
“Hey, Anna?”
“Yeah?”
“Ya wanna go to
bed… I mean… it is ten o’ clock all ready.”
“I...I- mean...
well... suppose we stay up a few more minutes? I’d still like to talk.”
“Maybe... well...
how about we settle down a little bit, and we can talk a little bit while we
lay down?”
“Great!” Anna
ripped open a package of Ritz crackers and gave some to Cathy.
_________
Dear Diary,
Urggh...urghh,
Cathy is beside me and must be snoring her head off. That’s not what woke me up
though... It’s 4:00 AM, and I should be sleeping, but I woke up and realized I
hadn’t written for you so here I am. This weird shadow keeps moving over the
tent and I wonder what it is. Should I check? I’m writing this under the covers
with a flashlight... I’m that scared! OK, I’m braving it and checking it out...
hold on. AAAHHH! I was a fool! It was a tree branch waving back and forth!!!! I
am so stupid................... DUH! Oh, well... so better go back to bed. Wait
I can’t go to bed yet. I just remembered what I told Mom yesterday, I said if I
could I’d go and sit under the starts (alone) for a little, and since I’m
awake, I’m going to. Hold on... WOW! It’s beautiful outside. The stars are
shimmering peacefully, the dark navy blue sky reaches on and on, like a
dictator wanting more and more control. The trees stand gravely, their leaves
flutter in the wind. Everything is so beautifully quiet, except this pen
scratching on the paper. Everything sings glory to its Maker, Jesus. Ohhhh,
it’s so beautiful I think I’ll stay out a little bit longer. Bye, Diary, until
next time.
Anna tucked the Diary away and gazed skyward.
She didn’t know what tomorrow would hold, but let it come! God would always be
by her side and help her.
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