3F#8 – outside the study
She waited on the bench outside the Rector’s study. With summer, and with the bench in regular use again, he had ordered it moved outside, in the rose garden, next to his French windows. She thought there was probably some theological reason for this, but that was not the most compelling mystery to her just then. The sky was still bright. It felt odd to sit out-of-doors wearing pyjamas, dressing gown, and slippers.
She wondered if she should have taken the imposition – 300 lines for not having her report done – instead of the note home. She wasn’t sure what the Rector would have to say about it. Mr. Prior had always taken a light attitude to her shirking schoolwork, as he thought she took school far too seriously in general. The Rector had unusual views, but as this was her first docket home, who could guess?
She’d delivered it to him when he returned after evensong, and she thought it a poor sign that he’d frowned and told her to be waiting on the bench at bedtime. She was learning the names of some of the garden occupants; that tree, for instance, an ash. In Stalky, the implement of choice was something called a Ground Ash. If it had anything to do with this tree, it struck her as barbaric. The cane in the Rector’s hatstand was thin but stingy.
The French windows opened. He beckoned, face softer, lips pursed. She left the scented garden for the study.
What is Flash Fiction Friday?
Read the other folks writing this week:
June 21st, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Now that makes me twitch with blushed anticipation x