The Long Way Home

  Chapter 18

  May 1986

  Doug walked into the upstairs classroom of 5A. He followed Simon over to his desk in the second row and stood to the side like the other parents had all done. The teacher entered the classroom after greeting the last of the parents to arrive. She walked gracefully across the room, stopping in front of the large, green chalkboard where she had meticulously spelt her name in large letters earlier in the day. She wore a long flowing brown skirt adorned with small cream flowers embroidered across the material. Her cotton blouse was a mixture of greens, mint and emerald fashioned in a pattern of vines and leaves with a splash of ivory thrown in for good measure. It fitted her tightly. The sleeves sat high on her shoulders while the buttons traced their way down the front of her incredibly feminine figure. Longs strands of blonde hair fell teasingly across her shoulders, dancing across her smooth, perfect skin.

  “Good evening parents and students.” She spoke suddenly and loudly, snapping Doug from his fantasy. “Welcome to parent and teacher night 1986. My name is Sally McKenzie and I am your child’s teacher. As you may very well be aware of, I have only recently taken over from Mrs Hardwick who is on long service leave for the remainder of the year and it has been my absolute pleasure to get to know and work with your children over the last month.”

  Once again her voice sounded delightful in his ears. Everything about her captivated him, her blue eyes, pretty face and her sheer presence had her gently strumming his heartstrings like a classical guitarist in the middle of a favourite song. There was something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. Her name wasn’t ringing any bells in his memory, yet her face seemed familiar as though maybe they had met somewhere a long time ago.

  “For the next few moments, some of the students will come out to the front of the classroom and present a brief overview of the subjects we will be completing over the remainder of the year. Following this there will be ample time for your child to show you their work at their desk while I speak individually with each parent at the front of the classroom. You may also take the time to view the children’s projects that they completed for Mrs Hardwick in the activity corner at the rear of the classroom. First up we have Simon Small who is going to give us an overview of our Australian History studies for this year. Simon would you like to come to the front to give your presentation now?” She smiled warmly.

  Simon carefully picked up his chart that was laid face down on his desk and got to his feet. He looked up at his Dad who stood there smiling proudly and made his way toward the front of the class.