Journals of Journeys Journals of Spiritual, Emotional and Life-Altering Journeys

Scheduled Failure

It started when no one woke to their alarms, save the husband who waited too long before waking the Witched Witch of the West from her slumber of exile on the couch. Frantically the children scrambled to wash themselves into a presentable, girl attracting version of their former camp-ready selves, debated why their mother, who was commanding her team of flying monkeys, hadn't completed packing their lunches and backpacks. No one thought to call her on pretending to be a fellow eighth grader when she rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, snorting that they should have taken the time the night before to complete those tasks.

Magically, the Wicked Witch transformed into the Bat out of Hell Lady as she navigated the black batmobile out of the quiet neighborhood and rammed it down towards the bus stop. She slurped the hot coffee then cursed when the telltale yellow bus lumbered onto the road several cars and feet ahead. The bus was early - very, very early.

Yes, she knew she told the children the night before they were to have their cell phones off until after they boarded the bus on the way home, but she needed the number to the school which was in their address books, not hers.

Ignoring the punishment for breaking California's laws when using a cell phone without a hands-free set (she'd put it on speaker if she saw any signs of law enforcement officers on the prowl), she left her first terse message of the day and of the school year. "I know you probably don't want to hear this, but if you note the time, which is ten after seven in the morning, you'll note that the bus was not supposed to even arrive at the stop my children were supposed to board for another nine minutes. Currently I'm chasing it down the road several stops beyond. Please contact the transportation person and have him get in touch with me. Thank you."

Finally, the bus turned and she swung in front of it, blocking it from exiting the turn-about before her children could board and she could go share her venom with the driver. Ten minutes later (the rest of the families can thank her at Back to School night seeing she managed to put them all back on schedule), she finished her conversation with the driver, then hurried home, her own personal needs schedule pressing down on her relentlessly.

Oh hey! She had the district phone number because, for some silly reason, the interim superintendent was calling her cell phone to pass along - what? monthly? - highlighted recaps of the board meetings starting a week ago while she was on vacation, dancing about the Rocky Mountains overlooking the Mile High City. She broke the law a second time and called in, leaving another message along with her home phone number.

The children will either be carried by the yellow monster or the black batmobile, but rest assured, the district employees will be pushing themselves home in the little red wagons she'll be fixing by day's end.

About Kathie

Regular participant in National Novel Writing Month (November). Write 50,000 words in 30 days. Winner in 2003, 2005 (x's 2!), 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. Entrant in 2004. For more about the author, visit the web page here. To return to the main page of eJourn.net, click here.