Another Mad Day

[Scott McKinster]

Collecting his thoughts as the morning rush ensued, Scott helped little Cayden into the cushy safety of the children's car seat he had fitted into the car. "Come on, Champ," he cooed over the small boy, clipping him in and closing the door before opening the driver's door and climbing inside. "Time for daddy to make some money so he can buy you lots of lovely presents." This made the small boy smile. Scott smiled back. He turned the key in the ignition, readied the car, and set off down the street towards the heart of the town.

The kindergarten buzzed with life. Paint-splattered children rallied past with noisy hails of excitement. Scott walked slowly with his son's tiny hand tucked into his. He led the boy calmly up through the crayon fencing and up the pathway through all the mayhem of parents trying to ease their children's hyper natures. He shepherded the little boy inside the building through the white doors and into the setting for learning. It was well-equipped with lots of toys and paints and largely printed numbers from one to ten pasted across the wall. He approached the woman in charge and greeted her with a smile. "Me again," he said with a laugh, "Cayden's feeling a bit shy today," he glanced to the small boy at his side whose thumb was tightly stashed inside his mouth. "But he would really like to do some colouring if that's alright?"

 

[Rue Undersee]

After a bout of food poisoning in the school's kitchen, many staff had come down sick and were taking a few days off to recover. Rue, however, had been lucky enough to escape it's wrath. Unfortunately, her luck had ended when she realised she would be covering for the sick kindergarten teachers. Sighing, she pulled her rucksack over her shoulder. The weight was a lot for such a tiny part goblin, but she was used to struggling through life and simple things like this did not bother her.
Rue left her small, smart flat, locking up and walking the short walk it took her to reach the school. It had become her home. After everything she had been through, Rue had decided to take a more muggle styled approach to life. Her experiences with the wizarding world may have saved her life, but she had quite frankly had enough. Since becoming a teacher for the year threes at the muggle primary school, Rue had found herself coping a lot better. It was true, her height had caused her many difficulties, but the children tended to embrace Rue rather than laugh at her. It was lovely for them to have a teacher their own height, and it made them feel more comfortable. Plus, after explaining she had a birth defect and making sure her hair covered her pointy ears, the children had been polite and not asked any questions.
Instead of her usual route to her classroom, Rue diverted towards the kindergarten. It would certainly be a long day; she had experienced this place before, and it was very tiring. The younger children were so high maintenance, and she was constantly making sure they weren't about to hurt themselves. In fact, the reason her bag was so heavy today was because she had packed it with essentials, such as plasters and bottles of water.
Pushing open the brightly coloured (Somewhat because of the crayon smears) doors, Rue braced herself. The noise was incredibly loud. "Good morning everybody. Quieten down please," she said in a small, calm voice. It had a strange effect on the crowd of children, calming their voices down to a simmer that she could bear with. Sometimes she believed it was her Witch blood that worked magic with them.
A voice caused Rue to spin on her heel. A man appeared to be asking a parent if his child could do some colouring. It didn't surprise her in the least - the parent was the only person in the room who actually looked like an adult, and it was an easy mistake to make. She coughed gently, only just being heard above the murmurs of the excitable toddlers. "Excuse me, Sir," Rue's French accent was still as pronounced as ever. She gazed up at the man, fully aware of how tiny she was. "I think you may be mistaken, I'm in charge today. Don't worry, most people mistake me for a child and the usual teachers are off sick," she added quickly, grinning. She clasped her hands in front of her small, petite body, hoping he had heard and wouldn't feel too embarrassed about his mistake.

 

[Scott McKinster]

Scott turned at the sound of another voice and the puzzled look on the face of the woman he had assumed to be the teacher. He found himself facing a blank space of wall, before tilting his gaze at a downward angle and realising that one of the taller children in attendance was, in fact, the teacher. His face flushed bright red with embarrassment as he peered down at her. "Oh," he began in surprise, and awkward tingle of tension waving up his arm. He attempted to mentally brush it away. "I.. I'm terribly sorry- I'm a bit dazed today with work.. And Cayden, and.. Well, you know kids." He had tried to make a joke and smile, but immediately questioned whether or not the woman would misread this as some sort of ill-humour directed at her height.

Coughing to clear the steaming embarrassment smoking up his vision, Scott turned to his son and crouched down, giving him a smile. "Come on, Cayden, go and take a seat. Daddy will be back to pick you up at the end of the day." He gave his son a brisk small kiss. The little boy seemed very switched off to it and reluctantly released his father's hand before skittering over to one of the kinder-sized chairs and sitting on it cross-legged. Scott often wondered about his son, often wondered whether he was a bit different to the young children messing about in the room.

Scott returned his attention to the teacher, trying not to show how far he had crane his neck to attempt some level of eye contact with the woman. She seemed nice enough, though. Height was the least of Scott's concerns when it came to entrusting people with his only child. "Oh no," he added in shock, "Sorry to hear that." He smiled again. "And I guess you got lumbered with the kindergartens, huh?"

 

[Rue Undersee]

Rue was not at all offended by the man's misunderstanding. In fact, she found it rather lifted her spirits. It was good to smile genuinely for once, though she hoped he wouldn't be offended by her amusement from the whole situation. Stifling a giggle, she shook her head. "Don't worry about it," holding her hand up and out so that he wouldn't have to bend down to shake it, she introduced herself. "Rue, though I think you should refer to me as Miss Undersee, given the circumstances," Grinning, she watched as his son, Cayden, made his way to the chairs. She was no expert with young children such as these, but she could not help but notice his.. different attitude to the other children. He just wasn't quite the same. Feeling it would be rude to point this out to his Father, Rue made a mental note to contact the kindergarten teacher at the end of the day. Perhaps she would know more of the situation, and it would be far less rude than asking outright if his son had difficulties.

Rue was quickly distracted with another light hearted giggle. Her acquaintance was having trouble meeting her eyes, and not due to a lack of confidence. Being waist height to most adults certainly had it's difficulties, but it was great with the children. They felt like she was one of them, and got along much better than with the usual teachers. When he apologized, she smiled ruefully. "You got it. I don't mind though, the year threes can get pretty tiresome. The change is actually quite appreciated." As a young girl with light brown plaits and blue eyes toddled clumsily towards Cayden, she kept half an eye on the two of them to see how Cayden would react. She had taken an interest in his unusual behaviour, but was trying hard not to let it show. "Do you always get the pleasure of taking Cayden to school?" She asked a little sarcastically, wondering where his wife was. After all, it was generally the Mother's that brought their children to school. However, as soon as it had left her tiny mouth, she wanted to slap her hand over it. How could she have been so stupid? After making such an effort not to be rude, she had completely blown it. There was a chance he was a single Father, in which case she had been a little unsensitive. She decided to wait until she knew for sure before she apologized.