The School By Donald Barthelme

The School
from
Lx Stories
by Donald Barthelme

Well, we had all these children out planting trees, run into, because we figured that ... that was role of their instruction, to see how, you know, the root systems ... and as well the sense of responsibleness, taking care of things, beingness individually responsible. You know what I mean. And the trees all died. They were orangish trees. I don�t know why they died, they only died. Something incorrect with the soil mayhap or maybe the stuff nosotros got from the plant nursery wasn�t the best. We complained about it. So we�ve got thirty kids at that place, each child had his or her own little tree to institute and we�ve got these thirty dead trees. All these kids looking at these little brown sticks, information technology was depressing.

It wouldn�t have been so bad except that just a couple of weeks earlier the thing with the copse, the snakes all died. But I remember that the snakes � well, the reason that the snakes kicked off was that ... you remember, the boiler was shut off for 4 days because of the strike, and that was explicable. Information technology was something y'all could explain to the kids because of the strike. I mean, none of their parents would let them cross the sentinel line and they knew there was a strike going on and what it meant. Then when things got started upwardly again and nosotros institute the snakes they weren�t likewise disturbed.

With the herb gardens information technology was probably a case of overwatering, and at least now they know not to overwater. The children were very conscientious with the herb gardens and some of them probably ... you know, slipped them a little extra water when we weren�t looking. Or maybe ... well, I don�t like to remember about sabotage, although it did occur to us. I hateful, it was something that crossed our minds. We were thinking that way probably because before that the gerbils had died, and the white mice had died, and the salamander ... well, now they know non to conduct them effectually in plastic bags.

Of course we expected the tropical fish to die, that was no surprise. Those numbers, you look at them crooked and they�re belly-upwardly on the surface. Merely the lesson plan called for a tropical fish input at that point, in that location was nothing we could practise, it happens every yr, you lot simply accept to hurry by information technology.

We weren�t even supposed to have a puppy.

We weren�t even supposed to accept one, information technology was simply a puppy the Murdoch girl constitute nether a Gristede�s truck i day and she was afraid the truck would run over it when the commuter had finished making his delivery, so she stuck information technology in her knapsack and brought information technology to the school with her. And so we had this puppy. Every bit soon equally I saw the puppy I idea, Oh Christ, I bet information technology will live for about two weeks then... And that�s what it did. It wasn�t supposed to exist in the classroom at all, there�s some kind of regulation about it, just you can�t tell them they can�t have a puppy when the puppy is already at that place, right in front of them, running effectually on the floor and yap yap yapping. They named it Edgar � that is, they named information technology afterwards me. They had a lot of fun running afterwards information technology and yelling, �Here, Edgar! Nice Edgar!� So they�d express joy like hell. They enjoyed the ambivalence. I enjoyed it myself. I don�t mind existence kidded. They made a footling house for it in the supply closet and all that. I don�t know what it died of. Distemper, I guess. It probably hadn�t had any shots. I got it out of at that place earlier the kids got to school. I checked the supply closet each morning, routinely, because I knew what was going to happen. I gave it to the custodian.

And so in that location was this Korean orphan that the course adopted through the Aid the Children program, all the kids brought in a quarter a month, that was the idea. It was an unfortunate thing, the kid�south name was Kim and maybe we adopted him too late or something. The crusade of decease was not stated in the letter we got, they suggested we adopt another child instead and sent usa some interesting example histories, merely we didn�t have the eye. The class took it pretty hard, they began (I recall, nobody ever said annihilation to me straight) to feel that maybe in that location was something wrong with the school. But I don�t think there�s anything incorrect with the school, particularly, I�ve seen better and I�ve seen worse. It was simply a run of bad luck. Nosotros had an extraordinary number of parents passing abroad, for instance. There were I think ii heart attacks and 2 suicides, one drowning, and four killed together in a motorcar accident. One stroke. And we had the usual heavy mortality rate amid the grandparents, or possibly it was heavier this year, information technology seemed so. And finally the tragedy.

The tragedy occurred when Matthew Wein and Tony Mavrogordo were playing over where they�re excavating for the new federal part building. In that location were all these big wooden beams stacked, you know, at the border of the excavation. At that place�south a court case coming out of that, the parents are challenge that the beams were poorly stacked. I don�t know what�south true and what�s non. It�s been a strange twelvemonth.

More...

© Copyright Donald Barthelme, 1981. All Rights Reserved. No portion of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by whatever means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or whatsoever data storage or retrieval system now or hereafter invented, without permission in writing from the Publisher.