The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

The Bureau of Dreams to be Continued

Page 90

When Miss Gracing led the group into her room, Zeke’s outlook perked up some. Despite the walls being identical to those already encountered, these displayed decoration; pictures of various birds, large cards containing the letters of the alphabet, both upper and lower cases, letters or essays done by former occupants, crayon drawings of God knows what and some miniature wooden depictions of animals. The item that kept his attention the longest, however, was a black and white realistic drawing of the backs of an elderly man and woman holding bare hands, carrying umbrellas in the other, walking down a dark, rainy city street. A glimpse of the surrounding three story apartment buildings was difficult at best, as the blackness of the night intruded on large areas. At some points one could not differentiate between parts of the structures and the equally black starless sky dead ahead.

The teacher walked to the large chair and desk at the front of the room in front of a blackboard background. Forty much smaller identical chairs were lined up in an orderly fashion, one presumably his, as the others instinctively sat; the girls careful not to pick a seat with some deficiency. She picked up a light purple piece of chalk and wrote her name on the blackboard. She turned to the approximately forty children, smiled and said; “I’m Miss Gracing,” seeming to display ease,