Back to School

Hello everyone!

In the SF Collectors Community forum there's currently a contest with the following theme: Back to School with the Treefellow Owls:

Back to School with the Treefellow Owl Family Photo Story Contest

As we enter the last weeks of July, Sylvanian children and teachers are beginning to anticipate the new school term. Teachers are preparing lessons and students are planning on how to make the most of their remaining days of freedom. Parents may be looking forward to the re-opening of school and having a little extra free time of their own! This contest is in honor of Sylvania's leading scholar and very first teacher, Aristotle Treefellow, and his family.


Rules and requirements:

• Create an entry consisting of at least one (1) and no more than four (4) photographs

• Your entry may be a short story or a photographed scene with a caption

• In honor of Sylvania’s original school master, each entry must either include a photograph of a Treefellow Owl or a mention of a Treefellow Owl in the caption, in order to be considered

• Please be sure to incorporate the Back to School theme

• The winner will be determined by community vote

• Post your entry (or a link to your entry) in this thread

• Submit your entry by 1 September! Voting will begin shortly thereafter and continue until 15 September.

I wasn't sure if I would be able to participate because of my summer schedule, but I managed to get something done!
Without further ado, here's my entry for the contest. Hope you all enjoy this little story!

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As Summer reaches its end in the small village of Arcfield and the weather starts to cool off a bit, the start of the new school year approaches. The local children have been finishing up their summer projects and getting their supplies ready for a new year of learning.

Time tends to fly during the holidays, and after several weeks of uninterrupted fun and relaxing days for the children, the morning of the first day of school finally arrived.
Before she had children, Teri Chocolate fantasized about what this day would be like when she became a mother. She visualized herself gently waking up her children, making them a delicious breakfast, and having a nice time together with them before they eagerly and happily left for their first day of school.
Alas, reality isn't always as sweet as daydreams.

"Freya! Coco!" she nearly screamed at her oldest children, who were still happily tucked in in their beds. "Will you, for the love of all the forest spirits, get up RIGHT THIS INSTANT? Do you know what time it is?! You're going to be late on the first day of school!"

Coco, who occupied the top bunk, barely moved, and Freya slowly stirred only to look at her mother with a peaceful smile.
"But, mommy, the alarm didn't go off..."

Teri was perplexed for a second, and then she felt a strong guilt. Here she was, screaming at her children, when it had been her who had forgotten to set the alarm for them the previous night. She then stared at their clock, that she was holding in her hand, and suddenly noticed that for some reason it was two hours early. 

Someone else might have missed the slightest smirk that appeared in Freya's face just then, but Teri was her mother. No one knew her better.

"Why would you change the time on the clock on purpose, you cheeky girl?! Are you seriously trying to drive me crazy?! I'm sure you changed every single clock in the house!" Teri was screaming at the top of her lungs. The vacuum machine she had been using before going to wake up her oldest children was already making its noisy "brooooom" sound, and the babies were giggling behind their mother as Freya squealed:

"Noooo!! Don't vacuum me!".

Coco just turned around under the covers despite the uproar, barely disturbed by it all.

It was just then that grandpa Rhys, Teri's father, entered the room. Teri's parents usually lived in their houseboat, but they were currently visiting their family in Arcfield.
 
"But what's this ruckus, so early in the morning?"

"Your granddaughter is trying to make us all go nuts, that's what's happening! Can you believe she changed the time on the clock? It's the first day of school today!".

"Now, now, it's just a childish prank, don't be so mad". Rhys spoke in a soft voice, trying to calm his daughter down. "I'm sure Freya was just pulling your leg and planned to get up on time. She's not the type to be late to school, you know that. Besides, I seem to remember a worse prank that a certain rabbit girl once played for the first day of school, as well...".

For a moment Teri was confused as to what her father was talking about, but suddenly remembered and went bright red.

"Dad, don't you dare...!".

"I'm sure you remember that time". Rhys happily ignored his daughter's plea and continued to tell his story. "You had had such a wonderful summer with all your friends that you didn't want it to end, so you told everyone that the first day of school was cancelled, as the whole village was going to celebrate some kind of festival... The "Moon Rabbit" festival, was it? Anyway, I'm not sure why everyone's parents believed that story, but I certainly remembered the call I got from the principal, Aristotle Treefellow. The poor man was very confused, as no one had attended the school on the very first day of classes! Can you believe that he contacted every single family with school-aged children and was able to trace the origin of the story back to you? Now, that was a dedicated headmaster... Anyway, as you can see, the apple doesn't fall off from the tree!".

Just as Teri's father had predicted, Freya was able to get up and get ready on time for school despite her prank. She even helped her brother, so they were dressed on record time and were even able to have a short breakfast before leaving! After Rhys told the story of what had happened when Teri had been Freya's age, she had expected her daughter to roll on the floor laughing, but she had just looked at her strangely instead. Teri could have sworn that what had shone in her daughter's eyes was admiration. That she would admire her for that, of all things!

As her children happily waved away to her and left for their first day of school, Teri reminisced about the past. Her old school grandmaster, Mr Treefellow, had surely been kind and understanding. He had not even reprimanded her that badly for her prank at the time. He had understood that she had just wanted her summer holidays to go on for a little bit longer. That year, he had even assigned to her the main role in the school play, aptly named "The Moon Rabbit"! She also remembered his history classes fondly. She wondered if she should send him a letter and invite him to visit her family in Arcfield some time...

Teri let out a small sigh and held her baby daughter Breeze tightly in her arms as she started walking back inside her home. She worried, because that's what mothers do, but she was certain her children would have a wonderful time at school, just like she had had when she was younger. 

She also needed to have a serious talk with her father regarding the stories he was allowed to tell his grandchildren! But she smiled, as she was secretly happy to have been given the opportunity to remember that embarrassing, yet fond memory of her childhood.

"Don't grow up too fast, Breezy" she whispered to her baby daughter as she closed the door.

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The End! Hope you enjoyed this little story. I had fun writing it for the contest. :)

Have a great end of August! And if you are still at school, hope the school year goes smoothly!