The MELODY Page

Long story short…

Short story long…

Well, friends, my summer vacation didn’t last very long and that’s a real bummer. It was only yesterday that I wanted to spend my last hours of it by heading over to the ice cream shop in the quaint side of town. There, I was enjoying a Chocolate Brownie Sundae Supreme with a drizzle of hot fudge. So good! I think I’ll have another!

You see, the trouble is… if I splurge on too many sundaes on Sunday, my brain won’t function correctly when I go back to school tomorrow. That’s on a Monday. This is when the journey begins until the very last report card comes in.

After a pleasant night’s sleep, I wake up and find myself in an overly happy mood. For once, I thought sugary desserts would impair my cognitive abilities that would help me with homework. Instead, I find myself chanting “Good Morning!” in repeat mode.

I broke the fourth wall by saying “Good Morning” to all of my social media followers. I said “Good Morning” to my lovely cat Midnite, sitting on top of my dresser drawer. I turned on the TV and said “Good Morning” to Rosie, that weather presenter at Channel 3 — she’s my 30-ish next-door neighbor, by the way. That happy feeling burst inside of me, so I wanted to make myself happy by putting my short little red dress like a fairy tale character. I know… I think I’ll put on my wide-brimmed hat!

I don’t need a school bus because Jefferson High is walkable enough for a few blocks away from home. The air outside is cool and not humid, so there’s no need to sweat about it. Anyway, there’s this bratty boy passing me on the left with a scooter, thinking I’m talking to a ghost. I said “Good Morning, Sunshine” when in fact the sun was riding. It looks like it’s gonna be a very sunshiney day…

I can feel this feel-good song in my brain right now…

Trotting to school means taking a shortcut through the woodsy park, but I couldn’t believe I was seeing things. Was the mere sighting of Captain Kangaroo just a simple hallucination? So I said “Good Morning, Captain!” and he waved back with a smile. I felt like becoming a six-year old again.

In case you haven’t heard of this jolly fella, I think the joke with Mr. Moose is the funniest thing to happen since Saturday Morning cartoons. And if you’re not careful, you just might learn something before it’s done…

As I close in on Jefferson High for the brand spanking new school year, I think of Bob Villa because this old schoolhouse is in dire need of renovations. Especially the air conditioning. So I said “Good Morning” to it because I’m a lifelong student here. Buildings are stationary and they don’t move muscles, so be ‘it’.

I was walking in the hallway in search of my homeroom class. There he was, the school’s newly appointed principal Dr. Carson. He takes student discipline to extremes by initiating a zero-tolerance policy on almost every benign infraction. That includes wearing hats while being in the building.

I gave Dr. Carson a kind “Good Morning” on Day One of the new school year. Turns out he wasn’t so kind at all. Instead, he was infuriated about the short red dress I’d been wearing since I walked out of my house. Maybe I could have worn bike shorts underneath, but it wouldn’t have mattered, either. This wasn’t a warning at all, this was a recipe for Saturday detention. Great!

Luckily, I did receive a verbal warning after seven periods of instructional bedlam, much of it orientation. Since this was the first day including Dr. Carson’s, the administration was nice enough to be lenient, so no detention… for now. But after today, it’s a whole new ballgame. Teachers will start lecturing, pass out pop quizzes and jot down so much red ink on every looseleaf sheet of paper I’m turning in. 

I simply can’t wait for the weekend again. Just think… dancing in the club, hanging out with my friends and havin’ a burger. These things make me daydream when Miss Rowland lectures ‘The Great Gatsby’ and I start to fall asleep.

I hope you’ve got just a little bit of school spirit, so here’s a good listen…