Mrs. Teacher

Mrs. Teacher is very pretty.  

So pretty indeed. She’s tall and statuesque. That’s what my dad says about girls with small waists and long torsos.  

She’s very nice too. She likes to read us books and buy us pizza when we all get good grades on our tests. Sometimes she sneaks us out for early recess if we finish all our work.  

Mrs. Teacher has light brown eyes. They look like the caramel sauce on an apple in the middle of fall. She wears long skirts for the most part, and shirts that sit perfectly on her shoulders. Every day, she wears the same pearl necklace, the same pearl earrings, the same pearl bracelet, and the same diamond ring on her left hand.  

We asked about her husband. She said her husband is Mr. Farmer. He works on a farm not far from her house. She didn’t say what farm, but she mentioned that on that farm, they make animals into meat so people can eat. On the days they would make meat, she wore bright red overalls with a dark gray shirt. She said it kept her warm while she was on the farm with her husband.  

We said it makes us sad that animals have to go to heaven for us to eat. She chuckled, knelt down to our desks, and smiled, showing us her perfect, straight, white teeth. She told us they only “put down” the mean animals that hurt people and other animals, so it’s okay. That made us feel a little better.  

One day, my friend Heidi came to school very sad. She told Mrs. Teacher that her dad was yelling at them all night and hit her mom. I hope her mom is okay. Mrs. Teacher wasn’t happy at all. She gave Heidi a hug and told her she would help her. Mrs. Teacher is so nice.  

The next week, during recess, Heidi told me that her dad had a meeting with Mrs. Teacher. He was invited to their house to look at the farm and see the goats and cows that Mrs. Teacher and Mr. Farmer had.  

She didn’t know why her dad hadn’t come home yet.  

That day, Mrs. Teacher came to school, but she wasn’t wearing a skirt. She wore her red overalls with her dark gray shirt—the same one she wore when they made meat for people to eat. She told Heidi she talked to her dad about what Heidi had said, and he was very sad for what he did. So he went away for a while to be a better person for his family.  

I think he never really became a better person because Heidi and her mom never saw him again. Mrs. Teacher said that sometimes mean people are like mean animals. Sometimes they need to go away to stop hurting people.  

I think Mrs. Teacher probably told him that because nobody ever saw him again after his meeting with her.  

Mrs. Teacher is so perfect and kind—always helping everyone, even if it means having to put down all the mean animals.