Ella’s Misadventure
by Rishita Chourey - 6
“Ugghhh...”Ella yelled raucously in disgust, as she picked her beloved fountain pen from the malodorous cow dung. She hastily gathered all her tissues together to clean her filthy pen. It was Ella’s zoology assessment in 55 minutes time and EVERYTHING was going wrong. She waited exceedingly long, and tolerantly, for her mother, before surreptitiously climbing in the boot of the car and dozing off. Shortly, her mum arrived; Mum jumped into the ‘new’ Mitsubishi Lancer and swiftly but cautiously drove off...
Before very long, they had arrived at the examination centre. Mum took a deep, lengthy breath before whispering, “Ella, we’re here, come on lovey out you get.” There was a long silence. Mum twisted her neck around and to her mighty surprise; she saw the black, leathery seats, vacant! Moreover, at the sight of her grubby pen she became somewhat tensed. Crazy thoughts were racing rapidly through her panicked mind. She opened the car door, got out and shrieked out Ella’s name as loud as a herd of elephants would do. Hearing her mother’s shrilled yell, Ella insistently woke up.
Realising the chaos she had caused, Ella sneaked out of the boot and into her examination centre. Her poor mum, still entirely unaware of whereabouts of her daughter. As Ella crept across the narrow corridor, a board stating ‘Test in Progress KEEP SILENCE AMONG THE BUILDING!’ hit her sight. A stout, peculiar looking mistress peered across at her. “Yes” she said, raising her eyebrow a little. How may I help you? “Oh, nothing miss, I was just finding my exam room... No worries.” Ella retorted, stammering. The mistress gave a bogus smile. She seized Ella by her scrawny wrist, and hauled her into the headmistress, Miss Feryl’s lounge.
The open-minded Miss Feryl was on the couch, wiping off the last blemish on her Stone-Bulletin Vase, caused by a spill of cold coffee. The lounge looked lovely, with hanging baskets of flowers, tubs of geraniums all around the shelves, and honeysuckle and roses climbing up the lilac walls. The doors and window frames were purple. Ella dearly adored Miss Feryl, with an awe that was almost painful. She seemed extremely lovely today in her magenta summer dress and her long, brunette hair tucked back behind one ear with a little blue bird slide. An angelic waft arose in the air, making Ella’s nostrils twitch. Every step closer she approached Miss Feryl, the louder and harder her heart would thump in fear.
“Madam, this young lady was sneaking around in the corridors, and god knows what she was up to!” the mistress spoke in a rather fiendish manner. Miss Feryl placed her vase on the ground, and raising her glasses, peered up at Ella. Ella, distraught, then riposted “No mam, honestly, I was just in search for my form room, that’s all.” Miss Feryl gazed at Ella for a moment and then said “Ella, may I please see your report card.” Ella instantly started to rummage around in her jacket pocket. All she managed to unearth was a mangy, half-chewed Mars bar and the yellow ochre that had gone missing from her finest box of crayons. How pleased she was to find the crayon, but... where had the report card gone astray? “I’m waiting...” Miss Feryl was now becoming impatient. “I..I..” Ella was now speechless. Miss Feryl could make out that Ella was deceiving teachers, her parents, her school and HERSELF! “Young lady, how dare you enter my school and turn up for an exam without a report card?” Miss Feryl was now bursting with ire. “Summon up the receptionist and ask her to call Miss. Ella Sanders’ parents in my lounge instantly.”
Upon receiving the call from the receptionist, Ella’s mum was jubilant at the news of her dear Ella being safe nevertheless; her dad was not terribly content. Shortly, both of them arrived at the lounge. “Yes, Good Morning. Sir and Madam, I have called you here to talk about Ella. This morning she was seen to have been sneaking around in the corridors. Not only that but also when she was requested to have show her report card, she apparently does not turn up with anything. I have you know Sir and Madam that under no circumstances, I will allow any student to write an exam without a report card. Any such attempt would call upon severe punishment such as termination from the school.” Ella’s parents were now thunderstruck. They were never to have expected this from their own daughter. Everything had ensued so fast that even she was helpless. How was she to explain to her parents what the truth was? Would they believe her? How was she to prove that she was innocent...?
“TRRIINNGG” the school bell rang. Ella dared go home. Yet, she had to; after all where else could she possibly go. She trudged along the narrow, crooked pathway, carefully ensuring that she would not step on the cracks. She opened the white gate and walked in. As she approached the porch, she placed her bag on the footsteps and knocked on the front door. There was no response. She tried again, and again, several times, but there would be no response to her call. Suddenly, a white note fluttering in the breeze hit her sight. It read ELLA, AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TODAY, NONE OF US ARE PLEASED. WE WOULD REALLY APPRECIATE IT IF YOU REFLECT UPON THIS MATTER. THE KEYS ARE HIDDEN INSIDE THE GARDEN BUSH, DON’T WORRY ABOUT US, WE ARE ALL RIGHT. Ella sat down in grief, all this confusion had resulted into something Ella could never have imagined. She slid down on the couch, hollering...
She had shown negligence in her attitude and consequently lost her parents’ confidence, respect and faith in her; along with the opportunity to sit the exam and move to the next grade...…there she sat alone, deep in introspection…..