Chapter Fourteen: Day One of Volunteer Work:

The children all came in around eight. The first one was a little girl about seven years old. She looked uncertain to be here. She looked up at the stars hanging from the ceiling. I stood up from the stage.

“Hello?” I asked. The little girl looked up. She pointed to her chest.

“You here for the summer reading program?” I asked.

“Yes?” she asked. I broke into a huge smile.

“Nice to meet you!” I said. “My name is Nathan. These are Heather and Ronald.” Heather waved at the little girl.

“Hi,” she said. Ronald just nodded.

“Come, take a seat,” I said. I pointed over to a seat in the front row. The little girl wandered over to the chair and sat down. She still looked confused. Well, okay. It’s already started. I rolled my shoulders back.

Show time.

We had eight kids that morning. There was going to be eleven in the afternoon. I looked at our audience staring up at us.

“Good morning, kids!” I said. “How is everyone?”

“Fine,” a couple of them mumbled.

“Aw, that’s not good enough,” I said. “How is everyone this morning?”

“Fine!” they shouted.

“Good,” I said. “Much better.” Okay, it’s morning. I’ll let that slide. I clapped my hands together.

“My name is Nathan and that’s Heather and Ronald,” I said. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” Eight pairs of eyes stared at me. This reminded me of being back in the classroom. Only, my students were so much older. This should be easy.

“Let’s get to know each other,” I said. “What are your favorite books?” Soft chatters fill the room. I held out my hands.

“Shhh, shhh, shhh,” I said. “Easy now. One at a time. One at a time.” I was in teacher mode at this point. Heather and Ronald tried to keep up with me as I talked. Heather had to put her hand on my shoulder. I turned my head.

“What?” I whispered.

“Maybe scale it back some,” she said.

“Huh?” I asked. I turned back to our group. The children sat staring at me. I think they were trying to keep up too. Where did I lose them?

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“It’s fine,” Heather said back. We turned back to the children.

“Right! Who wants a story?” Heather asked. The children cheered. She walked over to the chair and picked up an Eric Carle book. (Whoa, that takes me back.) The children gathered around, and she started to read aloud. I have to admit that Heather was good with the children. Our morning group looked fascinated as they hung on every word. I found myself sitting down and taking a listen. I wanted to join in with her reading.

After the story, it was time for arts and crafts. Now, I was never good at that sort of thing. I sat at a table with four little girls, looking awkward. The little girl who first came looked up at me.

“Don’t you want to draw with us, Mr. Nathan?” she asked. I shook my head.

“I’m not too good at that stuff,” I said.

“Come on, please?” she asked. The rest of them looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Please?” a little red head asked. The other two waited for me to respond. Aw crap. It’s just like with my former students when they wanted me to do something for them. Only difference was that I could stand up to them and say no. But this…

I threw my hands up in the air.

“Fine!” I said. “I’ll color with you. Hang up.” My table cheered as I got up. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that they had been planning this all along. Still, I could just walk around and see how the other tables are doing.

The children were drawing and coloring away. Some of them had some rather interesting pieces of art. Today, were working on insects and life in the grass. I saw many crickets, ladybugs, beetles, worms, ants, and other insects. Some of them were even colors of the rainbow. I didn’t say much. They were just kids after all. Let them still have their imaginations while they still had them.

I happened to walk over to the art cart when I noticed Ronald drawing with the children. What do you know? He’s really good at art. So this was his real voice. Ronald might not talk much, but he could speak with his colored pencils and crayons. Maybe I should try and draw something too. Overall, it was a good morning.