With bated breath we sit slumped over books and bags, awaiting the glorious chime of the bell. Five seconds, four, three, two, one. The great liberator remains silent.
“Well I guess it’s not time to go yet”, the teacher said with a shrug. “Please open your books to chapter three. We shall begin the homework.”
“But we’re not at home.”
“Well, you can’t go home yet, the bell hasn’t rung.”
“But how can we work on our homework if the work is being done in school?”
“Perhaps you can think of the school as your home. Would that help?”
“Maybe. May I think of the work as interpretive dance?”
“It depends. Is there interpretive dance in your home?”
“I’m not sure. You haven’t told me what to think of as my home yet.”
“I don’t feel I’m an authority on interpretive dance.”
“Is that what we’re doing? “
“Is what?”
“Are we dancing?”
“The homework is chapter three.”
“Yes, I know, but we’re not at home. Are we dancing?”
“I already told you, I don’t have the authority to evaluate that. The homework might be on dancing.”
“But were not at home.”
“Then we must not be dancing.”
“So what are we doing?”
“We are not going home, the bell had not rung.”
“But what are we doing.”
“I think you should really try to imagine the school is your home so we can all begin chapter three. I think that’s the only way we shall ever find out what they wrote on the last page.”
“I’m trying. Maybe you could start me off. If the school is my home, then what is that chair.”
“That chair.”
“But its that chair if the school is the school.”
“Your trouble is you’re thinking this. Close your eyes.”
“All right.”
“Good. Now don’t open them until the bell rings. Even when it does, you should probably keep them closed.”
“But how can I start the homework if I keep my eyes closed?”
“You can’t. But I never really liked dancing anyways.”
“But what if chapter three isn’t about dancing?”
“Then it will be a good book. You should read what they wrote on the last page.
“But my eyes are closed.”
“I don’t see why that should make a difference. And there’s the bell. I’ll see you all tomorrow, if the bell rings again.”