kiramaru7: (chibi!Prussia2)
kiramaru7 ([personal profile] kiramaru7) wrote2014-09-21 06:10 pm

Cross-posted from Madrona Project

Title: A Nun’s Tale
Author: kira
Word Count: 671
World: Capital city of Madrona
Main Characters: Sister Felicia
Borrow: yes
Summary: Sister Felicia gets ready for another school year…
Author’s Note: Thanks to my beta, Jen, for pinking this for me.


Sister Felicia wiped her hands on her apron as she surveyed the classroom. It was freshly scrubbed, the new straw pallets neatly stacked in one corner, books set out on the rows of wooden tables that served as desks. Her desk was also neatly arranged and her special reading chair, an ornate piece of craftsmanship that had delicate needlepoint cushions stuffed with horsehair and was more comfortable than it looked, was in its place. The rug that the children sat on, while she read to them from the Bible, had been beaten by two of the newest acolytes and placed on the floor just so.

Satisfied that everyone was okay, Sister Felicia walked over to her desk and sat down. She took he glasses out of her apron pocket and put them on. Picking up the list of her new pupils, she scanned the names, noting a few were the younger siblings of previous students. She smiled, her round cheeks dimpling, when she realized one of names belonged to the young son of one her first pupils. She had been a young novice back then, fresh faced and eager to teach her young charges their letters and the rudiments of reading as well as their first catechisms. Fond memories came rushing back as she thought back to those days. One student stood out, a young boy who was smart as whip and cute to boot. All the nuns had adored him as well as the monks who had taught him when he reached his teens. The youngest son in a large family, it was hoped that he would entered the Church, but it was not to be as the boy had fallen in love with a novice, who returned his affections. Scandal erupted when the girl left the Church to marry him and as the years went by, they faded into memory. Now it seemed they were blessed with the first of what Sister Felicia hoped would be many children. Knowing God worked in mysterious ways, she had a feeling one of their own would end up serving God and the Church.

Pushing back from her desk, Sister Felicia made a mental note to tell the children the story of the Garden of Eden and the fall of Adam. It might very well go over their heads, and she knew Adam’s and Eve’s nakedness always made the children snicker, but it was a good introduction to the concept of “sin”. Picking up the broom and the bucket of cleaning supplies, she headed towards the door. As she left the classroom, shutting the door behind her, Sister Felicia went over her lesson plan in her head. It was what she had done for the past twenty five years, and God willing, she would be doing for next twenty five years until she became too old with a mind best suited to wool gathering like Sister Agnes.

Sister Felicia made her way to the workroom, where he she hung up her apron and put away the cleaning supplies and the broom. She had just enough time to wash up before vespers if she hurried. Walking quickly to the washroom, Sister Felicia splashed some cold water on her face, careful not to get any on her wimple and veil. Her scapular was safe, since she had been leaning over the sink. He face washed, Sister Felicia dried it on the rough towel hanging there and left the washroom. She had just enough time to go to her cell and get her prayer book. Exiting her room, Sister Felicia joined the line of nuns heading to the chapel. She added her voice to the hymn being sung and she walked along, Sister Felicia prayed for a good school year like she did every year since the first time she taught. By the time vespers were over, Sister Felicia had the feeling that this school year was going to be better than all the rest, just like she did every year. Amazingly, she was never disappointed.

[identity profile] ranuel.livejournal.com 2014-09-23 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I forget sometimes that you're playing in a future Earth scenario and not a fantasy world. Interesting that the nuns have reverted to full habits or that this order never abandoned them.

My mother was a middle school teacher and every year towards the end of the school term she'd be complaining about administrative crap and how she made more money as a waitress once upon a time and every year at the start of the term she'd be just like Sister Felicia and looking forward to it.

[identity profile] kiramaru7.livejournal.com 2014-09-23 06:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah? *nods*I personally like the idea of the nuns in full habit, cuz to me, it feels like the return of the middle ages, since knowledge was lost & all.

Yeah? :D Middle school is tough. They start out like babies & then they act like they own the place at the end. XD

[identity profile] ranuel.livejournal.com 2014-09-23 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
They do change a lot in that year and not all at the same rate. You've got the kids who are 13 going on 30 and the ones that seem like they should still be back in Elementary school.

[identity profile] kiramaru7.livejournal.com 2014-09-23 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
*nods* Yeah & some classes as a whole are more mature than the kids before or after them, just like some are wilder than others. Fun times teaching middle school ;p