Close Your Eyes

All this stuff about school starting back, and all the writing and talking about it, has stirred up one of my memories about it...well, about school, anyway.

This was one of my first grade experiences, a few years past Eugene the Traitor, and I was in love again. His name was Micky, and he had a head-full of platinum curls, and he is the type, I'm sure who grew up to be some kinda goregeous hunk! But I digress.

Micky was in love with me, too, because he told me so. We declared our love, in a note, passed from one desk to the other, until it reached its intended destination. It was printed by Micky, on a scrap of notebook paper, and said, I love you. Do you love me. Put yes or no. It had two lines drawn, one for "yes", and one for "no." With trembling hand, I printed "yes" in the designated spot, and sent it back from whence it came.

In school, in those days, in all classrooms, , the first order of business was to say The Pledge of Allegiance, and The Lord's Prayer. It didn't take long at all to learn it by heart. It was especially easy for me to learn, because I just loved words--hippotamus being the very first one I learned to spell, long before being old enough to go to school. But, again, I digress.

One morning we were saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and The Lord's Prayer. I always closed my eyes when we said The Lord's Prayer, but this one morning, I opened my eyes, for only a second, to get a glimpse of Micky, and there he was staring right back at me. I blushed with pleasure knowing he was looking at me.

When the prayer was over, I heard Micky, "Miz Whiteside! Miz Whiteside!" he was yelling,and waving his hand to get her attention. "What is it, Mickey?" she asked.

"Miz Whiteside, when we were saying the Lord's Prayer, Janice didn't have her eyes closed!"
My heart was pounding, and I couldn't believe my ears! Micky, The Boy of My Dreams, was telling on me! I could feel the heat in my face, as I dropped my head in shame, thinking that I sure never wanted to look at him again!

"Micky," came Miz Whiteside's voice of sheer wisdom, "if you hadn't had your eyes open looking at Janice, you wouldn't have seen that her eyes weren't closed." I just had to look up so I wouldn't miss his moment of humiliation, too. Needless to say, that was the end of our romance.

Thinking back over some of my experieces in love at such a young age, I realize now, why I had to kiss so many frogs before finally finding my prince.