The Girl Behind The Window

Chapter 5 The Full Moon Bonding

When Mary was at home, she was not in the good mood to chat with her parents. She was actually a talkative child to her parents although she was a shy girl when she was at school. She was still upset of how cold her teacher treated her. She only wanted to have her headband again as she loved it very much. Not because it was made by her father Joe but because nobody was wearing jeans headband like hers at school. She did not like to have the same things her classmates had. She wanted to have special things nobody had. Well, her classmates had headbands but they were all bought in the market and they had plastic ones. Not like hers made of smooth jeans cloth from the extra jeans cloth for pants his father was sewing in the tailor shop where he worked.

"Mary, stop looking like that. You look like as if I can already hang this basket on your lips." Irene smiled jokingly to her daughter. She knew why Mary was upset. It was not really nice for that teacher to tell her daughter that she could have her headband back again and then not returning it as what she said.

"You know what? You can ask your father to sew you another headband like that. So, what do you think? Maybe it would be nicer than what your teacher have now. Right? Come! Cheer up!"

Irene felt sorry for her daughter but she couldn't do anything about it. If she would complain to the teacher, she might give Mary bad grades to just punish her for that. It was better to give it up and move on.

"Alright then. I'll ask father for a new one but I will not use it for school." Mary had cheered up a bit. Thinking about having a new one and yes, she would only wear the new headband at home, in going to the church and to the market.

That night Mary had a restless sleep. She had dreamt about her teacher being a witch who flew at night time and tortured children by getting the beautiful things the children brought with them to school. Mary woke up at the time when her teacher was chasing her with the broom made of the stick of coconut leaves. She was out of breathe and noticed her wet face from crying. She woke up, went to the kitchen and drunk a glass of cold water from their terracotta water jar. She went back to bed but did not sleep as the roosters were making noisy sounds. Her parents were still in deep sleep.

The next few days, Mary went to school without motivation. It was always the same with her being bored. She had not found a friend. Every recess time, she just sat there at the stairs near her classroom while drinking her TruOrange and eating her biscuits and sometimes sweet bread her father bought in the bakery before she was dropped by him at school. Most of her classmates went to the canteen to buy some food but the others played outside until the bell rung.

It was always everyday like that. Nothing new. Then when she went back to her seat before the bell rung, she noticed a pretty girl with fair skin and a silky straight hair talking to her teacher. The girl was smiling to the teacher and kept on touching the teachers arms. They seemed happy talking to each other. It was just now that Mary noticed that the girl was her classmate who was sitting in front of the class four rows before Marys. Mary was shocked. She immediately put her right hand on his mouth. She gasped! That girl was wearing her beloved blue jeans headband.

That night before Mary went to bed, she asked her father Joe for a new headband. Prettier than the blue jeans one.

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