Ex-Teacher Pixie

6 years ago, my mother asked me if I could be a substitute teacher at her tuition center. Just for a couple of months.

My older brother was the previous sub, but the kids were so afraid of him that he had to be dismissed.

(He had long hair then, and wore a uniform of torn jeans and black t-shirts)

I was 18; my hair was flaming red (from this hair show I did) and I was experimenting with bright blue contact lenses. Midriff baring tops were in and they were all I wore. Plus, I just got myself my fifth piercing in my ears and a tattoo on my lower back.

Not exactly the kind of person you want to send your children to for extra classes.

But I have to admit, that even with all that shebang, I was actually still quite a pleasant sight.

So, anyway, for a few months, I had 7 and 8 year olds addressing me as Teacher/Cikgu/Lao Shi.

I helped with their homework, told them stories, and had them tell me stories about their weekend.

Some liked me and went all out to seek for my approval in everything they did. Others were a little more difficult to deal with, but I guess they were just being children that were heard more than they were seen.

Teacher's Day coincided with one of my classes.

I went in to class that day and most of the children had presents for their teachers at school. I smiled to myself, knowing that most of the presents were picked out by their parents.

As I sat down in front of the class, a bashful little boy who hardly spoke in class came up to me with a stalk of red rose. He shyly placed it on my table and whispered "For you."

With a huge grin plastered on my face and full of glee, I said "For me?"

He nodded, eyes fixed on his shoes.

"You got this for me?" I repeated.

He says, "My mum asked me to give this to you because she says it's Teacher's Day today."

Ah, I nodded to myself. "So if your mum didn't tell you to give this to me you wouldn't have?" I teased him.

He turned a bright red.

I shooed him back to his seat then.

I kept that warm bubbly feeling inside me for the rest of the week.