 The First Day of School
 By Judith Viorst
Will they let me go when I need to go to the bathroom? And what if I get lost on my way back to class? And what if all of the other kids are a hundred, a thousand, a million times smarter than I am? And what if we have a spelling test, or a reading test, or an anything test, and I'm the only person who doesn't pass? And what if my teacher decides that she doesn't like me? And what if, all of a sudden, a tooth gets loose? And what if I can't find my lunch, or I step on my lunch, or I (oops!) drop my lunch down someplace like the toilet? Will they just let me starve or will somebody lend me a sandwich? A cookie? A cracker? An apple? Some juice? And what if they say, "Do this," and I don't understand them? An what if there's teams, and nobody picks me to play? And what if I took off my sneakers, and also my socks, and also my jeans, and my sweatshirt and T-shirt And started the first day of school on the second day?
When children come home at the end of the day, The question they're asked as they scurry to play Is "Tell me what did you do today?" And the answer they give makes you sigh with dismay: "Nothing, I did nothing today!" Perhaps nothing means that you counted to ten Then counted back to one again. Did you paint a picture of red and blue? Or hear a story about a mouse that flew? Maybe you watched the fish eat today Or went outside on the swings to play. Maybe today was the very first time Your scissors followed a very straight line. Did you sing a song from beginning to end, Or play with a special brand-new friend? When you're five or six and your heart has wings, NOTHING can mean so many things.  |
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