A Slice of Life (and a pineapple)
He reclined in his chair and put his sandaled feet up on
his desk. Being a high school principal really was the life. No
one talked back, everyone did exactly what you said, private
office to decorate in any way, let the vice principal do all the
work...
He closed his eyes and listened to the gentle waves. Now
if there was only some sun it would be his home away from home
(which was Hawaii, of course). A tropical bird squawked noisily
in a palm tree to his right. A monkey threw some papers on the
sandy floor.
He counted himself lucky to have that little Miss Hinako
around to do most of the disciplining. Dealing with the students
cut way too much into his free time. He picked up a large drink
with three umbrellas in it, without opening his eyes, and took a
sip.
Hmm... He would have to scold the secretary for putting
too much pineapple juice in it. Her hair was getting a tad
lengthy in the back anyway. In fact, maybe it was time to see how
the students' hair was fairing. They needed a little scare every
so often to get them to shape up. And their hair... Just awful.
He shook his head. Didn't they know that long hair ruined
the aerodynamics of the human body? Then again, he wasn't sure
how aerodynamics affected a person on a surfboard. Maybe he would
have to look into starting a program for that.
Of course, they would all think he was crazy for something
so frivolous, but it just didn't pay to be serious all the time.
All one had to do was look at his son. God damn, Tatchi never
lightened up. Where had he gone wrong in his parenting?
But there was a fine line between being fun-loving and
being a delinquent. That Saotome boy was too far out of line.
Even Hinako was having trouble with him.. her. Oh, that curse
stuff was too taxing on the brain to think about. The boy was
good, too. The boy had managed to evade every attempt at clipping
that scraggly pig-tail, and he had met every challenge...
He removed his feet from the desk. That boy was still a
problem, and Tatchi caused his own share of problems, but at least
Kotchi was in that girls' school. She might just be more than old
Furinkan could handle.
He opened his eyes and looked at the calendar on the wall,
a picture of a beautiful Hawaiian sunset on it. Was it really
almost time for graduation? Every year, it was the one thing
that got to him. All the departing graduates, with their
complimentary hair cuts, and all the incoming students, with
their complimentary haircuts.
Even Tatchi would be graduating, too bad he never seemed
to get any smarter. All he ever did was chase after that Tendo
girl and that boy. And all that poetry... Where HAD he gone
wrong? Maybe he should have hauled him off to Hawaii just once,
let him learn THE lifestyle. Tatchi was his favorite son after
all; it almost brought a tear to his eye. Or maybe that was just
sand.
He picked up the little microphone and hit the switch.
"ALOHA STUDENTS!" He could almost hear the groan
throughout the school.
End
This one's just been sitting around so I thought I beam it
out for the heck of it. I should dedicate this to Gary Kleepe,
but he's in denial, so I won't.. =) C&C welcome.