|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 9:31:05 GMT -5
*Anne nervously fiddled with a piece of chalk as she prepared for her first day as tutor to the Pontmercy children.*
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 28, 2008 14:46:11 GMT -5
*12-year-old Johanna came in (talking quietly) with her twin Alain first; they were inseparable as always. 10-year-old David followed and 9-year-old Mireille chased after him, desperate to be considered grown-up, and then in shuffled 6-year-old Sebastien, the littlest and quietest of the lot.*
*They sat looking at her, a bit intimidated and at the same time curious. Mireille, ever loud and boisterous and tactless, cried out first.*
"Are you the new tutor?"
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 15:25:35 GMT -5
*Anne bit back a giggle at the girl's candor--she didn't seem nasty or imperious about it, only quite, quite curious. Rather like Anne herself.*
"Why, yes, I am. I am Miss--er--Mademoiselle Shirley."
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 28, 2008 15:35:42 GMT -5
*Immediately the group burst into questions, not accusing ones, but little Sebastien stayed quiet and watched his siblings ask where she was from, her first name, whether she had any pets (their late governess had had a yappy little dog that she liked to bring to work) and whether she'd be living in the governess's quarters or her own apartment like the last one.*
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 15:41:04 GMT -5
"I'm from a town called Avonlea, on Prince Edward Island, in Canada," *she replied, pointing to the map on the wall.* "Can anyone show me where they think Canada is?"
*She beamed.*
"My first name is Anne--spelled with an E. My home is Green Gables--a farm with plenty of cows, ducks, geese, chickens, and a horse. I had to leave them behind. I'm to stay here in the house, but I've been offered the chance to have a place of my own, if I choose to look for one."
*She noted the quiet littlest boy and approached him with a gentle smile, crouching down to meet his eyes.*
"Hello," *she said warmly.* "What's your name?"
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 28, 2008 15:44:55 GMT -5
*Johanna had pointed out Canada and then gone back to her seat.*
"That's Sebastian." *She said in English. If nothing else, they'd been trained to speak that.* "He doesn't talk very much. I'm Johanna and that's my twin Alain and there's David and Mireille." *She pointed out her siblings.*
"I coulda introduced myself, Jo!" *Exclaimed Mireille in French, pouting.* "I speak English same as you."
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 16:09:20 GMT -5
"But French is un belle langue," *said Anne by way of breaking up the budding argument.* "And I'm certain you all speak it much better than I do."
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 28, 2008 16:13:41 GMT -5
*Mireille beamed.* "Mama knows English and German an' she says she'll teach me German like she teaches Jo and Alain when I get bigger."
*Johanna rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at Mireille, tossing immaculate pale-golden curls over one shoulder.*
"Jo, don't bother 'Reille." *Said Alain. David yawned and put his feet on his desk.*
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 16:23:49 GMT -5
"Alright, now. Johanna, Alain, and David--please get out your readers. I understand you left off at page seventy-three?" *she said to the twins.* "And David, you were working on the beginning of chapter two, pages..." *she checked.* "Forty-five to fifty? Mireille, I think you're ready to begin the reader on your own," *she handed the girl a brand-new book.* "And Sebastien--would you like to read a story together?"
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 28, 2008 16:26:40 GMT -5
*Sebastien nodded solemnly, and Alain and Johanna stuck their heads together to work out the reader (all tutors eventually learned that they were utterly inseparable, even by crowbar, and they therefore let them be), while David scribbled lazily in the margins. Mireille, beaming with grown-up pride, immediately set her (admittedly short-lived) attention to working on the reader.*
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 16:29:53 GMT -5
*Anne chose an adventure story with colourful pictures and sat with Sebastien in a cozy corner of the room near the glowing little stove which warmed the room.*
"Now--can you tell me what you think the title of this story is?" *she asked, pointing to the simple words printed on the front.*
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 28, 2008 16:32:26 GMT -5
"Sir John and the Dragon." *He said with conviction.* "I read this last year."
*He felt obliged to inform her, but of course he wasn't offended because the tutors never expected him to be able to read properly.*
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 28, 2008 16:35:27 GMT -5
"Oh, excellent! Then you can read it to me--for I've never heard it before. You can even change things, if you like--make it how you want the story to go."
And thus, Anne brought fanfiction to the world.
|
|
|
Post by Alice Cullen on Apr 29, 2008 13:58:34 GMT -5
*A few minutes later, Sebastien had dropped the book entirely and was standing, telling an elaborate tale involving far more characters and better plot (in his opinion) than the original did anyway. He was gesturing with his hands and kept changing his voice to show the different characters, making it more a one-man play than a story-reading.*
|
|
|
Post by Anne on Apr 29, 2008 14:08:04 GMT -5
*Anne watched with rapt attention and a goofy smile, utterly enchanted.*
|
|