Daily Keemo. 01.07. It Must Have Been Magnificent

He was a short man. His back was rounded as he walked and I remember looking at his bald head as he sat behind his desk at the front of the classroom and wondered if his feet touched the floor. He was not a happy man.

On this day he seemed particularly edgy. It was the day of the solar eclipse and we were all going out in front of the school to look at it through these box contraptions we made. We got into our line at the door and waited to go out and there was laughing and giggling and excitement and we each held our boxes carefully. "HEY!" he yelled. "LISTEN UP!". He was redfaced and serious and we all knew it was time to be quiet. "FROM THE MOMENT YOU WALK OUT THIS DOOR YOU ARE NOT TO LOOK UP WITHOUT USING YOUR BOX! IF ANYONE LOOKS UP WITHOUT YOUR BOX YOU WILL IMMEDIATELY BE SENT BACK INSIDE! LOOKING AT IT DIRECTLY WILL CAUSE YOU TO GO BLIND!" he yelled and then held the door open and we walked silently through the door.

I took two steps out the door and without using my box, I looked up. I wasn't trying to be rebelious, I was just curious and I wanted to see what the eclipse looked like. (It was a bright sun). I immediately felt someone grab my arm and spin me around. I looked up just in time to see a hand come in from the right and catch my cheek, hard and fast and it stung and then got warm. There was yelling but I don't remember what was said and I was sent right back inside.

I remember looking out the classroom window at all the kids in front of the school with boxes over thier heads and wondered what they were seeing. I thought it must have been magnificent. By the time we got out of school, my box was useless and I threw it in the big dumpster on the way home. That is my main memory from the fifth grade and that is how I will forever remember that man.