An Unexpected Phone Call
Water Maze
Yoomi's POV
“And together we are one…” The kids sitting in a circle around me clapped.
“Miss Yoomi, I really wish you are our real music teacher,” one of the girls said. The rest nodded ecstatically.
I patted each of their heads. “I wish I could be your real music teacher too, but soon your real teacher will come back from having her baby,“ I said.
One of the boys pouted. “But it’s only been a month!” he whined.
I smiled and ruffled his hair. I loved teaching preschool kids songs I wrote. I considered it practice for being one of the most famous song writers in Korea.
One of the girls tugged on my arm. “How do you know when to write a happy or sad song?”
I picked her up and plopped her on my lap. “Well when I’m happy, I write happy ones, and when I’m sad, I write sad songs.”
“I hope you don’t have a lot of sad songs and lots of happy songs!” she said, holding her arms wide to demonstrate “lots”.
One of the shyer kids tugged on my blouse. “I hope you don’t write songs about broken hearts,” he said and quickly kissed my cheek.
“I really like your songs,” a boy piped up.
“Us too!” I smiled at them.
“If you like them that much, should we try out a new song?” The girl on my lap slid off and I took out my folder filled with songs lyrics from my bag.
“YES!” they clapped eagerly.
“Alright! I’ll sing it to you first, and then you sing after me,” I smiled.
They nodded and sat up straight, wriggling around.
I pulled a sheet out. “No one can change our fate, and-“
“It’s time for lunch!” Mrs. Lee announced.
“Awww, Mrs. Lee, please let Miss Yoomi finish first!” the kids pleaded.
“No, you have to eat lunch on time,” Mrs. Kim said firmly, but with a smile. They ran up to her and made puppy faces. She pushed them gently toward the tables, but they refused to go anywhere.
“Yoomi, can you help us? They’ll only listen to you,” Mrs. Lee asked, exasperated. I nodded.
I crouched to their level. “Okay, listen, after lunch, we’ll continue with the song okay?”
“But after lunch, we have to go to sleep!” The others nodded in agreement.
I smiled. “You have to wait for 30 minutes before you lay down, so we can use those 30 minutes to sing.” I helped Mrs. Kim and Mrs. Lee herd them to the tables.
“Okay!” They scampered to their seats without any more help.
Thirty minutes later, I saw them running to me. “You guys done eating?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips.
“Yes!” One of them burped.
“Cover your mouth when you burp and then what do you say?”
“Excuse me!” they said in unison.
“Good job! Now did you forget to do something?” I asked.
“Umm…” they scratched their heads. “Oh! Brush our teeth!”
“Good job! Now go do that and then you can come back.” They sped off toward the bathroom. “Take your time! I’ll still be here!” I called after them.
Five minutes later, I saw the group come running toward me again. “Did you get everything? Everyone all clean? Let me check!” They smiled with their teeth flashing and I inspected them. “Good job, you didn’t miss anything this time!”
I smiled and clapped my hands. “Cool! Now let’s sing shall we?” They skipped to the classroom and formed a circle.
I took out the lyrics paper. “Alright, I’ll sing it, and you guys sing it after me.”
They moved closer and I sang to them. I looked around the circle and they seemed to really enjoy the music. I smiled at them and they clapped along with the beat. After I was done, I looked around and grinned. “How was it?”
They clapped. “That was so good Miss Yoomi!”
“You guys remember how the song goes?”
“Yes! Can we sing now?” They looked at me with sparkly eyes.
“Of course! Now sing with me…”
We sang for about ten minutes. The kids improved the song with cute dance moves.
“Alright guys, it’s naptime!”
“Awww!” they pouted.
“Come on, under the blankets!” They reluctantly crawled to their blankets and quickly fell asleep. I stood up and put my hands on my hips. I smiled at the peaceful children.
“Thanks a lot Yoomi, without you I don’t know how I’d handle these kids sometimes,” Mrs. Kim said behind me.
I turned around a smiled. “You’re welcome! I’m glad to help out anytime.” I felt a vibration in my back pocket. I took it out and I looked at the number- it was from my mom. “Excuse me,“ I said to her and walked outside.
“Hey mom!”
“Yoomi, can you go home early today?” I could hear street noises in the background.
“I can, but why?” I paced. “Are you outside?”
She ignored my questions. “We have an appointment at three so come to La Grande Nourriture.”
I looked through the window at the kids napping soundly. “But why do I have to be there?”
“Just please, and dress nicely. It‘s a nice restaurant.” She hung up.
“Mom? Mom?” I turned my back to the window. “Mom! Mom!” I sighed and put my phone in my back pocket. I gathered up my folder and papers inside and stuffed them in my bag.
“Mrs. Kim, I need to leave early today, my mom has an appointment with someone and she wants me to go with her,” I said.
“You’ve done enough for us already, go on ahead,“ Mrs. Kim smiled.
I bowed and left the school, blowing kisses to each of the sleeping kids.
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