Free Once Upon A Karma (Karmic Krystal Book 1) by Rosie Malezer Page A

say it like it is.  I admire people who refuse to back down to bullies.  I also now like this teacher.  Sharyn and I both smile at each other as the boy and his mother leave the room, red-faced.  We are pleased to know that he will not be returning.  When I glimpse over at the teacher’s arm, I am stunned to see that bite has fully healed.  Sweet!
    “Let’s start again, shall we?” says the teacher, much calmer than she had been just moments before.  “Who wants to go first?”  I raise my hand and stand up.
    “My name is Krystal and I hate bullies,” I say proudly.  Some of the children giggle.  The teacher smiles at me and nods her head as Sharyn stands up next to me.
    “My name is Sharyn and Krystal is my best friend!” she says, standing with her head held high and completely unafraid. 
    Her words take me by surprise.  Never before had I ever been somebody’s best friend!  Sharyn and I smile at each other.  It gives me a happy feeling that Tania and Leena’s first days were most likely the same as this.  As each child stands and introduces themselves, I start to find it difficult to remember their names.  By the time they have all had their turn, the only people’s names I remember are my own and Sharyn’s.  Good grief!  I pray there will not be a test.
    The teacher smiles at us, obviously pleased, and says “My name is Mrs Tucker, and I welcome you all as students to Cribb Island Kindergarten!”  I start to cheer and applaud but quickly stop when I realise that nobody else is doing so.  How embarrassing!   “We will have much fun this year,” she continues after glancing at me strangely.  “You will learn to write your name and you will learn colours and how to paint and draw.  If you have any problems at all, please be sure to tell me and I will see how we can solve the problem.  Does that sound okay?” she asks.
    “YEEEESSSSSS,” all of the children respond at the same time.  I can’t help but giggle at the drawn-out, synchronised response.  We are then all assigned a giant square pigeon hole.  Each one has a name which corresponds to one of the new students.  After locating my own, I put my jacket and shoes into the pigeon hole and wait for Sharyn to do the same. 
    The teacher asks us to find a partner, as we are going to do some painting and learn colours.  Thankful that I had just taken off my favourite shoes, I grab Sharyn and some paper.  Aprons are distributed, along with some watercolours, a cup half-filled with water and some paintbrushes.
    “What are you going to draw?” I ask my painting partner, matter-of-factly.
    “Uhhhmmm… I don’t know,” Sharyn replies.  “What about you?”
    “I might draw Ralph,” I say excitedly. 
    “You are going to draw vomit?”
    It takes a minute or two for me to figure out what Sharyn was talking about.  As I had never before watched American television shows, I had no idea that “ralf” and “vomit” were used in the same meaning until she explained it to me.  “No!  Ralph is my toy bunny.  He sleeps with me at night and keeps me safe from all the bad things,” I explain.
    “Oh.  I don’t have a Ralph.  I have a cat called Minx, though!” she says proudly.
    “I wish I had a cat, but Daddy won’t allow it.  He doesn’t like them but won’t tell me why.  We have a dog called Mindy.  We used to have a dog called Rusty but he is dead now,” I tell her while I paint Ralph’s face onto the paper using pink and yellow paints.
    “Why is he dead?” she asks, awakening a painful thud inside my chest.  Pushing tears down, I am unable to answer Sharyn’s question.  We continue to paint silently.  When I look up at Sharyn’s picture, I am almost tempted to pat it… her cat called Minx.  The pictures are all hung to dry as we eat our packed lunches, followed by our afternoon nap.  When I wake, the painted papers are cut so that each picture can be taken home by its artist.
    The day ends before I