I remember my first day of school. Mothe...

I remember my first day of school. Mother took me by the hand and I carried a bouquet of roses, too. Mama had let me pick the loveliest roses I could find in the garden, and the teacher thanked me for them. Then Mama left me and I felt kinda scared, ‘cause I’d never been any place before without her; but she told me Teacher would be Mama to me at school, and would treat me just as nice as she did. So I took my seat with all the other kids, their faces so strange and new to me. And I started talking with a little boy across the aisle, I din know it was against the rules. But Teacher came back and slapped me, so hard that I cried, and I ran to the door ‘cause I wanted to run home to Mama quick as I could. But Teacher grabbed me by the hand and pulled me back to my seat. She said I was too big a girl to be running home to Mama and I had to learn to take my punishment when I broke the rules. But I still cried. I told Teacher I wanted back my roses. But she wouldn’t give them to me. She shook her finger and said, when I gave away lovely presents, I couldn’t expect to get them back… I guess I never learned that lesson very well. There’s so many things I still want back.

Inge, William. A Loss of Roses. Random House Inc., New York, NY. 1960. pp. 125-126.