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  MR. JAY’S MYSTERIOUS

  EVENING AT THE SCHOOL

  MR. JAY’S MYSTERIOUS

  EVENING AT THE SCHOOL

  By

  A. A. Jackson

  © 2019 A. A. Jackson

  Mr. Jay’s Mysterious Evening at the School

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Elm Hill, an imprint of Thomas Nelson. Elm Hill and Thomas Nelson are registered trademarks of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Elm Hill titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Scripture quotation marked KJV is from the King James Version. Public domain.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2019930163

  ISBN 978-1-400307784 (Paperback)

  ISBN 978-1-400308293 (Hardbound)

  ISBN 978-1-400308378 (eBook)

  Information about External Hyperlinks in this ebook

  Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

  Ebook Instructions

  In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response Here]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

  DEDICATION PAGE

  “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

  PROVERBS 4:7, KJV

  This book is dedicated to my mother Dorothy D. Williams, who taught me the mechanics of reading and writing before I was a preschool student, my father James A. Jackson for being a good provider, and all of my public and church school colleagues, and my students both former and current—I love you all! It is also dedicated to my loving wife Lisa and our two children—Cianna and A. Andre II.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One: One Mysterious Monday

  Chapter Two: Reflections

  Chapter Three: A New Light

  CHAPTER ONE

  ONE MYSTERIOUS MONDAY

  School had just ended and all the children were more than ready to go home after a full day of work. This would be a shorter week than normal due to the Thanksgiving recess starting on Wednesday. They only had one more school day ahead of them for the week, so hopefully it would go by fast like all the others seem to. With all the work required—math, reading, social studies, science, handwriting, language arts, art, music, physical education, library, and special research assignments—the students did not have time to waste.

  Their teacher, Mr. Jay, was also ready to go home, but he knew that he still had lots of grading and lesson planning to do. The curriculum was interesting and fun for his students, but it called for much preparation. As he thought on these things, the afternoon dismissal process began. Mr. Jay said good afternoon to his third graders as they left the classroom and reminded them of their homework assignment that was due tomorrow morning.

  “I’d better go on outside with the other teachers to help the students leave the building and the school grounds safely,” thought Mr. Jay as he walked out behind the last of his students. Suddenly, he was stopped by one of Miss Hart’s first grade students who had been running in the hallway.

  “Mr. Jay, Mis Hart said thank you for sharing that really cool book with us last week.”

  “No problem, Harry. Did you enjoy the story?” asked Mr. Jay.

  “Yes! It was fun!” replied the sunny-faced little boy as he ran away quickly waving good-bye.

  “Slow down and walk!” said Mr. Jay with a stern but friendly voice as he waved good-bye to Harry. He also wondered why Miss Hart sent her student to say that again when he had already heard her say that last week.

  Mr. Jay joined the other teachers to make certain that the children left the school property safely and in a timely fashion. Some children needed constant reminders about not running in the hallways. Others seemed to need a review about bus safety, but it was good to notice that most students obeyed the school rules.

  As the last bus pulled away, the schoolyard became very quiet and empty, though some teachers lingered to have short discussions. While most of them were already leaving to go home, Mrs. Chiding and Mr. Jay paused to talk about their busy day with their third grade students. Mrs. Chiding began to complain about one boy in her class who could not seem to control his behavior. Her tone of voice revealed that she was very upset about him.

  The quick arrival of dusk seemed to rush both teachers along to their classrooms within an hour of their discussion. Nightfall came a little faster this time of year. Mr. Jay said good evening to Mrs. Chiding as he went back to his classroom to finish his paperwork.

  As he entered the school building and walked to the hallway where the third grade classes were, he could tell that the custodians had swept some of the classrooms on that side of the building. They temporarily made small dirt piles to be gathered all at once later.

  From the distance, Mr. Jay noticed that his classroom door was open. As he approached his door, a small furry-looking object caught his eyes. It was on the floor near the staircase next to the hallway entrance of his classroom. It looked familiar, so he decided to get a closer look. To his surprise, it was one of the stuffed animal toys he kept on one of the shelves in his classroom.

  “How did you get here?” asked Mr. Jay as he bent down to pick it up.

  Let’s go back to the classroom. I have to hurry so that I can go home to my beautiful new daughter and loving wife, Mr. Jay thought to himself as he picked up the little lamb, which was somehow still spotless on the dirty hallway floor. Suddenly he heard a crashing sound coming from his classroom. Could it be one of the custodians dropping something?

  When Mr. Jay entered his classroom, he found that it was not a custodian working but that one of the ceiling lights had fallen. He could see that the outer metal stem and the electrical wire on the inside had come apart. Perhaps if he had not taken the time to pick up the lamb, that same light would have fallen on him, causing injury. He had to tell the custodians about the light. They could repair it, making sure that the classroom was safe once again. Maybe all the lights would have to be replaced with safer ones. One thing was certain: it had been one mysterious evening at the school.

  CHAPTER TWO

  REFLECTIONS

  Due to the lateness of the evening, highway traffic was scarce on the way back home. This helped Mr. Jay arrive home sooner than usual. That was a blessing to him since he was somewhat anxious to tell his wife about what had just happened at the school.

  Prior to returning home, his wife had been tending to their baby who had just fallen asleep. Mrs. Jay was happy about that.

  This will give me a chance to finish setting the table for our dinner, she th
ought to herself. Earlier in the day, she had to finish some accounting work to meet the deadline for several clients, do some shopping for the house, and of course take care of their daughter. Being a career mom at home was not an easy task, but Mrs. Jay’s steady effort made her an incredible success.

  “Hi, I’m home,” said Mr. Jay to his wife.

  “Hey, you had a pretty long day, huh? How was it?” asked Mrs. Jay.

  Before Mr. Jay said anything, the expression on his face gave Mrs. Jay a good idea about his answer. Even though she did not have an easy day herself, she still smiled with patient kindness as he sat next to her to talk.

  “Well, it was busy as usual, except at the end I had an endearing conversation with Mrs. Chiding after the school buses left the school grounds,” Mr. Jay said with a smart expression on his face. Mrs. Jay also smiled because she had heard about her complaints many times before. Mr. Jay then began to explain his experience.

  “Anyway, after that it started to get dark pretty fast, so I thought I would work on a little of my grading and other paperwork in my classroom. I noticed something on the floor that looked like a stuffed animal. To my surprise, it was my lamb from the stuffed toy shelf of my classroom. It was interesting to see that is was still clean, though surrounded by dirt swept all around. As I thought about that, I suddenly heard a loud crashing noise coming from my classroom. Since the door was slightly opened, I thought that possibly one of the custodians had dropped something. When I walked in, I saw that one of the ceiling lights had fallen down onto one of the desks. I could have been seriously hurt had I not stopped to pick up the lamb.”

  After listening to her husband’s reflection of his late evening at the school, Mrs. Jay was glad that her husband was not hurt. When they finally sat down at the dinner table to eat, the grace they said before eating included thanks for safety and a request for understanding about the mysterious night.

  When he finished eating dinner with his wife, Mr. Jay thanked her for such a delicious meal, then went into his study room to finish the paperwork that he had taken home. He had to grade the science and math worksheets that his students had completed earlier that day. Most of his students did very well on both assignments, which was Mr. Jay’s final proof that most of them really listened and learned!

  This will be good news to tell the students tomorrow! Mr. Jay thought to himself as he got up to get ready for bed. He also thought about the fact that this long day did not give him a chance to kiss his baby daughter good night. So before he got ready for bed, he went into the baby’s room to do just that. When he got there, he saw that his wife had just finished changing the baby.

  “She just went back to sleep,” whispered Mrs. Jay.

  “I hope you can come home sooner tomorrow so that you can get a chance to hold her, feed her, and make her laugh. I know she missed you,” she added.

  Mr. Jay smiled and whispered back, “I will really try to come home earlier tomorrow; I missed you both.”

  After Mrs. Jay placed the baby gently into her crib, they both kissed her gently and whispered good night to her as they tiptoed out.

  CHAPTER THREE

  A NEW LIGHT

  Mr. Jay arrived at the school extra early the next morning. As usual, the custodians were already there maintaining the building.

  I wonder if they were able to fix the broken light? Mr. Jay thought to himself.

  Just as he entered the building, he saw Mr. Gage, one of the custodians, walking away from his classroom door. Mr. Gage smiled as he noticed Mr. Jay.

  “Good morning, Mr. Jay. Mr. Gaines and I were able to correct the lighting problem in your room,” he said happily.

  “Good morning, Mr. Gage. It is really great to hear that! I was very concerned about our safety,” answered Mr. Jay.

  “Well, everything is okay now. Let’s go in and check out your new light,” said Mr. Gage.

  As they both entered the room, Mr. Jay said, “I am very thankful for your timely attention. Everything looks better and the room seems brighter than before. Thank you both!”

  “No problem. I hope you and your students have a great day. See you later,” said Mr. Gage as he left.

  This is a good time to put those wonderful worksheets on the bulletin board outside, Mr Jay thought to himself as he gathered the papers and headed for the hallway. As he was putting the last paper up, he thought of visiting Miss Hart’s classroom to ask her about Harry’s visit yesterday. His train of thought was interrupted as he heard footsteps coming toward him. When he turned around, he was a little amazed by the presence of Miss Hart.

  “Hello, Mr. Jay!” she said in a happy tone.

  “Good morning, Miss Hart,” replied Mr. Jay.

  “Did Harry come by yesterday?” asked Miss Hart.

  “Yes he did come by, in much of a hurry I might add,” said Mr. Jay with a grin. He went on to explain how Harry rushed by only to tell him that she had said thank you again.

  “Didn’t he give you something?” asked Miss Hart, looking somewhat puzzled.

  “Only a nice smile as he waved good-bye,” joked Mr. Jay.

  “Why did you send him over at the end of the day to say that again?” asked Mr. Jay.

  Miss Hart began to look confused as she went on to explain.

  “As you know, I needed to borrow your lamb for story time last week. I collected as many of the farm animals that I could to help make the story come to life. The students smiled as I held up every animal mentioned….”

  Mr. Jay interrupted and said, “I’m glad I could help.”

  “Um, but that’s not all,” said Miss Hart.

  “What?” asked Mr. Jay with a serious look on his face. Miss Hart began to explain some more…

  “On Saturday I was able to buy my own stuffed lamb at the toy store, so I sent my student to return yours. I should have returned it myself, but I had to leave right after the students boarded their busses. Anyway, at the toy store they were having a buy-one-get-one free sale, which helped me afford more animals. I came over this morning to make sure you got your lamb back and to give you a gift for your classroom. Here it is!”

  “Oh, wow, a nice bunny! Thank you—it’s cute,” said Mr. Jay, looking both surprised and glad.

  “I didn’t recall you having one, so I decided to help you expand your collection,” said Miss Hart, smiling.

  “I actually didn’t have one until now. This bunny will go right next to the tortoise I already have. My students are going to love it! By the way, I had forgotten that I let you borrow my lamb,” said Mr. Jay.

  “Well, you trusted me and I trusted Harry,” said Miss Hart as she gave Mr. Jay his gift. As she handed him the bunny, he had a flashback to all the events that had happened since yesterday. As she started to turn away to go back to her classroom, Mr. Jay stopped her by asking…

  “Miss Hart, do you have a minute?”

  “Yes,” answered Miss Hart.

  “I’d like to show you the new light in my classroom,” said Mr. Jay as he walked toward his classroom door.

  When they entered the room, he pointed to the light above the front desk and told her that the older light had fallen Monday afternoon during the time he planned to reorganize that part of the room. Miss Hart began to look very serious and concerned.

  “You don’t seem to be hurt. Thank goodness!” she said in a solemn tone.

  Mr. Jay went on to explain that since he now understood what Harry intended to do, perhaps Harry dropped the lamb but forgot about it when he heard the school bus announcement.

  “When the children hear that announcement, many of them seem to drop everything as they try to stampede to their assigned bus,” added Miss Hart with a slight grin.

  “Yes, that’s true,” replied Mr. Jay.

  “Another thing Mr. Jay … uh … even though Harry did not follow through as I intended, his mistake turned out to be a good thing for you,” said Miss Hart as she motioned to walk toward the door. Both teachers wished each other a good day a
s they parted to finish preparing for the day ahead.

  At first, Mr. Jay thought of sitting at his desk to review his lesson plans for the week after the Thanksgiving recess, but instead he decided to use this last hour before the arrival of his students to rearrange all the desks to avoid any possible injuries by falling lights. This idea came from one of the best teachers ever—experience!

  THE END

  Story Questions for Discussion

  1. What are some school rules your school teaches for keeping the students safe?

  [Your Response Here]

  2. Why do some students disobey safety rules? Explain.

  [Your Response Here]

  3. Was Mr. Jay being mean to Harry when he reminded him about not running? Why or why not?

  [Your Response Here]

  4. In what way did Miss Hart trust Harry? Was he responsible? Why or why not?

  [Your Response Here]

  5. How can experiences teach us things? Explain.

  [Your Response Here]

 

 

  A. A. Jackson, Mr. Jay's Mysterious Evening at the School

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