Even the stars fall sometimes

A different kind of lesson

Here I was; excited for the weekend. No lessons, No classmates, No teachers... Then I get a notice that starting today I will have Saturday classes with Miss Rudious. She isn't even one of my teachers and she only teaches final year students. She's an elective teacher at that. I just don't understand why I'm now required to learn about herbs and medicines. Her class is only for the nerds and those wanting to be court doctors. I just don't understand this.

Sulking I slowly make my way through the empty halls to Miss Rudious' classroom. I didn't make the choice for this. Why are they forcing me into something I just don't want to do? With a loud sigh I open door to the class room. You can't really call it a classroom. School Nursery is more like it. The large room has a green house design for three of the four walls. The back wall is the only wall that is actually made out of the same stone walls as the rest of the school. The room completely filled with different plants and even a couple trees. I'd be lying if I had said I wasn't impressed. To tell the truth I actually feel safe and like I'm home. I walk in and I can see that the plants aren't the only things living here. There are all sorts of small animals and bug. Little finches flying around with beautiful orange and blue butterflies hiding on some of the different flowers. The room its self seeming to be a sort of sanctuary for many of these creatures.

“Miss Rudious?” I start asking as I search for my new teacher. I can't seem to find her anywhere. Deeper into this little haven I search for her. For such a small room its a giant maze. Endless twists and turns. Many leading right back to the front of the room. Finally I find a path to the very back of the room. I can see a small figure sitting on the floor surrounded by books. With a book in one hands and the other hand stroking peacefully a curled up raccoon.

“Miss Rudious?” I said walking slowly up to her. She didn't seem to notice. Gently I touched her arm causing us both to jump. Her with a bit of a shriek. “Oh! Rora!” She says a bit breathless “You scared me! What are you doing here?! You're not supposed to be here until tomorrow morning at 8am...”

A little confused “Miss Rudious... It's 8:30am... I've been searching through this maze for the last half an hour.”

“What?!” She groans and checks her phone. “I really spent all night reading again and I didn't even notice?!” Slowly she gets up and stretches. “I guess we should begin then. You'll be spending a lot of time with me.” I follow her through the living maze until we reach a small stained glass table and chairs by the farthest window. After we sit in silence for a moment she finally starts to speak.

“I am Emerald Rudious. You may call me Miss Rudious or Emmie if you feel comfortable enough to do so. I would actually prefer Emmie since we will be spending so much time together.” Folding her hands on the table she takes a more serious look. “I'm going to prepare you for the things that your other teachers can not. There will be extremely tough challenges ahead of you. Some you might be able to face with only the knowledge you possess currently. Most however you do not currently have the tools you need.” After a long silent pause “I will teach you everything that I myself know how to do with the very best of my abilities. I will NOT go lightly. You will learn all the hard ships that come with being my student. I will give you a moment alone to consider what little I have told you and allow you to make your own choice. I will not force it onto you however you should understand that this is extremely important.

After a few moments of contemplation I get up and wonder my way back to where I first found my strange teacher. Sitting in the same Position as before. Book in one hand and raccoon in the other. With out looking from her book she asks “What did you decide?”

A little annoyed realizing that she knew when I walked up both this time and the first time.

“I'll do it. I don't fully know what I'm going to be learning but whatever it is I'm sure it beats being completely alone on a Saturday.”

With a slight smirk she looks up “Oh that's great! Lets start your first class then shall we?”

Standing up she takes me over to a hose and says “First things first. You need to make sure everything has been watered. Water until you can see little streams coming from the bottom of the pots. For the raised beds water until the dirt starts to get muddy. Come find me when you're finished.” I watch as she heads back to her books. Did she say all that just because she didn't want to water all these plants herself? I swear if she's just using me to get more alone time with her books I won't be happy!