Page 27 of Karma Kitty Christmas
His class had been excited and polite and all smiles as the people who had mapped out a pixel drawing for the blankets all stood up and showed off their pictures to the rest of the class. Each entry had gotten extra creditanda vinyl sticker of a heart-shaped ball of rainbow yarn with knitting needles stuck in it. The kidsloveda good sticker—they went on laptops, binders, water bottles, and seriously, they were one of the purest rewards Isaac could give.
After the sharing phase was over, Isaac explained to the class that, while all the designs were awesome, for the contest, they’d developed criteria for judging.
“This doesn’t mean the pictures that didn’t match the criteria were bad in any way,” he told the students. “It just means that since Allegra and I have to make the blanket, it needed to be something we wouldn’t hate by the time we were done, and something that a baby could use.” He chuckled. “You guys, some of you had pictures that would needthousandsof squares, and frankly, I’m not that dedicated to this project.”
The class laughed like it was supposed to, and Isaac was hopeful there would be no hard feelings.
Isaac named the kids whose pictures had met the criteria, and they stood up proudly, while Allegra and Luca walked by each kid and told them something they’d really loved abouttheir drawing, while giving out another tiny prize—a tiny square (Allegra’s first efforts) on a key ring.
The kids had gotten excited aboutthattoo, and it could have been because it was the last week of school before finals, but Isaac liked to think that it was also because he had nice kids.
And then they’d named their winner.
Marcelle was practically floating.
“You really like it?” he asked for probably the twelfth time.
“It’s great,” Luca said. “I love the rainbow fish and the little boat—it’s super cute without being too intricate.”
“It’s so fun,” Allegra said to the boy. “I love your sense of design—and it feels like you know little kids, right? Like you know they don’t like things too complicated, but they love color?”
Marcelle gave a modest little smile. “I gotfourbrothers and sisters—two sets of twins. I go home to watch them all the time. They’re so much fun. I made a copy of this to put on the fridge so they could see it.”
Isaac wanted to clutch at his chest.He’dknown Marcelle’s homelife had its challenges, but hearing him talk about his siblings with so much pride made his eyes burn.Thiswas why he loved teaching. Not the steady paycheck Todd had said was adequate, and not the summers off. It was just nice, as a human being, to see the best of human beings as they launched into the world.
Isaac had to settle everybody down then to give them last-minute reminders about the final next week, and to congratulate everybody who’d entered the contest for extra credit all over again.
As the last bell rang and the kids ran out excitedly, Isaac stopped Marcelle before he disappeared.
“Hey,” he said. “I know the ultimate prize was supposed to be having your blanket made—and we’ll do that! But I wanted to give you something foryousince we’re keeping the blanket.”
Marcelle took the gift certificate and looked suspiciously at him. “What’s this?”
“It’s a gift certificate for the local art supply place, with another one for a basic craft store. Luca and Allegra contributed too. We figured this way you could get the super-nice art supplies and all the plastic beads you could ask for.”
Marcelle grinned at them, practically glowing. “Solid, Mr. B. This issolid. Thank you so much—you guys, wait until I tell my mom!”
He went tearing out of the classroom, and Allegra sank down into Isaac’s comfortable chair while Isaac and Luca rested on desktops facing her.
“Wow,” she said. “That wasintense. I can’t believe you do that five periods a day.Wow.”
Isaac laughed. “Yeah, well, I wasexhaustedmy first two years. By the time I had tenure, I knew I’d earned it, because I’d stopped sleeping through my weekends.”
“Ibet.” Allegra shook her head. “But they were so great! I can see why… you know. Teaching’s such a passion.”
Isaac grimaced. “Well, youdidsee them on their best day. I pulled the kids who’d participated in the extra credit out of their other classes for this—it was pretty celebratory.”
“What’s a worst day like?” Luca asked perceptively.
Isaac shook his head. “Nope. Nope, nope, nope, nope… not gonna talk about a worst day.”
At that moment Roxy bounded in.
“Oh my God!” she crowed, and Isaac nodded.
“Right?”
“Like,wayamazing!”
