Would You Believe, Terrified?

Sometimes, it just doesn't get any easier. The first day of school will always be the first day of school for some folks. Zuki, the social butterfly, can't wait for the chance to mingle and connect, he's a happy camper when it's time to return. Samu on the other hand - well, this is him as we were leaving:

After 7 tries, Zuki gets his brother to smile

He couldn't bring himself to smile. "I don't wanna go to school," he said as I walked him to his drop off.

"If you don't go to school, you'll have to go to work in a coal mine," I told him.

"Okay," he said.

I let out sigh thinking he meant okay to going back to school. But then, he said, "I'll go to work."

As we got closer to the mayhem in the schoolyard, I felt the palm of his hand in mine getting sweaty and limp. "Let's just go home," he whimpered.

Poor guy.

In the belly of the beast, which is the schoolyard the first day of school, there was the usual chaos. There was also the fleeting joy of seeing former classmates after two long months, then discovering they are in a different class. At this point, Samu doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. So he does both.

In the line for his class, he sees a friend - but the friend is already crying. And that makes him cry as he pathetically waves hello. On the first day of school, crying is contagious.

The new teacher consoling the Crying Duo - "I'll only torture you a little bit, okay?"

But education is invincible. That night, he announced that he wanted to be a "cartoonist." He grabbed a wad of plain paper and went to work on his book.

"I'll go to bed after I finish this last chapter!"

I hate being out-written!