“Welcome, everyone. Please look up at the board. Can anyone tell me what a circumference is?” Anita said, addressing her second-year maths group.
“Sir, what Ms?” Larry spoke up from the back row.
“Now, Larry, I don’t want another year of trouble from you,” she replied, pointing her finger back at the board.
“But it’s our first day back, Ms.” he moaned.
It was his first day back; Anita was already on her fourth day and gradually adjusting. Still, the 22°C heat, displayed on the wall thermometer at 9:00 am, had her perspiring.
“Mr Holten left me notes and showed that you’ve covered this topic. Does anyone else want to give a go at this morning’s question?” she said, moving out to the front of her desk.
“It’s the distance around the edge of a circle,” Maddie Hynes answered in a soft tone.
“Great — perfect answer, Maddie,” Anita replied, smirking as she noticed a resemblance to herself at that age. Maddie had mousey-coloured hair styled in a bob and wore round glasses.
And suddenly, he appeared — sitting in the only vacant seat, smiling up at her as if their eyes were meeting for the first time in the same room twenty years earlier.
Anita blushed, hoping none of the pupils noticed, and quickly turned her back to the board.
She began to write the formula:
C = 2 PI R
“Please take this down and underline it, as it’s a very important formula,” she said, hoping that when she turned to face the class, he would have vanished.
But he was still there, using his left hand to sweep his dark hair to one side, his hazel eyes shining at her. Her stomach turned queasy, and she wondered if she might need to leave the room.
“Anita, don’t be so silly, there’s nothing there, stop freaking yourself out,” she told herself.
“Miss, have you seen a ghost?” Larry Mason chuckled.
“Larry, you’re on a second warning — and you know what happens when it reaches the third,” Anita said. “That applies to anyone who thinks this class is just for fun.”
She began to feel guilty as her first hour back after the extended break turned into a scolding session.
“Pair up, everyone, and let’s get on with some practical work. Take out your compass and draw a circle with a 5cm radius,” she instructed, now sitting at the desk beside the window.
Outside, the leaves on the oak tree swayed gently in the breeze on the school lawn.
Her heart felt heavy, yet it seemed like another sign from him, urging her to observe nature. At his grave, a similar oak tree stood. It had changed many times in the six months since his passing — bare at first, then budding in May, and by summer majestic. It brought her comfort on every visit; she often stood beneath it, trying to feel his presence.
Spontaneously, her hand grasped a pen and wrote on the blank sheet before her, “I will always love you.”
When she glanced at the spare desk again, his image was gone. She lowered her shoulders and released a long sigh.
“Ms Carbery,” said a girl with long blonde hair in the second row, snapping Anita out of her thoughts.
“I just drew a perfect circle, and it reminds me of the circle of life,” she continued.
Anita smiled. “Indeed, it does. Well done for having such an insightful mind. Now I’d like you discuss amongst yourselves what a circle reminds you of; you can make notes if you wish.”
Anita stood up and moved closer to the window, gazing out at the cloudless blue sky contrasting with the green landscape — her body felt as though it had finally landed.