Many years ago, I was a woman teacher in Iran. The following story happened in the early 1990s. As any teacher or student has experienced, there is always some noise in the classroom. There is no way to achieve absolute silence, and I don't believe any attempt should be made to change that. Students need to talk, and sometimes talking helps them to understand better. I tried to keep them focused and busy in order to keep...

My name is Leila. I'm a lesbian from Iran. I migrated to Britain a few years ago. I was a teacher in my country and the story that follows happened in the summer of 1986 when I was in my twenties. In order to make my story understandable for a foreign reader, I should explain the situation of those years. Shortly after the 1979 revolution, a theocratic dictatorship began which harshly oppressed the women in Iran. In 1980,...

I had perched myself on the child-sized chair in the family play area, conveniently, this was also right underneath the heat pump. It was icy cold that morning. Two girls were with me, and we were consuming pretend cups of tea and having a good ol gossip sesh. R comes in and asks to join in. The more the merrier, so she proceeds to brew some tea and put some baking in the oven. "Hey Laura," R says to me. "Yes," I answer. ...

"Heeeeeey teacher," a child said to me, just as I was about to sit down and effectively ruin the fun of the children who were painting without fully being supervised."My name is Laura, not teacher," I said. Oh, the joys of working at a new school."Laula," the child said. Close enough. "How can I help?" I asked little Miss Four, standing in front of me. She was looking very bright and colourful in some new dress ups the ki...

Mole Story OneI can't recall when I first realized I had a mole under my arm. It was located in the center of my armpit. Early grade school is my best guess. For the most part, I was blissfully unaware of its presence. Doctors had assured my Mother that it was harmless and there was no need to remove it. It was in third grade that my awareness of it became more pronounced.In those days desks were lined up in neat rows. Ea...

I wake up because ‘Overrated’ by Tim McGraw is playing as my wake up alarm for school. I grab my phone as I start singing along, I`ve been in an over-happy, elated mood since Sir had said goodbye. After he had kissed my forehead, he got into his car and drove off, hanging his arm out the window, waving goodbye. I smile to myself as I recall the event. My parents had asked how my day went when they got home; I told them ev...

I look at the clothes that are placed in my hands and already know that they`re his because of the masculine scent that fills my nostrils. Ahh. They smell so good! I put on the clothing and have to roll up the shirt sleeves and pant legs because he`s so much taller than me. I revel in his scent by shoving the sleeves into my face once more before I walk out of the bathroom. I walk down stairs to meet Sir at the bottom; he...

The day comes to an end, and it`s time to leave. It didn't get as boring after my friends left as I thought it would, so that`s good. I ring up sir and ask if he can pick me up. He agrees and says that he`s on the way. I decide to wait for Sir outside. So I leave the building and spot a bench that looks inviting. I start to make my way over then take a seat. After a couple minutes, I spot the Impala and stand up. I take a...

When I got home yesterday, mum had gotten the hair dyes that I had kindly asked for, bright purple, blue, pink and orange. I dyed it straight away so I could have it for TAFE today. It`s like in a rainbow cascading down my to my lower ribs. It`s amazing! I`m still heaps excited for TAFE too. I`ve been waiting for today to come for ages, and It`s finally here. When I got on the bus, I went to sit next To Vie, but instead s...

I`m sitting in science listening to our teacher; a middle-aged man with a bit of a gut and greying hair. Well, I`m not actually listening but day dreaming about Mr Jacobs. Was he actually going to kiss me? Was I about to actually kiss him there and then? Oh my gosh, I wish I found out so that I wasn’t sitting here all lesson turning over what happened just before I came to this class. I got up with my face burning after w...

“Jessica!” Violet screams as she engulfs me into an enormous hug when I sit next to her on the bus. We haven’t seen each other since I got knocked out last week. I went to the doctor, and he told me to stay home for the week and rest up. At school last week, sir didn’t come back either, which sucked! I went back to sleep after an hour or so after Mr Jacobs left, mainly because I was waiting for him to come back. I was wok...

I give him a confused look and then go back to drawing. He just lies there watching. His aroma is so intoxicating that it`s really hard to concentrate on my Aztec. “You`re really good Jess. What sort of drawing is this?” he asks, finally breaking the silence and causing a slight blush to coat my cheeks. “Thanks, It`s Aztec, well that`s what I call it anyway,” I reply averting his gaze. “You understand why I gave you a det...

We`re sitting in English and guess what? Our teacher is MrJacobs. Mrs Susan isn`t in today, so he`s taking her classes; lucky us! “Alright, so Mrs Susan left some work for me. I`d rather watch videos and do a find a word. Something about the white Australian policy over reading and writing heaps of boring stuff,” Mr Jacobs states to the class cheerfully. Sometimes he acts so young that I forget he`s a teacher. A few of us...

‘Caw, Caw’ the birds call from the top of my driveway as I wait for the bus that is running late. I hear the rumble of the vehicle before it comes into sight, “finally” I say aloud. I start to walk towards it then jump on when it comes to a halt. The trip is long, but not boring; Violet and I talked and laughed the whole way there, she seems to be in a better mood than yesterday arvo thankfully. We finally pull up at the...

“Hey, ready for PE?” Violet asks as we make our way towards the gymnasium. Violet and I have been best friends for a couple years now, although it feels like a lifetime. We`re pretty much sisters, we call each other sisters, people even sometimes asks us if we`re sisters because we are so close. We may not look the same, but we defiantly act and think he same. She has medium length dark brown hair, brown eyes, curvy figur...