Luna squinted her golden-brown eyes at the board. "So if I have three baskets with five... bones... in each, that’s... three times five?"
Alina smiled proudly. "Yes! Exactly, Luna! And how many bones is that in total?"
Luna’s cheeks puffed up as she counted on her fingers, lips moving silently. "Five... ten... fifteen." She looked up, pretending she didn’t care, but the tiniest grin tugged at her lips. "Fifteen bones."
Kelpie, who was half-hiding behind his notebook, raised his small hand shyly. "Teacher... if... if I have ten fishes... and each fish has two tails... is that ten times two?"
Drake gasped. "Why does fish have two tails?!"
Kelpie squeaked, hiding his face behind his book again. "Because... because they’re magic fish..." he mumbled.
Alina chuckled softly. "Yes, Kelpie. That’s right — ten fish, two tails each, so ten times two equals twenty tails."
Felix still sat with his arms crossed, but his ears twitched like he was listening. He sniffed and muttered just loud enough for Alina to hear, "Unless someone eats the fish and then you have zero." fre\e(w)ebn ov.e l\. co.m
Alina turned and flicked her chalk gently at him, making a tiny white mark on his sleeve. "No more pastry jokes, little guy," she teased, smiling. "Now... who wants to try one more? Let’s do a big one. Teacher says... five times three!"
Drake jumped up so fast his chair almost fell. "Fifteen!"
"Very good!" Alina cheered. "And how did you know that?"
Drake puffed up his chest, grinning. "Because Teacher, my brain is super smart today! And... and... also Boo whispered it to me."
Boo giggled from behind him, doing a tiny spin in the air. "Boo is secret math ghost!"
The whole classroom burst into sweet giggles. Even Felix’s lips twitched like he wanted to smile, though he quickly looked away so no one would see.
Alina looked around at her babies, her heart swelling with pride. "Wonderful work, everyone. You’re all so clever. Next time, we’ll try even bigger numbers, okay?"
Boo squeaked from above. "Bigger than ten times ten?! Boo’s ghost brain will explode!"
Drake poked him in the side. "Ghosts don’t even have brains!"
Boo squeaked back, "Boo does too!"
Alina just laughed, wiping the chalk dust from her fingers. Every lesson is a little adventure with them, she thought fondly as she got ready for the next part of their day.
The next class was language, and Alina knew her little ones needed a tiny break first. She clapped her hands gently and said, "Alright, sweethearts! Ten minutes to stretch and refresh yourselves. No running outside — just stretch, drink water, and get your wiggles out."
Drake immediately flopped onto his ground, arms spread like a sleepy starfish. Boo floated upside down, twirling slowly like a sleepy ghost spinner. Luna leaned back in her chair with her feet on her desk until Alina raised an eyebrow, and she quickly sat up straight again with serious expression.
When the ten minutes were over, Alina walked to the front, her soft steps making a gentle tap tap on the floor. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and gave them her warmest smile. freew\ebno\vel..(c)om
"In language class today," she said sweetly, her voice calm and clear, "we’re going to learn about... describing words!"
Drake’s eyes went round. "Des... cry... what?!"
"Describing words," Alina repeated, writing it neatly on the board. "They help us tell more about things. For example, if I say ’apple’ — that’s just a thing. But if I say ’red apple,’ the word ’red’ is a describing word!"
Boo gasped dramatically, putting his tiny ghost hands on his cheeks. "Boo is a describing ghost! Boo is cute ghost!"
Luna crossed her arms. "You’re loud ghost."
Kelpie peeked out from behind his notebook. "You’re... silly ghost."
Boo spun in the air, beaming. "Yaa! Boo is all the words!"
Alina giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. She picked up a bright picture card with a big fluffy cat on it.
She found some cards in the drawers, so why not use them for language learning?
She held it up for them to see. "Let’s try together. Look at this cat. What words can we use to describe it?"
Drake shot his hand up. "Fluffy!"
"Very good, Drake!" Alina said, giving him a proud nod.
Luna raised her hand slowly. "Lazy," she said, eyeing the cat’s big belly.
Alina chuckled. "Yes, it does look lazy, doesn’t it?"
Felix mumbled from his seat, arms still crossed. "Fat."
"Felix!" Alina tried not to laugh. "Be kind! But yes... ’fat’ is a describing word too."
Boo floated forward and whispered, "Delicious."
The whole class squeaked and stared. Luna smacked Boo’s head lightly. "You can’t eat cats!"
"Boo was joking!" Boo giggled, floating in circles. "Teacher, more pictures, please!"
Alina shook her head, giggling behind her fingers. She picked up another card — this one with a bright yellow sun.
"Alright," she said, tapping the picture with her finger. "How do we describe the sun?"
Kelpie raised a tiny hand, his voice soft. "Warm..."
"Perfect, Kelpie!" Alina praised, her eyes soft. "Yes, warm sun."
Drake shouted, "Hot! Shiny! Big ball!"
"Good ones!" Alina laughed. "You see? Describing words help our sentences feel alive."
She walked around the room, her skirt brushing softly against the desks. "Now," she said gently, "we’re going to write three describing words for ourselves. Boo, what about you?"
Boo puffed up like a fluffy cloud. "Cute! Funny! Gossip ghost!"
Drake laughed so hard he fell sideways on his chair. Luna rolled her eyes but a tiny smile tugged at her lips.
When the giggles over Boo’s "gossip ghost" settled down, Alina’s eyes moved to the quiet corner near the window. There sat Lucian — straight-backed, hands folded neatly on his notebook, eyes lowered but watchful.
Alina stepped closer, her warm smile gentle just for him. "Lucian, sweetheart," she said softly, voice like warm milk tea, "will you describe yourself for Teacher?"
Lucian lifted his eyes to hers, calm but unsure. His lashes fluttered once before he looked down again, tapping his pencil once on the desk. "Teacher," he said in his small, clear voice, "I don’t think about myself that way."
His serious tone made Boo float closer, peeking over his shoulder like a nosy little brother. "Lucian, say you’re cute!"
Lucian ignored him completely, adjusting the corner of his notebook so it was perfectly straight. "Quiet... maybe," he said at last, like he was choosing his words from a shelf. "Responsible."