The Fall Decorations Made by Me

I walked to the front of the classroom and grabbed a pair of scissors. Walking back to my desk, I saw other students already finishing their projects, and I had just started. I walked up to the table next to the teacher’s desk and grabbed multiple sheets of construction paper. Some were orange, some were yellow, some were even green! But I choose red, mainly because I like red maple leaves. They’re the prettiest in my opinion.

“Look at mine, Riley! Isn’t it pretty?” My twin sister, Raleigh, squealed quietly.

I nodded and sat down at my desk. I picked up my pencil and sketched what I thought looked like a maple leaf. The other kids’ leaves looked sloppy, almost as if they didn’t try. Most of everything I’ve ever made was better compared to everyone else’s. I guess I had a gift.

The sketch was finished in a few minutes+, and again, it looked better than everyone else’s. I carefully cut it out with the scissors, making sure not to cut myself with them. Scissors can be sharp, you know. I wonder if I can use colored pencils on this to make it look even better! I thought to myself. I walked over to the teacher’s desk. 

“May we use colored pencils on this if we want?” I asked quietly.

“Yes, you may, Riley.” She replied. She looked up at the class and called out, “Does everyone hear that? You may use colored pencils if you want to.”

I quickly sat back down and opened my pencil box, taking out 3 different colored pencils. I choose brown, red, and orange. They were to shade and highlight and add more details. I shaded the edge of my leaf with a brown-red mix, and in some areas, highlighted with a red-orange mix. It wasn’t long before everyone else was finished and the teacher was walking around, applauding their hard work. Once she came to mine, I shielded it with my arms.

“Are you not done yet, Riley?” The teacher asked in her sweet voice.

“No. Not yet.” I said sternly. She looked taken aback, but quickly smiled and walked back to her desk.

“Bring it to me when you’re finished.” She said.

It would only take me a few more minutes until I was finished. Raleigh had come over to see what I was working on. Her eyes widened.

“Wow! This is so cool, sissy!” She again squealed in her high-pitched tone.

I shushed her and told her to be quiet and just watch. She quickly nodded and sat on the carpet next to my desk. I was almost done.

After a few minutes, I had finished. I brought my perfect red maple leaf up to my teacher’s desk and set it down. I walked back to my desk and heard my teacher gasp. Most kids looked up to see why she made that sound. I looked up too and my teacher beckoned me to her. I slowly made my way up there, afraid I had messed up somehow.

“May I speak to you outside, Riley?” She asked, picking up my leaf in her hand.

“Y-Yes, Ma’am…” I mumbled. 

She escorted me to the hallway, carefully and quietly closing the door behind us. I stared at her, waiting for her to yell at me, put her finger in my face, something.

“Riley, do you realize what you made?” Her voice sounded calm and not stern.

“A maple leaf?” I mumbled, looking down.

“That, and a masterpiece!” She exclaimed. I looked up at her, shocked. “Do you realize that almost no one your age can make something like this and it still is amazing? You’re a 1st grader that has an extraordinary gift, Riley Adair. Do you realize that?”

I was beaming. “Thank you, Mrs. West! It means a lot!” I squeaked in my high-pitched little kid tone. 

“Do you think you can make more of these? To decorate the classroom and our hallway?” She asked.

I thought for a moment before nodding and answering, “Yes. I’ll make more this weekend!”

She nodded as well and opened the classroom door. The bell was about to ring, so I put my leaf back on the teacher’s desk and strode over to mine. I put my colored pencils away in my pencil box, and put my pencil box in my backpack. I took the scissors and put them back at the front of my classroom. I grabbed the remnants of construction paper that littered my desk and threw them in the trash can by the door.

“Ready to go?” Raleigh asked, popping up behind me from out of nowhere.

“Almost. Just let me go back to my desk and grab my backpack, and then I’m ready.” I said.

I quickly walked back to my desk and zipped up my backpack. I slung it over my shoulder and met my sister at the door, waiting to leave. I stood next to my sister and waited by the door next to everyone else. The teacher addressed the class to tell us goodbye.

The bell rang and all chaos was loose. Kids were running left and right and screaming their heads off. Raleigh and I, somehow, stayed together. They walked outside and met their parents at the flagpole that was right in front of the house.

“Did you have a good day at school, girls?” Dad asked.

“Yeah! We had to make fall decorations today in class, and my teacher liked my red maple leaf! She even asked me to make more this weekend!” I exclaimed. My mom and dad shared a look that showed me they were happy.

We walked across the street and made our way inside my house. I ran upstairs to begin working on my decorations. 

~~~

I walked inside the classroom with a bag full of maple leaves, orange and black banners, and even pumpkins, each with different faces. I set the bag down on my teacher’s desk and made my way over to mine. My sister and I shared a grin as the teacher walked in and class began. She set down at her desk, looked inside the bag, and turned to me, smiling.