妖怪世捨て人The ramblings of a recluse.2016-08-20T20:41:40http://reader.tymoon.eu/Copyright (c) 2014, TymoonNET/NexT
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Anna's First Day - Story Time3422016-08-20T20:41:402016-08-20T20:41:40mithentmithent@gmail.com<p>Ring… Ring… Ring… Click!</p>
<p>A small tape started to spin in the machine.</p>
<p>“You’ve reached the Meier household. We can’t answer the phone right now, but please leave a message and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.”</p>
<p>Click! Beep! Click!</p>
<p>“Oh, Anna - sorry, maybe you’ve left already? It’s only just gone six… uh, well, if you’re still there, I just wanted to say to have a good first day at your new school. I’m sure you’ll do great. Sorry I can’t be there to see you off, but you know, I’m still at this conference… Anyway, see you later, and you can tell me about it then.”</p>
<p>Click!</p>
<p>The machine fell silent, still unheard beneath the drone of the hair dryer upstairs. Anna sat perched on the edge of her bed, wrapped in a cream-coloured towel, holding the appliance in one hand while running the other through her hair. Otherwise, the room was neat and tidy with pale blue-painted walls, furnished in a simple Scandinavian style with a chest of drawers, a wardrobe, a half-stocked bookshelf, and opposite the bed, a desk topped with several well-thumbed books underneath a window looking out towards the lake. The wall adjacent to the bed was adorned with a Clara Porges landscape print. Next to the bed stood Anna’s mother, a tall and fairly slim woman with dark permed hair fringing her olive-coloured face. She was already dressed in a red dress with white spots, hairbrush in hand.</p>
<p>“Anna dear, let me -” She reached out with the brush to Anna’s hair, met with a flap of her daughter’s hand and flinch away from the implement.</p>
<p>“Mum, I know how to do my hair,” Anna replied, not entirely succeeding in hiding her exasperation.</p>
<p>Her mother pulled away slightly at the response, shaking her head a little and tossing her long brown permed hair. “Okay,” she conceded. “But don’t take too long. I’ll go finish up breakfast.” She put the brush down on the bed, then turned and left the room, momentarily turning back to look at her daughter before closing the door.</p>
<p>Anna watched as her mother left her alone, allowing herself only a moment to appreciate her temporary solitude before continuing to get ready. Picking up the brush, she finished off her shoulder-length brown hair by tucking it into a ponytail, then replaced the towel with a pale blue blouse and a navy skirt, paired with a pair of grey socks. Pulling up the second, she checked herself in the mirror. She was a little taller than average for a girl of her age, and perhaps slight of build, rather like her mother. She nodded to herself, feeling that she looked smart in her outfit.</p>
<p>A voice filtered through the door. “Anna! Breakfast is ready!”</p>
<p>With one more check in the mirror, Anna snatched up the near-empty satchel leant next to her desk and swept out of her room and down the stairs.</p>
<p>The kitchen was homely, with wooden-fronted cupboards lining the walls around the stove, while the room was large enough to accommodate a small table. This room, however, was somewhat less tidy, the countertops dusted with flour and strewn with bowls and utensils. The table was set for two, but perhaps stocked for four: bread, butter, honey and cheese sat around a pot of coffee, a mug of milk and several small cakes.</p>
<p>As Anna walked into the room, her mother pulled out a chair for her. “I made magdalenas,” she explained, gesturing to the breakfast cakes as she sat down in the other chair herself.</p>
<p>Anna gave a kind but nervous smile. “Thanks Mum,” she replied, “but I don’t think I can eat all of this. We need to leave in fifteen minutes.”</p>
<p>“My little girl needs to eat or she won’t have energy for the day!” She flicked her wrist in conciliation. “But, have as much as you like.”</p>
<p>Anna poured herself a mug of coffee with milk, then set about eating a slice of bread and butter with cheese, plus one of the magdalenas. The latter, at least, was mandatory given her mother’s effort, and the sweet lemony cakes were a part of her Spanish heritage.</p>
<p>After a couple of minutes, her mother paused her own breakfast with a slight cough. “I’m sure you’re going to do great today!”</p>
<p>Anna shot her a hesitant smile, chewing for a few moments and swallowing before replying. “I hope so. I don’t want to lose my place.”</p>
<p>A light tinkle of laughter and rolling of eyes preceded her mother’s reply. “Of course you’ll do well! Don’t worry so much.”</p>
<p>Anna shrugged and took a few seconds to drink some coffee. “Not everyone passes.”</p>
<p>Her mother just smiled again in response, her expression just a little pained.</p>
<p>Meal over, Anna strode off to the bathroom to finish her preparations while her mother tidied away the embarrassing surfeit of leftovers. They met again at the front door, Anna buckling up her shoes and settling her satchel on her shoulder as her mother left the kitchen.</p>
<p>“You know you don’t need to drive me today, Mum,” Anna started. “I’m going to take the bus every other day.”</p>
<p>“Nonsense. I want to see you off on your first day properly!” Her mother took a wide-brimmed hat off the hatstand and placed it upon her head, checked herself in the adjacent mirror and adjusted it slightly, then stepped into her shoes and picked up her handbag from the table beneath the mirror.</p>
<p>The light on the answering machine flashed silently, unheeded, as they both walked out of the front door onto the drive.</p>
<p>The white Ford Escort parked outside was mostly clean, sullied only by slight streaks of dust around the wheel arches. Anna’s mother fumbled in her bag, then produced the car keys, with which she unlocked the doors.</p>
<p>Anna had already strode over to the car, and got in quickly. “You don’t need to go all the way there,” she tried again as her mother sat down in the driver’s seat.</p>
<p>Another smile in response, the pain being hidden slightly less well this time. “I know you don’t want to be embarrassed by your mother, but I want to see you there.”</p>
<p>Another shrug. “I know,” Anna replied, letting it drop.</p>
<p>The engine sputtered, then spurted into life as the car set off on the road into the city. Anna looked out the window for a minute, then opened her satchel, checking her stationery and notebook, then unfolding and re-reading a familiar letter of acceptance to the Realgymnasium Rämibühl.</p>
<p>She had already memorised the instructions for her first day, and her gaze slid down the page quickly. She was relieved not to notice anything new, but it couldn’t holder her interest. Letter exhausted of interest, she sat back in her seat and looked out of the window. The streets of Zürich streaked past the windows, punctuated by moments of stasis when the car came to a stop. It was a warm mid-August day, the light of the morning sun filtered through layers of cloud. The buildings and people passing by barely registered as she rehearsed the day again and again in her head.</p>
<p>The car came to a halt again, Anna’s mother pulling up the handbrake with the car on the side of the road. “Well, we’re here,” she said brightly, breaking her daughter out of her reverie. “Just down the road, anyway. I suppose you don’t need me to walk you to the door.”</p>
<p>Anna looked down momentarily in embarrassment, then fixed her expression and looked back at her mother, tucking a lock of hair behind her left ear in the process. “Ah, yes, I’ll be fine! Thanks, Mum.” Her mother smiled and brushed her cheek with a hand, then leaned over and kissed both. “Now, you have a good first day, and tell me all about it, okay? I’m sure you’ll do great!”</p>
<p>With a brief smile and a nod, Anna briefly embraced her mother and then let herself out of the car, satchel settled on her shoulder. She shut the door and waved, calling out “See you later!” as she set off to the school gate, casting the occasional glance back at her mother watching her as she went. Rounding the corner to the entrance, and finally out of sight, she stopped for a moment to look inside.</p>
<p>Up a few steps was a quadrangle bustling with students. Some stood around in small groups, chatting animatedly, while others hurried across the square towards the large, multi-storey buildings which dominated the other three sides. Anna already knew that she, too, would soon need to head inside, but took her time, scanning through the throng. Two other students from her primary school were also to start at Rämibühl - Stephanie and Thomas. While neither had been close friends of Anna’s, she wouldn’t mind seeing some familiar faces amidst the sea of others.</p>
<p>Familiar faces were, however, hard to find in the crowd. After a couple of minutes of weaving through it without finding any, she supposed that the other new students who had already arrived had probably gone straight to the auditorium. Passing by the large building opposite where she had entered, she followed a sign with an arrow which had been stuck to the wall directing her to the “New Student Induction”. Another sign directed her into the auditorium itself, in which the tiered rows of seats were already filling up with her future classmates.</p>
<p>She quickly noticed Thomas sitting on one end. He was a fairly stocky boy who seemed to be entirely clad in denim, despite the warm weather, with a pair of round glasses perched upon his similarly round face, which was framed with a tousle of blonde hair. Anna hadn’t spent much time with him before - they’d both mostly kept to themselves. But familiarity was, nevertheless, welcome. He already seemed to be engaged in conversation with the boy sitting beside him, though. Anna raised her hand in a half-wave, attempting to draw his attention, but there was no response.</p>
<p>Shrugging, she went to find an available seat instead. The auditorium was filling up quickly as the students arrived; surely, none wanted to be late on their first day at the Gymnasium. Soon enough, her other former classmate walked through the doors. Stephanie was a little shorter than Anna, with her brown hair drawn back into a ponytail, wearing a green blouse with pink trousers. She, too, was more of an acquaintance than a close friend; Stephanie had been one of the more popular students at their primary school, and had chosen her associations correspondingly. They had never come into conflict, though, and in this new place they were, for now, equals.</p>
<p>Anna once again waved her hand, a little more vigorously than before, and this time the gesture was successful. Stephanie smiled and rushed over to sit next to Anna. “Anna! I’m glad to have found you!” she exclaimed, lowering herself into the adjacent seat. “How are you doing?”</p>
<p>Her effusiveness surprised Anna to some degree, given that they had never been that friendly before, but she supposed that she was just as glad to see a familiar face. “Hi Stephanie,” she replied, “I’m okay. I hope -”</p>
<p>She was cut off by a rapidly-growing silence in the room which heralded the arrival of a middle-aged man wearing a grey-checked suit, the scattered grey in his neatly combed hair betraying his years. He walked up to a podium and drew a pair of glasses out of one jacket pocket, perching them upon his nose as he glanced at an index card.</p>
<p>“Ahem,” he coughed, quieting the last of the chatter. “It is my pleasure to welcome you to Realgymnasium Rämibühl. I’m sure you’ll hear a lot of names today, but I’ll start with mine. I’m Mr. Eberhard, the new rector as of this year. I look forward to meeting all of you in time.”</p>
<p>“You’ve already done very well to have passed the entrance exam and to have made it here, and I am sure that you will all do extremely well. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you that we will be expecting to see your ability shine in your first months here.” Some members of the audience shuffled in their seats uncomfortably, and Anna tugged at a lock of hair.</p>
<p>“But that’s for later. First, I’d like to introduce you to some of our second-year students who will be taking you on a tour, and you’ll have an opportunity to meet your class teacher before having lunch. If you could divide yourselves into groups…”</p>
<p>Half a dozen students sitting on chairs behind the rector stood up and distributed themselves around the floor space, and the new arrivals stood up and started drifting towards the closest one. The murmur of conversation started up again as Anna approached the nearest guide, a boy of only about her own height who seemed rather pleased with himself. Stephanie accompanied her, and the two stood nearby as their small group grew.</p>
<p>“The rector seemed nice,” Anna volunteered.</p>
<p>Stephanie shrugged a little. “Maybe! I wonder if we’ll be in the same classes?”
Anna looked once more around the room. There must have been over a hundred new students waiting to be taken off on tours. “I don’t know. When do we get our timetables?”</p>
<p>Their conversation was once again interrupted, this time by Christian, their tour guide, whose name was printed neatly in capitals on a name badge. He carried a sheaf of notes and an air of solemnity. “This way, please.”</p>
<p>The tour brought them around the various buildings on the site, including the piazza, library, canteen and sporting facilities, and also introduced the new students to the history of Rämibühl from its founding in 1832 and the four schools on the site. To Anna, none of this was new; she could practically have recited all the literature she had been sent, and it didn’t escape her notice that Christian was reciting from the same sources.</p>
<p>At the end of the tour, he brought them to a board in the piazza where a list of all the new students had been pinned, with a teacher’s marked next to each. These, Christian explained, were their class teachers, who would shortly be along to collect them. Anna scanned down to the “M”s to locate her name, and read “Ms. Rissler” in the other column.</p>
<p>Stephanie nudged her in the crowd. “Did you find your name?”</p>
<p>Anna stiffened briefly at the contact. “Uh, yes… with Ms. Rissler.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I’m with Mr Miller, that sucks. Take care!” Stephanie pushed through the students approaching the board, leaving Anna behind. Before she followed, she checked Thomas’ name on the list; he, too, was assigned to a different class teacher.</p>
<p>Ms. Rissler was a young, mousy-haired teacher wearing a maroon jacket and matching skirt. She led a group of two dozen new students, Anna included, to an empty classroom in the languages department, posters in French adorning the walls. The desks had been pushed to the side with the chairs arranged in a circle, with the teacher sitting down nearest her desk, looking over a list on her desk and pointing at each student in turn before speaking. Anna took a seat near the front of the room.</p>
<p>“Right! I’m glad to see you all made it here today. I’m going to be your class teacher, so we’ll all be meeting up together regularly, and I want you to feel you can talk to me if you have anything on your mind. I’m sure you’re all excited to be here today! Would any of you like to introduce yourselves and tell us about your hobbies?” She paused, and looked around the room expectantly.</p>
<p>The students did the same, none of them breaking the silence.</p>
<p>“How about you?” She pointed to a student sitting a few to the left of Anna. The victim, a mousy-haired girl with a side ponytail and round glasses, looked briefly alarmed, then swallowed and introduced herself.
“I’m - I’m Elisa Bossart. I’m eleven. I like, um, listening to music. And… watching TV.” She looked around the room nervously, then looked down at the floor.</p>
<p>A boy with slicked-down hair and wearing what clearly looked like a brand new suit was next. He seemed rather stuffy and overdressed, particularly for the time of year. “I’m Julian Tober, and I’m twelve. I ride horses and enjoy going to the theatre.” A couple of students murmured to themselves, seemingly either impressed or envious.</p>
<p>Anna half-listened to the introductions, but quickly found she was focusing on mentally rehearsing what she would say once the teacher moved on to her. Her neighbour started speaking before she had finished thinking, and she sat up straight and tugged at her collar in preparation for her own presentation.</p>
<p>Once the student next to her - whose name she had missed - stopped speaking, Anna waited a moment, then spoke quickly and confidently. “My name is Anna Meier, and I’m eleven years old. Nice to meet you!” She smiled broadly and looked around the room at the staring students. “I enjoy reading, drawing and swimming.” She scanned the circle again with a hint of nervousness, looking for any reaction to her introduction, but little was forthcoming. After a moment, she turned to the neighbour on her right, and the process continued around the circle.</p>
<p>Ms. Rissler thanked the class, then continued to explain the rest of the day. As she spoke, she handed out timetables, and Anna looked over hers. After the induction activities this morning, and then lunch, she would have two lessons today: mathematics and then geography. She rolled her eyes momentarily upon reading the latter, it not being one of her favourite subjects.</p>
<p>Once the session with Ms. Rissler was over, it was time to go to lunch. The class all walked to the cafeteria together, briefly in hushed awkwardness before the more outgoing members of the class started to address their new classmates.</p>
<p>Having set off from nearby seats, Anna walked next to Elisa, who seemed to be studying the patterns on the floor. Anna walked alongside her in silence for a minute, then cleared her throat. “Hi - Elisa, right?” she asked, trying to be polite and friendly.</p>
<p>“Oh,” the other girl replied, looking up. “Yes.” She paused a moment. “Nice to meet you.”</p>
<p>Anna gave her a broad smile. “Nice to meet you too!” she replied. There was no immediate response, so she followed with, “Ms. Rissler seems nice, don’t you think?” They joined the queue in the cafeteria. “She seems nice,” agreed Elisa, but proffered no further thoughts. Anna smiled again, a little awkwardly, then waited as the line shuffled forwards.</p>
<p>The class sat down together on a long table once they had made their selections. Elisa sat opposite Anna, their flimsy connection seemingly counting for something amongst a crowd of perfect strangers. Anna saw her looking at her between bites, and she tried again to make conversation. She learned about Elisa’s previous school, that she had one sister, and which music she liked, but the conversation was awkward and mostly one-sided, so she was glad when lunch was over and it was time to attend her first class.</p>
<p>Mathematics was taught by Mr. Heidecker, an older man with thinning hair and glasses, who spoke rather flatly. Anna was glad she had sat in the front row, as it might have been difficult to hear him well otherwise, especially as some of the students in the back row seemed to be whispering to each other. Perhaps they were carrying on conversations from lunch which had gone more successfully than hers.
The subject being one that it usually paid to concentrate on, Anna listened intently to the teacher, pen at the ready to make copious notes. But the lesson was slow getting started, and seemed to be repeating material that she had previously studied, so she found herself staring at the checked pattern of his jacket between jotting down the occasional line. She supposed that he wanted to ensure that everyone had a solid grounding in the basics before carrying on; on the one hand, it was going to make this class easier for the first few lessons, but somehow it felt like she hadn’t really started properly.</p>
<p>The end of the lesson came slowly, and without any homework being set. The next lesson would be geography, and Anna was sure it wouldn’t go any quicker.</p>
<p>This time, the teacher was a rather eccentric character. Mr. Ruth had a shock of red hair and wore a yellow floral-patterned, open-necked shirt above his long trousers, seemingly looking a little out of time and place, and certainly a marked contrast to his predecessor. He strode into the classroom and stood in front of the desk, leaning back against it, then proceeded to alternate between drawing on the blackboard and walking between the desks as he started talking about the cantons of Switzerland. It seemed he was well-travelled and had plenty of anecdotes and interesting facts to drop into the lesson, and Anna couldn’t help but find herself surprisingly interested, despite her general lack of enthusiasm for the subject - Mr. Ruth was certainly an engaging teacher.</p>
<p>He was not, however, also to let them leave without setting any homework. In fact, he expected a researched report on a particular canton written within the week. Anna was assigned Thurgau, and noted it down with a little trepidation: she wanted to give a good first impression, but her first assignment was not straightforward, and she hadn’t had her strongest marks in geography before.</p>
<p>The end of the geography lesson also marked the end of Anna’s first day of lessons. Her class filed out of the room quickly, breaking off into groups either pre-existing or hastily formed through proximity and the day’s shared experiences. Of those in her class, she had only really connected with Elisa on any level, but she wasn’t enthusiastic to endure more awkward conversations, so she didn’t seek any out. Nor did she know where Thomas or Stephanie might be, or have any way to contact them short of stumbling across them on her way. She decided to stop off at the library to look for a book on Switzerland to research her report before heading home.</p>
<p>The library was, unsurprisingly, quiet, not only in volume but also in traffic. It being the first day of the year, it seemed that most of the students hadn’t started studying in earnest yet, and only a few of the rows of desks were occupied. The stacks of books around the walls, however, were enticing. Anna wandered around for a few minutes before finding the geography section, then spent a few more selecting an appropriate one to borrow. She took it to the front desk to be stamped by the librarian, then walked outside.</p>
<p>There were several small groups of students outside, but none that Anna recognised immediately. The clouds above had darkened and threatened a summer rain shower, so she didn’t wish to linger too long, as she hadn’t brought anything to protect herself if she was caught out. Nevertheless, the bus stop wasn’t far from the entrance of the school, and before long she was on her way home. A couple of others who looked a few years older than her, each with a bag, followed her onto the bus, then sat at the back. Anna wondered if they were also students at her new school. She had selected a window seat halfway down the bus, and leaned her shoulder against it as the other side started to become spattered with rain. She drew the book she had borrowed out of her bag and started reading.</p>
<p>The shower was short-lived, and was beginning to die down by the time that she got off the bus a few streets from home. Nevertheless, Anna walked briskly, clutching her satchel against her body to try to protect its contents from the last vestiges of the downpour. Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to get home, and neither she nor it were too worse the wear for the experience. Her mother’s car was back, so she hurried up to the front door and pressed the doorbell.</p>
<p>Her mother rushed to the door and opened it wide. “Anna!” She flung her arms around her daughter, who returned the gesture with rather less exuberance. “How was your first day?” Her mother’s expression suddenly turned. “Oh, you’re wet! You must take an umbrella tomorrow!”</p>
<p>They went into the living room, dominated by a large sofa rather dwarfing the television screen. Sitting down prompted a long conversation during which Anna was plied with another of the morning’s leftover cakes and asked to recount the events of the day. Her mother, it seemed, wanted to know every detail, and was particularly anxious to know whether Anna was happy there.</p>
<p>“Did you get to know anyone from your new class?”</p>
<p>Anna bit her lip. “Well, I talked to a girl called Elisa. She sits next to me.”</p>
<p>“Oh! Lovely! I’m sure you’ll come to be good friends!”</p>
<p>“Maybe.” Anna shrugged a little, and fidgeted a little on the sofa. “I need to start working on my geography report later.”</p>
<p>Her mother clasped her hands. “I’m sure, dear. Well, I should start the dinner before your father gets home.” She stood up and walked off to the kitchen.</p>
<p>Anna deflated a little into the sofa now that the questioning was over and sat there quietly for a minute, then got up again and turned on the television. There was a quiz show playing, and she followed along, trying to answer the questions before the contestants. She didn’t get very many of them right, but she felt quite good about herself whenever she did manage to. Afterwards, a cartoon started, which Anna half-watched while thinking about the events of the day and how she would approach the report.</p>
<p>She didn’t get to see the end before she heard keys rattling in the front door, followed by the door opening and her father stepping in. Anna stood up and walked over to the door of the living room to greet him. He was around average height and build, and wore his dark blonde hair short on the back and sides atop a face that was beginning to show a few wrinkles. He was wearing his grey suit, as normal, and carrying his briefcase, which he placed down once he came inside.</p>
<p>“Ah, Anna,” he said, taking off his jacket and hanging it up on a hook by the door. “How did it go?”</p>
<p>The conversation was, in many ways, a repeat of that from earlier, although this time Anna was leading the conversation, with her father mostly nodding to her in response.</p>
<p>“… and really I found the geography lesson more interesting than I thought! I even got a book to start my report tonight. I can show it to you if you like?”</p>
<p>Her father put a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe later. I’m glad it went well, but I expect dinner's almost ready. I should get changed.” He patted her shoulder and walked off up the stairs, leaving her to follow him with her eyes before she returned to the living room and sat down again. The cartoon had finished, and the news was starting. Apparently there had been some sort of protest that had made the news, but by the time the headlines were finished, her mother was calling her to dinner.</p>
<p>The meal was of pork filet and Rösti, and Anna sat down to eat. Before long, she was joined by both of her parents. Having largely exhausted the topic of the events of the school day previously, the conversation which did occur over dinner was mostly about her father’s conference. Anna didn’t entirely follow what it had been about, and she wasn’t sure to what extent her mother did, but she listened quietly to the conversation between them. It wasn’t unusual for him to be away on business or to work late, anyway, particularly in the last couple of years.</p>
<p>Aware that she hadn’t yet done any work on her report, Anna asked to be excused once she’d finished her meal, then went up to her room and sat down at the desk with a workbook and the information on Thurgau. It was only the first day, and she didn’t have to submit this for a week, but she would surely get more homework set in the days to come, and she didn’t want to fall behind.</p>
<p>By the time the sun went down, she had finished reading through the relevant parts of the book and started on her report, following the outline that she had written on the first page of the workbook. She was starting to feel quite tired, it having been a long and busy day, but was pleased to have made a good amount of progress on the report.</p>
<p>Before getting ready to sleep, Anna walked downstairs again to say goodnight to her parents. She found her mother in the living room, watching a drama production on television, while her father sat reading the paper. Her mother jumped up and embraced her, kissing her cheek and wishing her a lovely night. Her father put his paper down on his lap and gave her a wave.</p>
<p>Afterwards, she headed back up the stairs and got ready for bed. Before she slept, she pulled out a magazine from a drawer in her beside table. She wouldn’t like to admit that she read the girls’ weekly, particularly to her father, but it did have some fun stories, and some of the fashion tips were useful… and it was nice to not think about schoolwork for a while to relax. She turned out the main light and, leaving the bedside lamp on, settled down to read for a little while.</p>
<p>Finally, it was time to put away the magazine and get some rest. Tomorrow there would be a full day of classes, and she needed to be ready for the challenges the next day would bring.</p>
First Day Pt. 3 - Story Time3322016-04-01T14:20:222016-04-01T14:20:22shinmerahttps://shinmera.com/shinmera@tymoon.eu<p>There is something almost magical about a good, cool shower; as if it not only cleaned your body but also cleansed your mind, washing your troubles down the drain. Monika's head felt light on her shoulders and she was once again able to think clearly. All freshened up, she let herself fall onto her bed and watched the dust glimmer in the air for a moment. With a yank she got back onto her feet and went on to fetch her backpack downstairs. She might as well get started on the homework they had gotten. She placed her things neatly onto the living room table, and then remembered that she still hadn't eaten anything for lunch. A quick sandwich later she was finally ready to get to work.</p>
<p>Time rushed by quickly as the pages in the French dictionary fluttered about and the empty gaps in the exercise sheet got filled up; slowly, but surely. French vocabulary had always been a problem for her. The words just didn't seem to want to stick, so she often had to look things up to be sure. One thing had always given her confidence though: she had never been the worst in any of the tests in primary school. Never the best either, but still. Hopefully that would stay the same in the Gymnasium now, but the fact that it was supposed to be on an entirely new level scared her a bit.</p>
<p>An hour later she was finally done and rather certain that she had gotten things right. Exercise sheets usually weren't a problem for her, mostly because she could revise them and take her time to get things right. Exams on the other hand always made her sweat under the pressure of time. She didn't look forward to her first test. If the lesson was anything to go by, it would surely be absolutely brutal. </p>
<p>Just then the front door opened and Florian slouched through. With him, a swath of hot, summer air rushed in. He let his backpack fall to the ground and without a word wandered upstairs. Monika gathered her belongings and brought everything back into her room. It was now around 15:30, so maybe three hours until her dad would come home and dinner would be served. She decided to spend the rest of the time until then reading comic books.</p>
<p>She finally got bored of re-reading the same comic books she had had for years about two hours later and went on over to bother her brother, who was lying on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. “You look like a mess. Did you come home in a garbage truck?” Monika grinned. Florian grunted “at least you're chipper. How was your first day?” “It was..” she hesitated and thought before answering “alright, I guess. Our French teacher is really scary, but the rest of the teachers seem nice.” Florian got up and brushed the sweat off his forehead. “That's good. I'm sure you'll get the hang of French eventually too,” he assured her. “The weirdest thing happened afterwards though! Some boy from another class stopped me when I wanted to leave, stammered something, and then just turned around again!” Florian raised an eyebrow at her and asked “do you know what he wanted?” “I think he mistook me for someone else, but that's kind of weird since I'm sure he saw me coming out of my classroom. And he seemed older than me, so I don't know.” “Well, it happens. Don't think too much of it unless it happens again” Florian shrugged.</p>
<p>Monika let herself fall onto the bed besides him and asked “So what's up with you? You seem more out of it than usual.” “I– I don't know. I think the heat is just getting to me.” “Hmm, well you could take a shower if that's all” Monika mused as she swayed her legs back and forth. Florian said nothing and just stared into space again. She watched him for a minute out of the corner of her eyes. Not a muscle moved on his face. With a sigh she dropped back onto her feet. “Well, let me know when you're feeling better again.” Seeing no reaction from him whatsoever still she left and went downstairs to bug her mom for a bit.</p>
<p>“Mom, I'm bored” Monika moaned as she rested her head on the kitchen counter. “Then peel these” Anja flatly replied and placed a tray of potatoes with a knife in front of Monika. She sighed and asked “so what are we having for dinner tonight” as she got to work. “Fried potatoes and Fleischkäse²” was the response after Anja had placed the Fleischkäse into the oven. “Sounds good” Monika concluded, after which the two continued cooking and preparing together in silence.</p>
<p>Right on time for dinner, Julien crashed through the door. He patted his daughter heartily on her back and seated himself at the table. “Smells great” he remarked. Later he added “I'm starving.” Monika always thought her dad looked a lot like a bear. He had a big, strong build, a thick, black beard, and hairy forearms. Her mother wasn't a frail twig either, but the two still made quite a contrasting image if placed side-by-side. It didn't take long for him to notice that the table wasn't fully staffed yet, so he bellowed for Florian to come for dinner.</p>
<p>As usual, not much was said while they ate. Monika enjoyed the food a lot, only now realising just how hungry she had become. A meagre sandwich for lunch really didn't cut it, but perhaps that just made dinner all the more delicious. Not a single bit of food was left over, and everyone seemed satisfied. And so, with their bellies stuffed, the drowsiness soon started to set in. “How was school?” Julien asked, leaning back in his chair. “It was fine” Monika answered slowly. “The teachers so far are alright, except perhaps the French teacher. He scared the entire class. I wonder if that's what military is like.” “Well, in my day all the teachers were really strict and stern. They used to beat us over the hands with a ruler if we did anything wrong!” Julien gestured with his fingers as if he could still feel the ruler hitting down on them. “Apparently he got into trouble a lot” Anja chimed in. “Yeah, I was called up a lot and didn't know what to say, so I just stood silent. They really didn't appreciate that” he went on, a far-away look in his eyes. “Well, did they give you any homework already?” he asked as he snapped back out of it. “Yeah, but I finished it already” Monika sighed. “That's good. Scurry off then!” he concluded. Anja started cleaning off the table, and Florian was made to stay to wash the dishes.</p>
<p>Monika went back upstairs and threw herself onto her bed again. It was getting late already, but a bit of sunlight still remained to brighten up the world outside. She grabbed her sketchpad off her desk and doodled for a bit, until her eyes finally started to become heavy. She looked at the few doodles she had managed to produce, but wasn't very happy with them. Putting everything aside she started to undress and get ready for bed. Her pyjamas almost felt hotter than her day clothes, but she hoped it would cool down a bit over night to compensate for that. A quick toilet break and tooth-brushing later she stood in her room again, staring out of her window. A familiar view presented itself to her; the few street lights along the road outside painted things in a soft orange, contrasted by the dark blue sky above.</p>
<p>Monika loved this tranquil and quiet mood. She opened the window, and the clean air rushed inside, washing out the dust that had built up over the day. It was still warm outside, but bearably so. After she had bathed herself in this summer night atmosphere for a few minutes, she managed to convince herself to bid adieu to this day and go to sleep. With the excitement and stress of the first school day done with and the air slowly cooling down, she managed to fall asleep quickly.</p>
<p>That night she had pleasant dreams. Only two things bothered her, but they were small noise in the sea of relief and happiness that rushed about her mind. She dreamt about life on a farm, with a small village on the other side of the hill. It was bright and colourful and the smell of hay lay in the air. She wandered about the fields, the wind quietly flowing through her hair. On her journey she came across a few farmers, who excitedly talked about Koala prices in French. She also encountered a small boy that sat under a large cherry blossom tree near a pond. The boy silently watched the reflection in the pond. It showed large amounts of petals falling, and yet not a single one of them ever reached the surface. Monika travelled long and far, walking through fields, on roads under trees, on and on into the distance. Suddenly the colours started to fade away, the forms dissolved. She blinked and was back in her bed, the morning sun shining into her room.</p>
<p>—<br>
² A type of meat popular in Germany and Austria, sort of a cross between meat loaf and a baked paté.</p>
First Day Pt. 2 - Story Time3312016-04-01T14:05:292016-04-01T14:05:29shinmerahttps://shinmera.com/shinmera@tymoon.eu<p>For both Monika and Florian their ride to school went by rather quickly, although for very different reasons. Monika's head was once again filled with piercing questions about her new life, while Florian's was almost completely empty, or perhaps just filled with a mist that made everything feel dull and weary. For Florian, this was a perfectly normal situation. It took him at least three hours every morning before he was actually, truly awake. A trait he shared with his mother; anything they did before that just felt like an immense drag. Monika on the other hand simply didn't adapt well to sudden changes. Situations like these always brought her into great turmoil. Normally she wouldn't think too much about anything, which would make trips like these take much longer than it did now.</p>
<p>A bit confused at how quickly this part of the day had already passed by, Monika arrived at the cantonal school Wiedikon and parked her bike next to Florian's. “How late is it?” Monika asked as she looked around for a clock. Florian yawned, squeezed a tear out of his left eye and shrugged. They walked around the side of the building and onto the plaza. The big clock at the top of the school's front showed that it was just about past 7:20. Monika sighed in relief and the two of them looked around for a bit. A few people were standing about here and there, all of them very young. No doubt part of the new students just like her. “This sucks,” Florian groaned. “Now what am I going to do for half an hour until classes start?” Monika didn't pay him much mind and instead went on ahead through the gate into the entrance hall.</p>
<p>A couple of signs had been put up to guide people to the large lecture hall where the entrance ceremony would be held. Monika bit her lower lip and wondered if she should head on in already. They were quite a bit too early, but she didn't really know what else to do and wandering around getting lost didn't really seem like a good idea. Florian patted her on the back and mockingly said “Have fun, sis.” Without a further word he left her standing and shuffled off in the direction of his classroom. Monika sighed again, finally convincing herself to follow the signs.</p>
<p>The hall was far from filled, but at least there were a couple more people around than on the plaza. Monika picked a chair that was well distanced from everyone else's and seated herself. Most of the other students were either trying to figure out a way to get some more sleep in the uncomfortable seats, or fidgeted about excitedly. There were two pairs that were quietly chattering with each other, probably old friends from primary school. Looking around the hall, Monika was a bit disappointed to find it appear so ordinary. There was no sign of special arrangements having been made for this, and in general the hall didn't have any kind of fancy appearance. It was built much more with practical purposes in mind than extravagant ones.</p>
<p>Monika passed her time twiddling her thumbs, trying to calm herself down. The seats were slowly taken up more and more as time moved closer to 7:45. People were dressed in all sorts of manners. Some looked really polished and probably spent a good hour getting themselves dressed for this, while others looked rather ragged. Monika studied the various faces, but none of them really spoke to her directly. They all looked foreign to her somehow. She sighed, rested her head on her hands and simply waited for the speech to begin, not paying mind to anyone else around her anymore.</p>
<p>Finally the headmaster stepped onto the stage. He looked very dry. White shirt, dark grey felt jacket. Gray hair and a black moustache decorated his wrinkly face alongside a pair of round, wire-frame glasses. Very contrasting to his features was his voice, which came in a very warm and comforting tone. To her surprise, Monika actually enjoyed listening. She felt much calmer and more comfortable now.</p>
<p>The speech was over rather quickly and they were then asked to find their classrooms. People streamed towards the exit and everyone pushed and shoved as if they were in a big hurry. Monika held on tightly to her backpack and went with the flow. Finally the crowd loosened up as they neared the entrance hall. Monika found a corner where she wouldn't get in anyone's way and got the entrance sheet out of her backpack. Room F12 it said. She quickly tucked the paper away again and followed the students up the stairs to the first floor.</p>
<p>The rooms were laid out rather confusingly and she couldn't quite make sense of the numbering scheme. After a few minutes of wandering around aimlessly and dodging other students, she finally managed to find her way.</p>
<p>The room was lit up brightly, the sun shone directly through the windows. A lot of students had yet to arrive, so it was only half-full by now. Some were eagerly talking with each other, others just stared out of the window or tried to find some more sleep still. Monika chose one of the free tables that was well enough distanced from everyone else. She didn't really want to bother anyone. Unsure of what to do exactly, she looked through her backpack once more and took out her agenda. Apparently the first class today would be German. She wondered what kind of things they would have to do for a class like this. She had heard from her brother that they sometimes read poems and such, which she wasn't very enthused by.</p>
<p>Not long after the teacher walked in and unpacked her suitcase on the table up front. She wore a white blouse and a chequered skirt. She had short, wavy, brown hair and looked to be in about her late thirties. The students that now walked in all got a bit of a scare and quickly hurried to an empty seat, thinking they had been late already. A meagre boy with freckles plaguing his face sat down to the right of Monika, but didn't mind her at all. He was much too focused on the teacher, who was now leaning against the wall and looked out of the window. To the left, a blonde girl with bright eyes and an excited giggle found her place to sit. She immediately greeted both of her desk neighbours, all the while shooting glances over at the teacher. Monika just introduced herself quickly and then went back to being silent while the blonde started up a hushed discussion with her other neighbour.</p>
<p>Finally the bell rang. The classroom was now fully seated, all eyes focused on the teacher, who slowly got away from the wall, picked up a piece of chalk and wrote her name onto the blackboard. “Good morning, kids. I'm Anna Hartmann, your German teacher” she introduced herself. “At least for now,” she went on. “In this semester we'll primarily go over some of the basic German grammar rules again. If you paid attention in primary school, this shouldn't be much of a problem for you. Then, if you manage to pass the probationary period, we'll gradually move on over to literature and other, much more exciting things than plain grammar.” She talked in a rather leisurely manner and it managed to calm a few of the students down, even if some seemed to flinch a bit at hearing the word “grammar”. </p>
<p>The lesson went on without really seeming to touch any actual material at all. Ms. Hartmann merely proceeded to lay out the plan for the semester and explain a few things about how everything would work, now that they were all high school students. She especially encouraged people to keep an agenda so that they could write down when they would have to hand in homework and so forth. Monika was pleased that she had already planned for that. The lesson ended with a short story about how Ms. Hartmann herself had gone through the probationary period back in her day, and she encouraged the students to study enough.</p>
<p>Monika wagered that the pace would pick up quickly next lesson. She was a bit disappointed that they hadn't had a real lesson yet, but perhaps not all teachers would take it as easy as Ms. Hartmann did. During the break the blonde introduced herself as Jennifer to Monika. They exchanged a few pleasantries and talked about the school for a bit, but didn't quite hit it off, so they both minded their own business again quickly. Monika started doodling into her agenda, making sure that nobody else could see it.</p>
<p>The next lesson turned out rather differently. As soon as the bell chimed, the teacher stepped through the door, slammed his suitcase onto the table, and wrote his name onto the blackboard. Mr. Knecht didn't have time for pleasantries and jumped right in, asking people to translate sentences from French. He then proceeded to hand out the textbooks to everyone and noted that he would collect the money for that from everyone that needed a copy next week. The rest of the lecture was spent starting off with the first chapter in the book. All the while the classroom was completely stiff and silent. No one dared to touch or mutter anything. It seemed to drag on forever too and was altogether probably the worst class she had ever had, Monika noted. Fortunately enough she wasn't called up too often, which came to her advantage as French wasn't one of her strongest suits. A lot of the students only managed to stammer something out very slowly when they were called up; knowing that she wasn't the only one comforted her a bit.</p>
<p>Everyone sighed in relief as the bell announced the end of the lesson. They had already been assigned homework for the end of the week as well. Monika now wished she hadn't hoped for a real class before. She had anticipated that there would be a strict teacher around, but nothing like this. The rest of her classmates apparently felt similarly as she overheard from the excited chatter during the break. Jennifer didn't try to talk to her again, so she spent her time looking around the classroom inspecting people for a bit. For the most part it was an expected mix of people. One boy stood out in particular however, thanks to his comparatively massive height. Monika wondered how tall he would become once he was fully grown up. Maybe he'd even reach the ceiling!</p>
<p>Since they had the afternoon off on Mondays, the last remaining class before they were free to go was now finally up, and it had to be math. The teacher had thick, black hair and a full beard alongside his thick-framed glasses. He looked a bit confused around the classroom after he had written his name on the blackboard and announced himself as Mr. Ammann. He wore black trousers and a grey vest over a white shirt. Monika thought he looked a bit ruffled and his coarse voice added on to that effect. Still, it was in a nice contrast compared to Mr. Knecht. He then went on: “I'll be your class teacher for the coming two years. What this means is that if there's any sort of, uh, problems then I'm the one to talk to. Otherwise if there's some kind of general activity going on then I suppose I'll be the one in charge of that as well.” He cleared his throat and continued. “Other than that I'll be teaching you math. Nothing too–” he gestured wildly with his hands “exotic or difficult to start off with though, no worries about that. It'll be tougher than what you've had before, that's true, but, uh, still nothing to be worried about for now.” He frowned, went around the desk and pulled a book out of his briefcase. “For this class, you'll need this book here. I'm sure some of you will have it already from your siblings and so forth, but for those who don't, you can buy it from me. See me after class if you do need one. If you don't, make sure to bring it with you from here on out.”</p>
<p>He then proceeded to explain various rules that the school had and other organisational things such as what to do in the case of absences or problems of similar nature until this lesson, too, was called to an end. “Alright, enjoy your lunch, and don't forget to come back tomorrow. School starts for real then” Mr. Ammann shouted over the noise. Monika overheard someone mutter “If that French class wasn't real school already I don't want to know what is.” Just thinking back to it made her frown, so she tried to avoid any memory concerning that class. Instead, she calmly packed her belongings and went on to leave.</p>
<p>Suddenly she was stopped dead in her tracks. Someone pulled on her sleeve, less than gently at that. Monika turned around and shouted “Hey! What are you doing?” A black-haired boy with a blue shirt and dark-blue jeans stared at her. He withdrew his hand immediately and looked rather puzzled. Monika retaliated with an expression that rivalled his in confusion, but didn't say anything else. The boy's face started to redden as the blood rushed to his head. He stammered something along the lines of “I thought you were ..” then turned around quickly and ran to some other students who watched him silently from a classroom. Monika stood there for another few seconds, but then finally managed to set her gears into motion again. She left quickly, not intending to repeat that encounter.</p>
<p>The late summer sun had already done plenty of work to heat up the air. The temperature was now approaching 30°C, and would only continue to rise over the afternoon. Monika vowed to make it to the relatively cool interior of her house before that would come to pass though. She loathed hot weather; everything felt exhausting, sweaty, and icky in it. Right now with the head wind to cool her down it wasn't too bad. But even if it had been 40°C and there hadn't been any wind whatsoever, Monika would not have taken notice. She was still too confused about everything that had happened today, and thus retreated into her own mind. Cycling back home was purely mechanical and required no conscious thought.</p>
<p>She only snapped back out of it as she was lying on the couch in the living room and her mother hushed her off of it. She was drenching it in sweat from the heat and effort of cycling. “Do you even know how difficult it is to clean this couch? Let me tell you: it's impossible!” Anja sighed and went on “You're burning red and you look like you might explode at any moment. Go on, scurry off and take a shower, young lady.” The door slammed shut behind her, Monika faced the stairs. A shower didn't sound bad at all right now, she thought.</p>
First Day Pt. 1 - Story Time3242015-09-02T21:24:052015-09-02T21:24:05shinmerahttps://shinmera.com/shinmera@tymoon.eu<p>Change is a fickle thing. While it might make things a lot better, it still only actually promises to bring one thing: uncertainty. Uncertainty makes people anxious, makes them worried and stressed out, irregardless of how things are likely to turn out in the end. It isn't surprising then that in a lot of folklore, any time that brings forth change is associated with a time for demons and all sorts of other evil-bringing creatures that cause humans grief and suffering. While this story is indeed about a time of great change, it is however fortunately enough not about demons, even if looking around the room could have very well led us to believe that some sort of demon must have done his deeds here. While for some people children are indeed embodiments of the devil himself, we shall abstain from such metaphors for now.</p>
<p>Instead we will try a more logical explanation for the mess at hand. Indeed it turns out that our lovely subject isn't a very orderly person when it comes to self-organisation. This aspect of her personality shows itself especially dominantly when she –for one reason or another– can't be her calm self and is instead excited and worried about something. And it just so happens that the day of this story does mark a rather big change in her life. It marks the beginning of high school, or to be more truthful, the Gymnasium¹. School takes up a lot of time in a young person's life, and it pretty much defines the majority of social interaction they will have outside of their family. Some people really like those aspects, they love to meet new people, hold interesting conversations, build relationships. Monika isn't exactly one of those people.</p>
<p>She had a rather scarring time in primary school and her upbringing mostly led her to develop a quiet and shy personality. While she isn't hostile towards others, she has learned that it is best to tend to herself and not to get involved too much. Keeping out of head's way and instead sticking her own between the covers of a book or two developed as her go-to strategy to avoid conflict with others. Irregardless of how hard you try to ignore people though, things still get through and can hit you hard. And so here she lies, wide awake in the early morning of this hot summer night. Eyes wide open, bedsheet merely strewn about, her mind racing with a million thoughts a second. A million fears and worries materialising. What kind of students will they be? Are they going to mock her? Are the teachers going to be stern and unforgiving? What happens if the same story from before goes on? Ah, so many possibilities! Of course, the sane thing to do would be to simply forget all of it. After all, it won't be of any use. But, the human mind does not lend itself too well towards this kind of consideration. It just thinks on and on, all the way through the night and into the morning.</p>
<p>In a situation like that, it's always good to have something to divert ones attention. For our case, it happens to be the alarm clock set for 6:30. The shrill ringing pierced through the silence and tore it to pieces. Monika shook herself and silenced the clock. She slowly rose to her feet and stretched thoroughly. She wasn't very happy about not having been able to sleep all night, but with these hot summer nights, the chance of her being able to sleep soundly was very slim anyway. She stared over to her school backpack and sighed. It was time to get going. She quickly readied her bed, fluffed the pillow, and threw her nightgown over her chair. Describing her room as small would be a vast understatement. All that fit into it was a single shelf, a small bed, a desk, and about one and a half square metres to move around in. This circumstance perhaps amplified the effect of the mess that was contained within. Books were scattered about, pens and notebooks lying all over the place, mixed with some clothes here and there. Still, Monika seemed to appreciate this mess and navigated it with a form of unique elegance. One by one she grabbed the appropriate clothes for the day from here and there without a second thought, as if she had perfectly planned out where to put them in advance.</p>
<p>Freshly clothed with a light, white summer dress, she headed on over across the hallway into the bathroom. She splashed some water onto her face and blinked into the mirror with a somewhat puzzled look. She didn't really know what to think of what she saw in there. A rather pale, round face with bright blue eyes and blonde hair stared back at her. A few faint freckles crossed her otherwise smooth cheeks. Her hair style was perhaps best described as a wavy mess. It flowed here and there, with a few curls sticking out of it at some points. As with most things concerning looks, she didn't quite know how to handle it, so she just went with what looked the most fun to her. With a shrug she averted her gaze from the mirror and dried her face off.</p>
<p>Heading downstairs she smelt freshly brewed coffee. As she entered the kitchen she was greeted by her brother. Florian merely squinted at her as he slowly chewed on a piece of toast that was barely covered in butter. His shirt was scruffy and beard stubbles covered his face, only amplifying the mess that was his hair. Monika was rather certain that if she were to look up ‘Morning Grump’ in a dictionary it would have a picture of Florian in it. Lying on the table were a couple of toasts of varying quality, some completely scorched, some barely toasted at all. Monika looked at them with suspicion, but convinced herself to sit down regardless. She picked the one that looked the least burnt out of the pile and looked at the wall clock. It was 6:42. School would start at 7:45 and it would take them half an hour tops to get there. As she buttered her toast, Florian slowly slurped his cup of coffee. Having noticed her gaze, he tried to tell her that she didn't have to worry about the time whatsoever, but the only thing he managed to get out of his mouth were a few grumbles reminiscent of grizzly bears, or perhaps some prehistorical sea creature. Monika just nodded in response. She didn't understand what he was saying, but she knew from experience that it was close to impossible to get anything resembling human speech out of Florian this early in the morning.</p>
<p>While Florian was still working on the same toast as ten minutes ago, Monika had long since finished and was impatiently drumming her fingers on the table. She kept looking back up at the clock, which only moved ever so slowly. Unsure how to bide her time she started to build little houses out of the remaining pieces of toast, but this too proved boring rather quickly. As the clock hit 7:00, Monika just about reached the end of her patience. “Can't we leave already?” she moaned as she threw a glance at Florian. He replied with a grunt and lightly shook his head. Annoyed, she crossed her arms on the table and rested her head on them, all the while scowling at Florian. She considered several drastic options on how to convince him to leave but she didn't want to anger him either, so she resorted to just staring him down angrily for as long as she could.</p>
<p>After five minutes of intense staring, Florian finally convinced himself to do something about the little gremlin that his sister had become. He slowly got up, cleared the dishes off the table and into the sink, and then –finally– made for the wardrobe. As soon as he had left the kitchen, Monika eagerly jumped off her seat and dashed to fetch her shoes. Within seconds she was all ready and out the front door, gazing into the rising morning sun. The weather wasn't too great, it had remained cloudy throughout the night, which kept the heat in. Still, it wasn't raining either, so Monika was quite fine with this. She loathed riding the bike through the rain. She impatiently bounced up and down, waiting for Florian to finally leave the house as well.</p>
<p>At this point you might wonder where their parents have been all morning. I suppose it can't hurt to give a short explanation on this. Their mother often slept in as she only had to do house work, and their father always left very early for his workshop. Monika didn't mind this much, Florian always took care of her after all, and Florian himself had long since stopped trying to get his parents' attention. As such, it hardly crossed their minds that it is indeed quite strange for their parents to not even show up for something as grand as the first high school day. Even if so, this titbit did set them apart from their classmates and had already earned Florian a few embarrassing questions in his time; something that Monika would come to encounter as well.</p>
<p>Florian slammed the door shut behind him, shoelaces barely tied and half of the shirt still sticking out of his ragged trousers. Monika grinned at him as she rode circles in front of the house. He unlocked his bike. “Alright, let's go.”</p>
<p>—<br>
¹ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gymnasium_(school)">A special form of high-school.</a></p>