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                                                                                      MICAH’S BIG DAY AT SCHOOL
                                                                                                                     BY
                                                                                                          RICK KURTIS

                                                                                      MICAH’S BIG DAY AT SCHOOL
                                                                                                                     BY
                                                                                                          RICK KURTIS
                                                                                                                Chapter 1
 
The sun just started to peek out from the horizon. The clouds sparkled with a brilliant glow of gold while the sun-streams burst across the sky. Micah saw the light shine through the bedroom window and jumped out of bed with excitement. Today was the day that Micah started school. Daddy stood in the doorway and asked, “Are you up? I'll put your clothes on the bed. You go wash up, and don't forget to brush your teeth.” Daddy patted Micah on the head and walked out of the room. Micah took a quick shower, dried off and dressed.
When Micah entered the kitchen, Daddy was putting a bowl of cereal on the table. Micah sat down, “Oh! My favorite, Lucky Charms,” and grabbed a spoon to start to eat. “Daddy, can I watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?”
Daddy packed a lunch into a backpack, “No, we don't have time. Now finish eating, and I bet you didn't brush your teeth.”
Micah finished the cereal and drank a glass of milk, “What, and have minty cereal? How gross, Daddy.” Micah put the bowl into the sink and headed off to brush.
Standing at the bathroom sink, Micah looked at the smiling face in the mirror then heard Daddy call out, “Come on, Micah, it's time to go.” Micah and Daddy shut the door of their home and started off toward school.
When they approached the school, Micah said goodbye and gave Daddy a hug. Micah walked off with all the other children into the big doors of the school. All the children from the neighborhood were there. While making small talk and checking out each other's outfits, the school bell rang. Then an announcement came over the PA system, “Good morning students. This is your Principal, Miss Golliwogger. Welcome to the first day of school. Today we have a special assembly planned in the courtyard but for now, find your classrooms and enjoy.”
Micah looked at the paper that was sent by mail. (Room number 32) Micah headed out of the courtyard and down the hall. When Micah stepped through the door, half of the children in the class were waving and said, “Hi, Micah! Micah, Micah, come sit by me!”
The Teacher finished writing her name on the chalkboard and turned to look at Micah who came through the door, “Well, aren't you the popular one!” Then she clapped her hands and announced, “All right class, settle down, settle down.” The class settled down as the remainder of the children filed into the room. The Teacher counted the heads, then shut the door. While she walked back to her desk, she talked, “Welcome to a new year at Tooker Elementary School. This is my first year teaching here, so I don't know any of you. My name is Mrs. Frumpwinkel. I'm from Ohio and I like butterflies. Let's go around the room and one by one, come up to the front, pick up your work book and tell us your name and what you like. Micah, let's start with you, being that you are the only name I know right now, okay?”
Micah stood up, went by the Teacher's desk and picked up a work book. Micah turned to face the class and said, “Hi, my name is Micah, and I like action super heroes.” Micah went back to sit down as the class clapped and cheered.
The Teacher had the class quiet down, “All right class, let's keep it quiet and polite so I can hear, next.” The rest of the class, one by one, stood and announced who they were and what they liked. A few more times, there were snickers and the Teacher had to remind them, but all in all, they all made it through. The last child sat down and the Teacher continued, “Okay then, this is your first period class. So every morning, I want to see your bright smiling faces. Now open your books to the first page and let's get started.”
Micah paged through the book while the Teacher was writing on the chalkboard. Micah thought, (Done, easy, I know all this. One class down, five classes to go.) Micah wrote down the assignment while the Teacher turned around. “Okay class, because of a special assembly, this class is now over.” The bell rang and the Teacher continued, “Read the first chapter and write down a sentence, what you thought about it and we will go through them tomorrow.”
The children packed up and headed to their next class. One by one, they went for a short meet and greet for all their subjects. Now it was time for lunch. All the children filed into the cafeteria. Some stood in line with their trays, others went straight to the tables with a sack lunch. Micah looked at the menu board, (Frank and beans and cheese noodles, not bad.) Grabbing a juice, Micah sat at a table with the sack lunch that Mama packed.
Some of his friends sat close by, along with new students in school. They introduced themselves to Micah and talked away the noon hour while they ate and laughed, just enjoying their lunch. At one point, Matthew laughed so hard that milk came out his nose. Micah and the other students laughed while Micah handed him some extra napkins.
Once again the school bell rang and the PA system clattered. “Good afternoon students. The special event will be held on the side schoolyard in a half hour, so finish up your meals and I’ll see you all there.” All the children chatted and finished up.
                                                                                                               Chapter 2
 
 The schoolyard started to fill with students. All the Teachers, and the Principle were already there sitting on a small stage platform. The students all found bleacher seats and settled in. Principal Golliwogger stepped up to the microphone, “Good afternoon, Students.”
All the children answered, “Good afternoon, Principal Golliwogger.”                      
Miss Golliwogger continued, “Did you all enjoy your classes so far?”
The children responded by clapping and making noises of mixed emotions. Miss Golliwogger frowned, “I can't hear you. You can do better than that. Did you enjoy your classes?” All the children clapped loudly, hooting and hollering with joy, laughter and excitement. “That's Better” she replied. “Now for this afternoon's assembly, I would like to introduce our guest speaker.”
When she said that, a whole bunch of sirens started to go off. All of the children jumped and watched while an ambulance and three fire trucks came around the corner, and drove into the school’s side yard. They pulled up and parked behind the platform, in front of the bleachers. They turned off their sirens, but left on the flashing lights. All of the Firefighters jumped out in full gear and started to run the hoses. The Fire Chief stepped up to the podium, “Everyone stay calm. My name is Fire Chief, John Waterworks. We are here on behalf of the School Fire Safety Program,” he said with a smile.
Micah and the class listened intently while Fire Chief John went on and on. The other Firefighters set up all of their stuff. Then the Fire Chief announced, “There is a number on each bleacher seat. When I call out your number, please come down to the stage.” He closed his eyes and started to call out random numbers, “fifteen, four, seven, thirty-three, nine, seventeen, twenty-four, forty-eight, ninety-three, sixty-two, fifty-one, seventy-seven, eighty-five, fifty-six, and twenty-nine.”
Micah looked at the number on the front of the seat. “Seventy-seven, that’s me,” he said with excitement.
The children around Micah said, “That's you, that's you, go down to the stage.” The rest of the children clapped while the fifteen students stepped down from the bleachers. While they walked down, the Fire Chief was talking to the Principal. She nodded her head when he pointed to the school.
When Micah reached the stage with the others, the Principal told Micah to follow her into the school. While they walked away, Micah turned to see the other classmates putting on gear with the help of the Firefighters. (I'm missing out,) Micah thought. “Did I do something wrong, Principal Golliwogger?” Micah asked.
The Principal turned to Micah, “Oh no, no, no, no, no, you were chosen for a special part of the Fire Chief’s demonstration. Just follow me.” Micah walked with the Principal to the end of the school, by the janitorial room. The Principal took out her keys and unlocked the door and they went inside. The Principal looked around, “Oh, Carl, what a mess. I'm going to have to talk to that man. Micah, help me clear this stuff away from this other door.” Micah pitched in and moved some boxes and the mop pail.
The Principal unlocked the door and opened it up. Micah looked inside while the Principal turned on the light. “It's a staircase?” Micah questioned with a puzzled look.
The Principal took Micah by the hand, “Why yes it is. Come, come, we mustn't dillydally,” and up the stairs they went.
When they reached the top and opened the door, Micah stepped out onto the roof of the school. The Principal and Micah walked back toward the area where the fire trucks were parked below. Micah saw water spraying and splashing up into the air off the side of the building. Fire Chief John gave the orders over the loudspeaker, “Hold pressure, someone's up there.” The hoses stopped.
The Principal said, “That's our cue,” and they walked to the edge of the building. Looking down, Micah could see the children in full gear, holding the fire hoses with the Firefighters. Principal Golliwogger tapped Micah on the shoulder, “Wave your arms and shout to be rescued.”
Micah started to shout, “Up here! Up here! We're here, we're here. Help! Help!”
                                                                                                      Chapter 3
 
 Fire Chief John gave the order, “Ladder truck, employ, midrange, building five.” Micah looked down and saw all the children in the bleachers were waving and cheering for Micah. The ladder truck revved up its engine and honked its horn to let people know it was on the move. Micah saw his friend, Matthew at the controls of the ladder with one of the Firefighters. The ladder swung around off the big truck, and rose high into the air. It swung over toward the wall of the school were Micah and the Principle stood. Then it slowly telescoped out toward the building. The Fire Chief guided them in, “Up, closer, three, two, one, hold! Ladders in place. Help is coming, wait for the Firefighter to come get you.”
Micah watched the Firefighter crawl out onto the ladder making his way to the roof. The Firefighter jumped down onto the roof. “Hi, I'm Firefighter Paul. Normally, I would take the child first, but for this demonstration I was told to take the Principal first. So you must stand right here until we come back for you, okay?”
Micah agreed and watched the Firefighter take the Principal down the ladder. He was so excited and could hardly wait to go down the big long ladder.
When they reached the end of the ladder, Micah heard a big fake ((KABOOM)). The Fire Chief announced loudly, “Ladder deploy, ladder deploy, hoses up, pressure engage.” The water started spraying up on the building. Micah stepped back, so not to get
                                                                                                     Chapter 4
 
All of a sudden, Micah saw a big gust of wind blowing the top of the trees around. The hoses stopped spraying and now he could hear the sound of the wind being chopped by the blades of a rescue helicopter. (Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop) The helicopter rose up high in the air over the top of the school. All the children watched while a Firefighter climbed out from the chopper onto a cable. The cable started to descend down from the helicopter onto the roof. Micah looked up and stepped aside when the Firefighter touched down onto the roof. “Hi there, are you okay? My name is Firefighter Diane. Let's put you into this harness.”
Firefighter Diane wrapped the harness belts around Micah's legs, shoulders, and chest and then hooked it to the cable. She pulled out her radio and gave the command, “Survivor ready for transport.” She grabbed on tight to the cable, held on to Micah, and the helicopter lifted both of them up and flew over the school in a big circle. The helicopter flew back over the trees with Micah and the Firefighter so close that their feet could almost touch the leaves. Micah looked down and saw all the children standing and applauding as the chopper stopped over the crowd and started to lower the cable. Micah and Firefighter Diane touched the ground next to the podium. Diane took the cable off and radioed them to hoist away the cable. Once the cable made it back up to the helicopter, the chopper flew away.
Micah took off the harness and all the children were shouting cheers while Micah, the other fourteen volunteers, and the Firefighters all took a bow. The rest of the afternoon was learning safety and exploring the fire trucks and the ambulance. All the children received a fire safety bag. They all had so many questions.
                                                                                                       Chapter5
 
 As the parents started to arrive, Micah saw his Daddy walking up. Micah ran over to talk about all the day’s events.
All the way home, Micah talked about the Teachers and the classes. All through supper, it was about the Fire Safety Program and all that they had learned. Into the night, something would pop up in Micah’s mind about what went on at school.
Micah got ready for bed and hung the Firefighter T-shirt that he received on the door facing the bed. Micah looked at the T-shirt, then up at the ceiling and smiled, while Daddy turned out the light and said, “Good night, Micah.”
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