Enough school yet?

On the way to find a tree to sit under and eat some fruit, an old habit the girl had picked up from her early years climbing trees to pick fruit and eat either up there in the branches or on the ground with her back against the trunk, maybe reading some poetry or stories of people's lives or travels, long days with plenty of time to think about stuff and see behind the surface to the mystery of things, before she has even got out of the quadrangle, amidst the noise of classes breaking up for lunch a boy's voice says something she doesn't quite decipher and she keeps walking, her body and brain needing nourishment.

A hand grabs her shoulder and this time the voice is clearer, though the same could not be said of the inner process creating it. 'I said do you wanna go out? Me n you?' She turns slowly and smoothly and lightly brushes the boys arm so his hand comes off her shoulder.

One day about four years previously the girl had been walking through a park early in the morning.

She had followed some wiki links that lead to a rare bird that lives in and around the park and has a peculiar call only heard just before dawn, and she wanted to hear it in person.

There was a small group of people doing some tai chi, and she watched them whilst waiting and listening. The gentle movements helped her relax and brought her to presence.

Eventually the bird song did begin, and she was struck by how mournful it sounded. She knew this was simple anthropomorphism, that the bird was calling to identify itself to others of it's species, yet she acknowledged the feeling and wondered at it's mystery as she followed the sound off into the bushland surrounding the park.

Picking her way along little animal tracks and gullies, she was finally close enough to catch a glimpse high in a tall tree of a quite unremarkable, small brown bird, which somehow deepened the mystery of the sound.

Returning to the park, the tai chi group had finished their slow, synchronised movement and it looked like they were throwing each other around! She went over for a closer look and when a couple of them looked up and smiled she went over for a chat.

They showed her how by staying relaxed we can deal with a much larger aggressor by simply diverting their energy, that by not using strength we don't ask them to use strength, and we can allow them to do other than their intention. She was fascinated, and joined with the group on many mornings over the following year or so, according to her way of learning what, when and with whom she chooses.. her unschooling way.

So as she brushes the boy's arm off her shoulder it is done not so much with her arm as it is a result of her body movement as she turns towards him and moves away a little at the same time. He hardly even notices. She really is hungry and just wants to go, but responds anyway, probably because she is hungry and a bit edgy.

When our inner message is to nourish our body and for some reason we don't honour our body thus, there's a disconnection between our inner feminine and inner masculine, and our actions are perhaps not as wise as they may have been.

'Do you feel we have a deep connection?.. with a piercing look..' There's a harsh kind of laughter in his eyes 'I'll give you a deep connection that you'll feel!.. grabbing his groin with his left hand..' 'Yeah, I'm beginning to wonder if your brain is connected to anything else.' She turns to walk away. 'Frigid bitch!' She stops, turns to face him with a hard look. 'That is sexual harrassment. I'm reporting you.' 'Hahahahaha, go right ahead. Whatever.' He walks off laughing.

She quickly ducks into the principal's office just before leaving the quadangle and outlines her grievance. 'They're teenage boys, what do you expect?' 'What I expect is respect, always.' 'Look, you can file a formal complaint, it's a lot of paperwork and it won't go anywhere. He'll just get detention and then he'll treat you even worse.' She notes the look of finality in the principal's eyes, the resignation to the inevitable, and feels the futility of taking it any further.

As she walks past the deputy principal's office she hears a stern voice saying 'It's just crowd control, mate. And stick to the curriculum. If you start 'connecting' with them they'll walk all over you. Now if you want to keep your job... she has now paused outside the door.. and shut that door will you. Love hearts for a mark! I'll be keeping... ... ...'

As her English teacher closes the door he gives her a look of quiet desperation.. just the beginnings of the look she's just seen in the principal's eyes.

She finds her tree and eating an apple feels the support of the trunk help her tune in and relax, allaying the feeling of despondency, and the food nourishing her body.

She had been feeling she'd had enough of this school and was inclined to go home and get away from this place of rules, bells, rudeness and control, but now, feeling a little energised is actually looking forward to this afternoon's class, Physical Education. 'Just what my body needs, some running around n stuff, yeah!'