The Cloud - 11. Chapter 11

Meridian, MS

Jefferson Elementary School

Lillian Hollister was overseeing a test to her fourth grade math class when there was a knock on her door.

She opened the door and the elderly Mrs. Barnett from across the hall whispered, “Come to the teacher’s lounge right away.”

She turned to her class and said, “Keep working, guys. I’ll be right back.”

She followed Mrs. Barnett, the fourth grade English teacher at Jefferson Elementary since Moses was a student, into the teacher’s lounge.

She watched the news broadcast, and suddenly all the ruckus of the last week made sense.

Mr. Black, the school principal, elbowed his way into the lounge and said, “I just got a call from the district. Go back to your rooms and turn on the televisions. The President will be addressing the nation shortly.”

Lillian walked back to her class in a daze.

She had her class hand in their papers and turned on the television. She sat in her classroom with her twenty-five fourth graders and waited for President Harrison’s address.