Uncle Long Legs - Leading Primary School Students One Step Ahead in Reading Classics

Author: Webster
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: It's a terrible day! Every Wednesday is a day of anxious waiting, enduring, and bustling, only to forget it all by the end. On this day, every floor in every level must be polished to the point of reflecting shadows, every chair must be free of a single speck of dust, and every bedsheet must be free of even a hint of a wrinkle. Then, you have to bathe and dress ninety-seven noisy "little ones" from head to toe, dressing them in crisp plaid shirts and reminding them one by one to be polite. Whenever the directors ask a question, you must answer immediately: "Yes, sir." "No, sir." It's truly a day that makes one frown, poor Josie Albert, naturally the oldest in the orphanage, is even worse off. Fortunately, although this Wednesday is a bit different from usual, it's finally almost over. Josie made sandwiches for the visitors and slipped out of the kitchen, heading upstairs to do her daily routine. In this orphanage, Josie is responsible for Room Number Six, which contains eleven little beds in a row, occupied by eleven little "things." The youngest is only four years old, and the oldest is just seven, a truly mischievous bunch. Seeing Josie arrive, the boys immediately stopped shouting and their games, gathering around her. Josie straightened out their almost ragged clothes, wiped their runny noses, and then lined them up. Josie opened the room, shouting "One-two," leading the line to the dining room, where the little rascals could enjoy themselves for half an hour: drinking milk, eating bread, and enjoying plum pudding. Josie leaned wearily against the windowsill, pressing her throbbing temples against the cold glass. She had been busy from 5 a.m. until now, her hands and feet moving nonstop. Everyone was giving her orders: "Go sweep the floor, Josie!" "Josie, quickly check if the coffee is ready!" "Are you deaf, Josie?" She was constantly scolded by the neurotic matron, being rushed around in a frenzy. Behind her back, the matron, Mrs. Lip, was far from as rational or dignified as she appeared in front of the directors and visiting ladies. Josie's gaze swept across the high iron bars of the orphanage, beyond which lay a vast, frozen, yellow grassland. In the distance, the mountains rolled like waves, dotted with scattered villages, and the rooftops of the houses peeked out from the bare trees. This melancholic day finally ended, and Josie sighed in relief: it should be a successful conclusion, with no mistakes made! The directors and the visiting delegation had already inspected every corner, listened to reports, had tea, fulfilled their duties, and were now eager to rush back to their warm, cozy homes, only to remember these troublesome little ones they were responsible for in another month. Josie leaned forward, curiously watching a series of carriages and cars passing through the orphanage's gates, a wave of longing rising within her.