THE SENTINEL
AWAY WITH WORDS 

By Tessa Harvey

    Sylvia, reluctantly remembering her manners, knocked resentfully on the principal's door which was half-open. "This is stupid. I am not a child," she muttered.
    To her surprise, a woman with a beautiful smile opened door wide and warmly welcomed her to come into the room. 
        "Do you have time for a chat?" she asked cheerfully. "Like I have a choice," Sylvia answered in her head. But she came into the smallish room. It was not at all like the head teacher's forbidding domain of her youth. Here there was a tidy set on an unpolished table covered with orderly files and a computer. Comfortable armchairs and sofas were arranged loosely around the walls,  but not all facing the corner table, or rather, desk.
    As if in a dream, Sylvia accepted strong coffee and some very tasty chocolate biscuits. The older woman seemed to focus on her own drink until Sylvia felt more at ease, then quietly asked, "Would you consider working here, Miss Schonbaum?"

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