Le Solis

By Lilly Larard(6B) and Sonia Ng (6A) Layout by Natalie So

I was doodling in my French book, drawing owers along the edges and a sun in the middle. French classes were so boring.

My name is Solis, the Latin word for the sun. Fine. It’s a weird name, I’ll admit it. But it’s not my problem. I didn’t name myself.

“Solis! Are you paying attention? What does this mean, le soleil s’est levé pour la dernière fois?” Mrs Brown snapped.

I dropped my pencil and stammered, “I- uh- I dunno.” My classmates snickered. Shannon, the loudest. My sweaty palms gripped my dirt-covered shirt.

“Class?” Mrs Brown turned to the other students. While everyone else was stretching their hands high in the high trying to get Mrs Brown’s attention, I saw her glance disappointingly my way.

I sighed. I was de nitely having a bad hair day. How I wished father was here. He would help me out with French. I remembered the warm smile he gave me all the time, his serious expression and furious dark blue eyes when I told him someone gave me a hard time and the scent of his favourite Christmas sweater. Most of all, I remembered that every morning, he would hug me tight and ask me, “did my little sun rise high today?”

at’s when it struck me.

e next day, I woke up even before my alarm went o . e sky outside looked dim. Maybe it was going to rain soon.

“Wow, what an early bird we have today. Alright, honey?” mother asked, but immediately went back to preparing breakfast.

I looked at my watch. 5:15. Way too early. But still, I was amped up and ready to go. I grabbed a sandwich, some seaweed from the fridge and bolted out the door.

I could hear mother shouting from behind me, “Come back, Solis! You’ve still got hot cross buns waiting for you!” Usually, I would run straight back if I heard that, I mean, who could resist a nice, warm hot cross bun? But this time, I ignored it. I didn’t even stop to pick up acorns like I usually did. I could see the school right ahead of me, and I was completely out of breath. Beads of sweat rolled down my forehead. I checked my watch. 5:45. School didn’t start till 8:00. My stomach growled and I wolfed down my sandwich and seaweed.

e next two hours and een minutes, everything was a blur. I sat by the benches, hoping sooner the bell would ring and class could start. Time passed quickly, probably because I accidentally snoozed for a while.

As soon as the bell rang, I started up the steps to my classroom. A few other girls smirked and whispered to each other. I didn’t care.

e moment I’ve been waiting for was nally here. “Class, do you still remember what le soleil s’est levé pour la dernière fois means?” Mrs Brown asked.

Before Mrs Brown could even nish the sentence, my hand shot up in the air. I knew everybody wanted to snicker and make fun of me, but I didn’t give them a chance to do that. I knew what the answer was and I was going to answer it. Dad would know I was trying, he would be proud. Mrs Brown scanned the class, her eyes landed on me. is was my chance, I was going to answer it right.

“Go ahead, Solis.” She announced and I felt everyone’s eyes on me. I can do this, I can do this, I repeated to myself. I took a deep breath and answered.

“It means the sun rose for the nal time.” I declared with hesitation. I knew my answer was correct and awarded myself to see Mrs. Brown’s doubtful face slide o and be replaced with a relieved smile. My classmates gazed at me surprisingly and Shannon even mouthed good job to me. I felt a rush of joy, inside I was jumping up and down doing my happy dance, but outside I just smiled back at Shannon, glad she wasn’t snickering at me anymore.

Dad, are you watching? I have learnt an important lesson. To just be myself and follow my heart. I have to tell you something. Your little sun did rise up high. Very high. But one thing’s for sure, your little sun will keep rising high, until the nal time.