AFTER ANOTHER hard week of staring at the wall opposite while a teacher droned on about various subjects according to their chosen discipline, the first year girls at Miss Plazenby's were ready for a change of pace and the year head knew this well enough, having had charge of such creatures over a good many years.
'Girls!' she said, gathering them from the various rooms they had fled when dismissed. 'A special treat has been arranged for you all in the Wisdom District of Cherryball Flats.'
'Is that the one just off Stupid Street?' Meresinth asked, raising her hand instantaneously. There was a cackle from among the girls.
'No, it is not. Goodness child, whatever map have you been consulting on your locator?' She took a step forward to seek answers.
'Sorry Miss,' the mischievous Arbornica girl quickly deflected such an inspection. 'Misread it. I meant Spud Street in the Allotment Ward.'
'Nifty save,' Anthera whispered through the side of her mouth.
'Survival,' Meresinth whispered back. 'It's one of the survival skills necessary to survive in Arbornica where only survivors thrive.'
'That and insect spray,' Pirouette interjected, having overheard a part of this muttered conversation.
Meanwhile the year head had moved on from the facetious interruption with all its intrusive vowels in order to deliver her good news.
'We are going to attend a thrilling exhibition currently taking place in the Museum of Past and Forgotten Things just off Orange Parade. Now you may have visited the place before and do not remember doing so, but this time I can assure you this experience will stay with you for a lifetime, even to future generations if you so happen to participate in such things.'
'What is the exhibition called?' the Octora girl Sharshua Dragonsong asked politely and then disappeared behind others in attempt to avoid detection, like a sister Tinker in training.
''Visual Trickery, or Seeing is Disbelieving,'' the mistress said grandly as if seeking customers outside a shop selling marvels.
'That should be interesting,' Anthera said, adjusting her spectacles so they flashed in the sunlight coming through a corridor window.
'Trickery,' Vetta began nervously.
'Is one of the five thousand wellsprings of financial success,' Meresinth jumped in as the mistress, full of her own excitement at attending the odd sounding exhibition, led the girls to a waiting vehicle for the short trip down the mountainside into the hustle and bustle and even more hustle of Cherryball Flats.
Vetta merely sighed, pondering how best to deal with such matters without herself getting confused. Perceptions were precious. To deflect from reality was a scary thought, like missing a stair in darkness.