For some reason, whenever I do these short short character things, they turn out mildly disturbing. Hmmm…
*
Mae stood at the top of the stairs, watching the delicate body of her classmate tumble down the steps to the marble floor below. She wasn’t even making any noise, other than that of her flesh and bones bumping against the rails and edges on her way down.
She wouldn’t die or anything, of that Mae was certain. The flight to the first floor was only 10 steps or so, and plenty of students fell down them in the rushes to classes and meals. No, the nuns would fuss about her, clean her up and let her spend the rest of the day curled up in front of the one television in the school, probably with a plate of cookies and her ugly stuffed teddy bear.
She’d deserved it anyway, being so stupid and happy all the time with her yellow curls and pink face. She couldn’t spell for anything, and her arithmetic capabilities were painful to witness. She was the sort of girl that made it possible to be too nice, the kind you wanted to hit for smiling at you.
Mae turned on her heel and walked calmly toward her dormitory. The other girls would know she’d been the one to do it. Mae made no secret of her disdain. And the nuns knew that if they scolded her too harshly, their whippings would eventually be repaid with a little tumble of their own.