Chriss stirred with a jolt and sudden realisation hit her, where she was and how she was now, in the present. The sound of the intruding telephone had jolted her into reality once again. Rubbing her eyes she rose from the bed and reached out towards the telephone. It was the school yet again! When waking that morning, she had not felt very well and had slumped back into the comfortable pillow on her bed and promptly fell fast asleep again. She did not like thinking about the recent past, but it was always there ready to emerge and she had no control over its actions in her mind.

The 'new' school as she called it had just recently been purchased with the help of the bank of course, through which she had purchased the previous school in Cobham, Surrey. After two years of mind bending consultation, she had managed to find a serious buyer for the business and all the legal work had gone through without a hitch and the school was sold and paid for within a few months. The months before the sale of the school were extremely stressful for Chriss, late nights working at the computer, talking with parents on the telephone and checking that all the staff were happy and progressing and that the children were safe in their capable hands. The work at the Cobham School was another long, long story and Chriss was exhausted by her efforts in holding everything and everyone together.

Now the 'new' school in Norfolk was proving to be just as stressful and demanding, if not more so, with more staff and more children and obnoxious parents who were finding it very difficult to accept her and her Montessori ways. Someone had recently made the comment that Norfolk people found change difficult, but no one commented on how cruel and utterly nasty they could be. Of course not all Norfolk are like that, but Chriss had hit against some very cruel and blinkered people after buying the school, and she regretted it immensely.

Her energy was draining away so quickly in front of her very eyes and every day was an effort and a survival process. It seemed to her that the only people who really enjoyed her efforts were the children and the staff and a very small number of parents, who were completely new to the area and the school. There were times when arriving, she would walk into the entrance to the school and the 'nasties' as she came to name them, were standing in the hallway, waiting impatiently for their children. 'Good morning' she greeted them with a smile. In return, a blank hard glare and total ignorance of her existence resounded back towards her eager self. She felt hurt but she was determined not to show it and shrugged off the negative energy, entering the main door with a brave smile on her face only to be greeted by disgruntled staff who had 'had enough' of the rudeness of the parents.

Whenever she arrived at the school, she put on a brave and cheerful face, but inside felt afraid and nervous as she approached the main door to the building. She would never quite assess the mood of the staff, but the wonderful children were always the same. They adored her and were always greeting her with great affection and loving the fact that she had arrived at last.

Now the deputy manager of this school was on the phone, begging her to come in as quickly as she could. A member of staff was in tears and a disgruntled Ofsted inspector had arrived at 8.0am that morning and was asking for her. 'Oh what do they want now' Chriss had said with a tiring lilt to her voice. 'Some parent has complained about the mouse traps in the kitchen' Lizzie had replied. Chriss spoke with the Ofsted inspector on the telephone, and reassured her that the mice were being dealt with and that Rentokil had been over to the nursery and that an enormous sum had been paid out to them, for their services. The children were not in the kitchen ever and the door to the kitchen was always locked and sealed safely behind a child gate.
Chriss sighed in exasperation and wished that she had never bought the blasted business.
Maxie had complained about wasps in the nursery again and Chriss asked Lizzie if the staff were ensuring that the insect nets were up at the windows. 'No' replied Lizzie, 'they are just hanging loosely and no one is checking that they are covering the windows properly'. Chriss replied rather bitterly 'well, perhaps they should, because wasps and flies will get into the rooms if they don't' a deep sigh rather irritatingly, passed from her lips ' I will be in shortly' she added 'same time as ever'. Lizzie replied 'thanks, see you soon' and placed down the phone.

Chriss thought about happier times when the pressure and strain from Ofsted and the possibility of complaining about the simplest small thing was generally non existant. All the children were safe and looked after so well, none had been stung by a wasp or eaten by a blackfly or whatever Ofsted and the complaining parent were expecting 'man eating mice, maybe' Chriss muttered.
'Oh god, here we go again' she exclaimed and prepared herself to fly down the lovely country lanes towards the school, whereupon entering the gates to the converted barns caused a nervous jolt in the bottom of her stomach and a deeply unhappy feeling that just would not go away. She was nervous and agitated as if she was about to face an entourage of angry faces and voices which she was ill prepared to deal with. A nasty, negative energy was lurking and she felt it so vividly every time she walked through that doorway.