It was harder than it looked from the outside. He knew this because he had seen teachers managing classrooms from the outside his entire school life and had thought, in the confident way of students, that managing children was not that difficult. It was: you said the thing and they did the thing. It was not complicated.
It was complicated. It was complicated in ways that his fourteen years had not prepared him for, primarily because the children were not misbehaving or being difficult — they were frightened and some of them were cold and several of them were very small and the younger ones had begun asking questions that he did not know how to answer. Where was Ms. Nair. When was the help coming. Was the bus going to fall. Was their driver going to wake up. Would their parents know. Was the water going to reach the shelf.
He answered each question with the care it deserved. Where was Ms. Nair: she went back to get the driver, she'll be back. When was help coming: the team is almost here, I spoke to them twenty minutes ago. Was the bus going to fall: the rock shelf is solid limestone, I've been here before, it will hold. Was the driver going to wake up: the driver is breathing and his pulse is good, he's going to be fine. Would the parents know: the disaster management office has a list of everyone on this bus, your parents know you're safe. Was the water going to reach the shelf: the water is currently six metres below us and the flood peak is expected to pass in two to three hours.
