Another sunset earlier than yesterday. Heat popping like bacon frying in the skillet. Talk of things to come. Last-minute school supplies to get. Need colored pencils, drawing paper, and a tenor saxophone like Boots Randolph. Yakety Sax. The classroom is hot from early morning. Windows open and box fans are blowing hot air. The teacher is doing the same but must not tell her. Yes mam and no mam rule the day. The teacher seldom smiles; she is hot. Not hot like the kids say today; she is sweating.

The Late Show is a good cool respite. Joey Bishop and Regis Philbin are yucking it up. Guess they do not have to go to school. Johnny Carson and Ed McMahon live in glamorous Hollywood. ‘Swimming pool movie stars,’ the Beverly Hillbillies sang. Short school days this week; teachers’ workshops heat malaise. Equations are tough. What is wrong with arithmetic? Poor folks’ rich dreams. The Cooks have an in-ground swimming pool, we heard. Looked through a hole in the fence but could not see. A dog licked our eye.

The hallway is long. Mr. Watson buffs the floors until they gleam. He is a quiet man. The doors are propped open on each end of the hall to get airflow. The spirits of former students walk the shiny floors and say hi to Mr. Watson.

A movie is in order Friday night. Frankenstein will be on the silver screen. He will have thoughts on the return of school. Frankenstein is an introvert. He had a wife but could not feed her; she did not like the pumpkin shell. The Orpheum will be bustling with kids hot from school and ready for the cool theatre.