She Woke Up at 5 AM

A short story about a teacher giving all she can in the COVID-19 crisis.

She woke up at 5 AM simply out of habit. She allowed herself to lie in bed a few extra hours because she had nowhere to go; no place to be. By her 10 o’clock meeting she had woken her children, had her coffee and breakfast, tested an online class platform, and rounded up some old bed sheets: masks to be. Her team spoke of their students’ well being and futures. They discussed the district’s plans and how they would enact them: less lesson planning and more construction.

She called her students next. Some answered, some did not. Today, one of her students answered the phone for the first time since school closed, and she almost kept her tears out of her voice. She asked about their day and their family. She told them about the school’s plans, the workbook she had mailed them, and how very much she missed them. Before she hung up, she reminded them that she is but a phone call away, and if they needed anything�"anything at all�"she would help them. As she sighed after her phone call, she grabbed a quick bite to eat, for herself and her family.

Then she made masks. The first masks she finished went to her team, the second batch to her family that lived in crowded areas. This next batch would go to a hospital dangerously low in disposable masks. Occasionally her phone would ring, and she would drop what she was doing to answer her student. 

She ate dinner and watched a movie with her family. She had had a long day, and tomorrow would be another long day. She went to bed at 9 because she was a teacher who would wake up at 5 AM simply out of habit.