Okay, I dunno if it is just me, but Marie kinda looks like a little piggy. XD Doesn't she look like a young (and slender) Miss Piggy? Damn her pink nose! Tommy's expressions is priceless. :) Okay! On to the story! (Note: I'm not going to edit and proofread the dialogue much. This is more a fun speed exercise! :D Be prepared to find funny typos.) Remember guys... poodles are SMART!!!!! So are Springers, actually, but they can't compare to the near-genius of a poodle. EEEE!!!! Marie and Tommy as kids! :D Tommy is the CUTEST puppy! <3
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The first day of school had finally arrived, standard 3 to be precise, and the students poured into the classroom; halfway eager to start the new school year, mostly longing for the day to be over. The sound of desks being shoved around by the seven-year-old students echoed through the room and into the next class. Everyone was grateful to have Miss Smythe, a 16-year-old collie, as their pupil-teacher this year. She was rumored to be reasonably well-tempered, as compared with the other teachers. Seldom would she employ the use of a damp bamboo cane across the backsides or hands of delinquent students. She preferred public humiliation for punishment, which was, of course, much better than a blackened bruise on the rear.

Miss Smythe, up to that time having her patience tested with this disorderly crowd, had to give her first punishment of the year to a youthful Springer spaniel who refused to keep quite and stop dipping the hair of young girls into an inkwell. Tommy, the young spaniel, was presented with the most embarrassing of all punishments. He was not made to stand in the corner, nor was he made to wear a dunce cap. He was made to sit with the girls for the entire day. This did not discourage the young dog, however, as he slyly removed a pea shooter from his vest and a small piece of paper from his back pocket. He took a seat next to a young female poodle named Marie, who began to eye his shooter curiously. Tommy smirked at the girl, pulling the toy closer to his chest. Miss Smythe stood in front of the class and wrung her hands together and began to prepare her first course of mathematics, something both Tommy and Marie were forced to study, by the demands of their families, over the short summer break.

"Class, who can tell me what five plus four is?" she forced her voice out of her throat, doing her best not to show her apprehension. After all, this was the first class she had ever taught.
"Nine," replied the class unenthusiastically. Miss Smythe wrote the answer on a small, dusty blackboard. Tommy loaded his pea shooter with a soggy wad of hastily chewed-up paper.
"Good. What about three plus four?" Miss Smythe did not detect the spit wad as it grazed the top of her head. Marie giggled quietly, partially amused by this eccentric boy’s antics, but mostly in mocking that he missed his target.
"Seven," belted the students. Miss Smythe turned to the blackboard.
"Very good. What about eleven plus four?" she tried to throw off her class. Marie rolled her eyes at Tommy before snatching the offending toy from his grasp. She tore off a small piece of paper and chewed it prior to stuffing it inside the shooter.
"Fifteen," answered just a few. Marie spit the wad from the shooter, resulting in a cackling class as it stuck in Miss Smythe's hair. The pupil-teacher turned around, unaware of the humor.
"I see not all of you are up to speed just yet. Let's try harder. What about fifteen plus nine?" she quizzed. The class lingered silently and anxiously shifted in their seats. Marie sighed as no one knew the answer, feeling rather appalled that she was put in a class full of idiots.
"Twenty-four," she stood and said with a particularly snotty expression.
"Excellent!” Miss Smythe glided towards the desk at which Marie and Tommy sat. “What about thirty-five plus eight?"
"Forty-three!" replied Tommy hurriedly before sticking his tongue out at Marie when Miss Smythe wasn’t looking. Marie growled to herself.
"Marvelous! You both are excellent mathematicians. Let's try this one, eight-nine plus ninety-four!" she was sure these two children would not know the answer.
"One-hundred-eighty-three!" retorted Marie, slamming her fist on the desk in front of Tommy, which startled the boy.
"Two-hundred-seven plus four-hundred-fifty-eight?"
"Six-hundred-sixty-five!" Tommy jeered at Marie. She felt her small fists clench together.
"Seven times twelve," maybe multiplication would throw them off.
"Eighty-four!" Marie shouted.
"Six times nine?"
"Fifty-four!!!!!" Tommy screamed at Marie, breathing heavily from aggravation.
"Okay, smarties. Sixty-nine times forty-three," Miss Smythe knew this puzzle was too hard; in fact, even she did not know the answer of the top off her head. Tommy soon slouched in his seat. He had only memorized the multiplication tables over the short summer break. He did not know how to actually calculate the problem. Marie stood silent for an instant before glancing up at the teacher.
"Two-thousand-nine-hundred-and-sixty-seven," she said, slightly unsure of answer. Tommy slunk into his chair and admitted defeat. Miss Smythe, after quickly calculating the answer, stood quite, staring and absolutely astonished.


Art © S. Henson 2009
Tommy and Marie © Hayao Miyazaki