I like miss Riley.  Some teachers are nice.  Miss Riley is the nicest.  
She teaches both 2nd grade and 5th grade.  I'm glad she teaches 5th grade 
because I'm in 5th grade.
     Miss Riley does not come to the fifth grade room.  Even though her 
room is really a second grade classroom, she sometimes teaches a few fifth 
graders there.
     While most of the chairs are small, for the second graders, there 
are a few larger chairs for us big kids.  
     School is out, and it is time for my tutoring session with Miss 
Riley.  Some days Miss Riley tutors me after school.
     I walk neither fast nor slow.  There is no need to hurry because 
miss Riley will not be ready to leave school yet.
     As I open the door to miss Riley's 2nd grade classroom, I am greeted 
with "Hello Eric, did you bring your 5th grade reader and workbook for 
your tutoring session?"
     Of course I brought them!  If miss Riley weren't such a nice 
teacher, I might tell her that her question was an insult.  Well ok, so I 
did forget them one time.  But it was only once!
     On the way out to miss Riley's car we stop by the coke machine.  I 
pick the Sunkiss orange drink.  Miss Riley buys it for me.  The 12 oz 
aluninum can of soda bangs the bottom of the chute.  I ignore the noise, 
because it does not matter.  What matters is the soda.  I pop it open 
immediately.
     Miss Riley has a very old car.  It is maybe twice as old as me.  She 
does not put a key into the ignition, but starts it with a screwdrive 
instead.
     We are now at miss Riley's trailer home.  First she asks me to read 
today's story.  I begin reading out loud.
     I read about the girl running away in panic from the monster.  I 
read that she did not even pause at a 3 meter long snake lying across the 
trail.
    At this point miss Riley asks me if I know how long a meter is.  I 
remember the metric units we did in math class.  So I hold up my fingers 
just wide enough to put one of those metric cubes between them.
     Miss Riley says, "No, a meter is just a little bit longer than a 
yardstick."
     A snake just longer than 3 yards! Boy I would have stopped!  It was 
probably a boa constrictor.  They can squeeze you to death.
     We finish the reading lesson, and test questions on it.  Then miss 
Riley drills me in fractions.  We use the plastic fractional transparent 
disks.  
     When I hear the dogs barking, I know that it is time to go.  I pick
up my backpack, rest them on the table and dash outside.  Dad has come to
pick me up. After I climb into the car, and dad is trying to back out, I
hear Miss Riley call my name.  She brings my books to me.  Gee!  How
could I have forgotten them?