She was known for her monotone laugh and her timeworn blue sweater, with holes which she wore every day. She had many strange obsessions. One of them being the fact she ate oranges every day, peel and all.
Her students hated to ask, “Mrs. Nixon, will you help me with this equation?” They only asked when they knew the problem was too complicated to successfully complete on their own. She would slowly waddle over to their individual desks and bend down to help them. Her wild green eyes peered over the student’s desk, while she kneeled down on top of her tiptoes, nearly falling over.
Her grotesque longer than necessary nails made it hard for them to concentrate, while she demonstrated the mathematical equation. Her distinct odor, which smelled of oranges mixed with cat urine, made her student’s insides squirm. Not long after the unenthusiastic question and answer session, her problems would start emerging.
“Jim did not call me last night” she would wail, with tears in her eyes. “Does he not love me? Am I not good enough?” Her classes felt more like a therapy session, than a high school math class. That is her students were the therapists and she was the patient.
Like your description of the smell. Including the cat urine made her out to be the sad, lonely cat lady. I didn't get, "Her wild green eyes peered over the student’s desk, while she kneeled down on top of her tiptoes, nearly falling over." I just couldn't figure out how that worked, but this lady is a mess!
ReplyDeleteGreat character description. I can really picture her, especially her dumpy body and long nails. One of the boys I teach hardly ever cuts his nails and the kids always make fun of him!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lisa about the description of the smell, which more so than we realize is a heavy influence on our perception of an individual. The little bit about the class being a therapy session is a nice touch, emphasizing the character's emotional insecurity and desperation by voicing them to a bunch of high school students.
ReplyDeleteI don't even know what the combination of cat urine and oranges smells like, and I really don't want to know! Her unkempt appearance really helped give insight into her emotional issues.
ReplyDeletePoor wretched thing. You made me feel both sorry for her and repelled by her at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Lisa about "her wild green eyes" sentence... I had trouble picturing this.
I feel sorry for the old gal even with her stinky smell. It would be great to see dialogue, maybe more like a monologue with her, about what she says during a class. I also like the first two sentences describing her.
ReplyDeleteHi Jessica, I really like your sketch, but I would reverse the order. Start out with her lament ("Doesn't he love me?") and then describe her perpetual sweater and curious smell. Good stuff. dw
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