Miss Bee and Her Broom

“Miss Bee! Look at what I drew!” A little girl ran up to her teacher.
“That looks lovely Anna! Look at all the flowers and the clouds! You're getting very good at art!” Miss Bee crouched down to examine the child's paper.
“Thank you Miss Bee, I made it for my mother!” The girl smiled toothily at Bee.
“That's very thoughtful of you Anna, I’m sure your mother will love— Hey-! John no!” She ran over to the other side of the class where a group of boys were stealing the animal crackers from the shelf. The other kids laughed as Bee chased the boys around while they mischievously ducked under things Bee couldn’t to stay ahead of her. “Oooo, boys! If you give me the crackers… I’ll give you stickers.” She bribed. Almost immediately, they halted their escape, turning to look at Victoria Bee.
“What kind of stickers are we talking about?” John folded his arms as the other boys followed. For kindergarteners, they were surprisingly smart.
“The dinosaur stickers.” she smiled. John and his buddies gasped and they huddled up to pretend to decide if they were going to give them to her or not. They all nodded in agreement, then John ran to give her the box of crackers.
“Deal.” he said with a glint of happiness in his eyes.

Her smile widened as she put the animal crackers away and the boys ran around bragging about their dinosaur stickers. She knew that the decision wasn’t practical and the other kids might try to cause trouble just to get stickers themselves but it was the first thing that came to her mind. She felt a buzz from her watch reminding her that it was nap time.
“Alright everyone, go grab a mat and choose a spot on the floor and I’ll grab the blankets.” All the kids cheered and ran to the sleep corner where she kept the small mats. She never thought those things were very comfortable but the kids liked them a lot so she didn’t mind. She came back to half of the class already fast asleep on their mats, so she had the other kids put blankets over the kids that were already asleep. It was a good exercise for them to be generous and kind to their peers. It wasn’t even five minutes later until everyone was fast asleep in the dark of the classroom. Victoria sat down at her desk to look at all the drawings the kids made earlier for their families and friends. She got lost in looking at the terribly drawn flowers and cars that she jumped when she heard a hurried voice come over the speaker.
“We are in a red lockdown. This is not a drill. I repeat-” *bang* Victoria’s eyes widened as she stood abruptly from her chair. ‘A gunshot. She's been shot. Oh my god.’
“Miss Bee…? What's happening?” Anna’s dreary voice was like a mouse’s quiet squeak in the middle of the night. Victoria’s head slowly turned to the direction of Anna. Anna was pointing at the door worriedly looking from her to the door. On the other side of the door, a man holding what looked like a pistol in hand, was attempting to peer into her classroom at her and the kids sleeping on the floor.
“Anna.” she said sternly, “I need you to carefully and quietly wake up everyone.” Victoria slowly started to move across the room to the door while talking in a hushed voice to Anna. “Tell them all to be very quiet and then I want you and the other kids to try to open the window and have everyone climb out and run to the soccer field. Stay together, no matter what, okay?” The man began to bang harshly on the door and window. Victoria could barely see the tears forming in Anna’s eyes. “Anna, it's going to be okay! I need you to hurry.” Anna nodded and started shaking other kids awake telling them to be quiet and go to the window. The banging on the door woke most of the kids up but Anna quickly told them to stay quiet and help try to open the window. Victoria grabbed a wooden broom, reassuring the children everything was going to be alright. Time seemed to drone on as the man continued to try to force his way into the classroom, then the children failing to open the window.
“Miss Bee!” Anna whispered, “We can't get it open! It's stuck” Victoria was now desperately holding the door shut.
“Everyone go to the far corner! Grab scissors, brooms, chairs, whatever!” she shouted as all the kids scrambled about. “I’ll protect you, so don’t worry, but just in case okay?” She put her full body weight against the door. She could see him try to smash the window with the grip of the gun. ‘He must be short on bullets’ she guessed because he should’ve already tried to shoot the door or window to get in. Victoria struggled against the full force of the shooter, John could see her struggling and didn’t want to do anything but want to help his teacher.
“Miss Bee, don't worry! I’ll save you!” he came running to her with a utensil box held above his head.
“No. No! John, stay back!” She left her perch at the door to snatch him up and bring him back to the corner, forgetting the man that presented himself as a danger to everyone if he got in.
Everything went in slow motion. As she set John down with the other kids, Anna sank down to the floor in acceptance. The man, bursting through the door with his pistol raised. Victoria turned to face the man, broom in hand. She ran at him and whacked him with the broom, but before he was knocked out with the broom. He pulled the trigger. Victoria layed, shot dead, and the man, unconscious. While the kids screamed and cried.