At the classroom door

An original fiction passage set in the nineteenth century.

Rose stopped at the schoolroom threshold, her hand fixed around the brass handle. From within came a quick flutter of voices, followed by laughter. Although she could not distinguish a word, she was certain it concerned her. The strip of floorboards visible beyond the door seemed as wide as a river. She looked back along the empty passage, wishing that her aunt's figure would reappear at the far end.

A girl inside noticed her and moved a pile of books from the bench. "There is room here," she said. There was nothing grand in the invitation, but its plainness made Rose loosen her fingers from the handle, one by one. The bell sounded and the door swung farther open. Rose stepped inside before it could close and discovered that the laughter had already moved on. By the time the teacher called for silence, Rose was seated beside the girl, smoothing the cover of her copybook, with the door handle out of sight.