Fic: Wise Beyond Years
Title: Wise Beyond Years
Author:
miss_peg
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not mine and that's an unintentional rhyme.
Characters: Mary Margaret Blanchard, Henry Mills
Summary: Henry was a clever boy, she'd always thought so.
Notes: Another short OUAT one shot. This was written for
onceuponaprompt, table: A, prompt 04. intelligence.
Henry was a clever boy; she’d always thought so, ever since he joined her class. He’d always had a mature head on his shoulders and sometimes she got caught up in conversations with him that made her forget he was still the tender age of ten.
Mary Margaret Blanchard had been a teacher at the elementary school for as long as she could remember. She loved to watch the children, her children, grow from tiny wondering creatures into human beings ready for the world around them. Some were brighter than others but they all had hearts of gold.
When Henry had first arrived in her class she’d welcomed him, conscious of the fact he was the Mayor’s son. She wasn’t sure what it was about that woman. From the day she began teaching Henry it was like Regina Mills had it out for her. She wouldn’t be open with her sinisterly behaviour, she would merely grin and mutter things through gritted teeth. Of course, being the Major, Mary Margaret could do nothing to ward her off, except smile back and let the metaphorical punches wash over her.
Every year on the first day with a new class, Mary Margaret liked to have the children draw their homes. She liked to know where they lived and who they lived with, merely to allow her the knowledge most people lacked with children. She didn’t know their histories besides what had happened in the school and unless she knew their older brothers or sisters, there was a clean slate waiting to be filled with information about each student. Whilst her other students drew chocolate box houses; a mom, a dad and a sibling or two, Henry drew very little. She remembered standing behind him and asking him about the picture, though all he offered was ‘that’s the mom I live with and that’s the one who gave me away for adoption’ she knew he was already struggling with the life that had been thrust upon him at birth.
Over the weeks and months she gave each child an individual amount of attention, as she always promised herself to. After all, playing favourites was something she was not supposed to do. However, no matter how little time she spent with Henry, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for not giving him more time. Unlike the other children in the class, he struggled to make friends. He spent most of recess sitting against the school building watching the tether ball fly backwards and forwards. Or he would sit on the castle whilst other children played around him.
One recess she took one of the class books out to him and suggested he read it, more because she saw how intelligent and ahead of his peers he was; though his lack of interest in socialising left him behind in some ways. She sat beside him until the bell rang and watched him leaf through the book with complete interest.
If she’d known then, what she knew now, she would have chosen a different book, perhaps the story of Jack and the Beanstalk or a book of poetry.
When Regina and that woman, Henry’s birth mother, entered the classroom and told her what had happened, she couldn’t stop the guilt building. If only she’d given him more attention, or spoken to him about the book of fairytales, maybe he wouldn’t have stolen her credit card or run off to Boston to find Emma Swan. At the same time, her heart swelled with pride at the ability of one of her own. Not only had he discovered who his birth mother was and where she lived but he’d also navigated his way across the state towards Massachusetts.
Whether he should have done it or not, Mary Margaret was proud of just how smart he was and though she knew it wasn’t completely down to her actions, she liked to believe she had a hand in that.
Author:
miss_peg
Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time is not mine and that's an unintentional rhyme.
Characters: Mary Margaret Blanchard, Henry Mills
Summary: Henry was a clever boy, she'd always thought so.
Notes: Another short OUAT one shot. This was written for
onceuponaprompt, table: A, prompt 04. intelligence.
Henry was a clever boy; she’d always thought so, ever since he joined her class. He’d always had a mature head on his shoulders and sometimes she got caught up in conversations with him that made her forget he was still the tender age of ten.
Mary Margaret Blanchard had been a teacher at the elementary school for as long as she could remember. She loved to watch the children, her children, grow from tiny wondering creatures into human beings ready for the world around them. Some were brighter than others but they all had hearts of gold.
When Henry had first arrived in her class she’d welcomed him, conscious of the fact he was the Mayor’s son. She wasn’t sure what it was about that woman. From the day she began teaching Henry it was like Regina Mills had it out for her. She wouldn’t be open with her sinisterly behaviour, she would merely grin and mutter things through gritted teeth. Of course, being the Major, Mary Margaret could do nothing to ward her off, except smile back and let the metaphorical punches wash over her.
Every year on the first day with a new class, Mary Margaret liked to have the children draw their homes. She liked to know where they lived and who they lived with, merely to allow her the knowledge most people lacked with children. She didn’t know their histories besides what had happened in the school and unless she knew their older brothers or sisters, there was a clean slate waiting to be filled with information about each student. Whilst her other students drew chocolate box houses; a mom, a dad and a sibling or two, Henry drew very little. She remembered standing behind him and asking him about the picture, though all he offered was ‘that’s the mom I live with and that’s the one who gave me away for adoption’ she knew he was already struggling with the life that had been thrust upon him at birth.
Over the weeks and months she gave each child an individual amount of attention, as she always promised herself to. After all, playing favourites was something she was not supposed to do. However, no matter how little time she spent with Henry, she couldn’t help but feel guilty for not giving him more time. Unlike the other children in the class, he struggled to make friends. He spent most of recess sitting against the school building watching the tether ball fly backwards and forwards. Or he would sit on the castle whilst other children played around him.
One recess she took one of the class books out to him and suggested he read it, more because she saw how intelligent and ahead of his peers he was; though his lack of interest in socialising left him behind in some ways. She sat beside him until the bell rang and watched him leaf through the book with complete interest.
If she’d known then, what she knew now, she would have chosen a different book, perhaps the story of Jack and the Beanstalk or a book of poetry.
When Regina and that woman, Henry’s birth mother, entered the classroom and told her what had happened, she couldn’t stop the guilt building. If only she’d given him more attention, or spoken to him about the book of fairytales, maybe he wouldn’t have stolen her credit card or run off to Boston to find Emma Swan. At the same time, her heart swelled with pride at the ability of one of her own. Not only had he discovered who his birth mother was and where she lived but he’d also navigated his way across the state towards Massachusetts.
Whether he should have done it or not, Mary Margaret was proud of just how smart he was and though she knew it wasn’t completely down to her actions, she liked to believe she had a hand in that.