Prompt #39

“Veni, Vidi, Vici.  What does it mean?”
“Then we will fight in the shade?” I asked hesitantly.

“That was last week’s Latin saying - ‘In Umbra Pugnabimus.’  What about this week’s?  Don’t you remember?”

The look on Dad’s face mirrored my own frustration and disappointment.  This saying was the last question on my quiz.  We had been working through my wrong answers for a half hour already.

“There was a story behind the saying, do you remember that?”

“No.”  I didn’t even search my brain for an answer.  Two minutes ago I had checked out.  There was too much pressure, too much disappointment.  Not caring was so much easier.

My father sighed and glanced down at the paper littered with red x marks.  “Was the lesson hard for you this week?”

I shrugged, avoiding his gaze.

“It’s alright, Danielle, you just have to go over the material and retake the quiz.  We can go over it together tonight when I’m done with work.”

I nodded, knowing I should be grateful.  I glanced over at my sister’s paper lying on Dad’s desk.  It was filled with green check marks.  She actually liked Latin, she studied.  Apparently, studying was paying off.  But I didn’t care about Latin.  At nine years old, Latin seemed so useless when compared with subjects I enjoyed, like reading and history. 

Then there was the National Latin Exam, only one month in the past.  This had been my first year, my sister’s second.  She was older, she studied harder, and everyone was so proud when her medal came in the mail.  What a good kid, what a hard worker, what a bright future for such a sharp mind!  Their glowing smiles shone on my sister, and then they turned to me.  Maybe next year, Danielle.  Don’t feel bad.  It’s her second year after all, and even she didn’t win the gold medal on her first year either.  No, I wanted to counter, she didn’t get gold on her first year – she got silver!  And I got nothing. 

“Tonight we can work on the Latin sayings, alright?” Dad’s a good man, and he was perceptive enough to see the hopelessness in my eyes.

I just nodded.  “Can I go now?”