Outside the Window

Since I've apparently run out of random things to post here that have already been written, I have gone in search of prompts to help me write new material for you (because I'm super dedicated and nice like that). :) 
The title of the prompt is "Outside the Window," and the theme is "Dance." We shall see what happens. 
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She sat still. If she didn't, the chair would squeak, and Sister Ethel would take a bead on her like an angry hillbilly with a squirrel problem. But just because she was sitting still didn't mean she was paying attention.
The wide, tantalizing windows, bright and cold with the breath of winter, were only two seats to her left. If she propped her chin on her hand and tilted her head just a little, she looked like she was thinking, and had a clear view of the window under the dark fringe of bangs that hid her eyes from Sister Ethel sharp gaze.

Outside, the snow lay thick on the world, a quiet, icy blanket. It was criss-crossed by winding trails, trampled by many feet over the last two days, so that the snow looked like some sort of vast, messy quilt. Even as she watched the wind picked up loose snowflakes from the top of a drift and threw them gleefully into the air.


"Jessica!" Sister Ethel sounded a bit like a cross between an angry dog and a fog horn, harsh and loud. Half the class jumped at the sudden noise, and Jessica raised her head, trying not to look guilty. Sister Ethel was striding toward her desk, habit billowing impressively. She was a short, thin woman, birdlike in her stature. Her voice was about the only large thing about her, with the possible exception of her glasses, which were round as coins and enormously thick, making her eyes seem buggy and bulbous in comparison to her thin, angular face.

"Yes, Sister Ethel?" Jessica stood up, but stole one last glance at the window. The wind was still playing with the snow, swirling it about in a sort of wild dance just out of reach.

"If you can't keep your mind on the lesson," barked Sister Ethel, coming to a stop in front of Jessica and tilting her head up to look into the girl's face, chin jutting aggressively, "then perhaps you would like to simply tell me the date that Germany officially declared war and skip class!" It was a challenge, but a fair one. Most of them had gotten such challenges at one point or another from Sister Ethel, who was a firm believer in practical study. If one couldn't study, one was practically absent. If practically absent, one might as well be actually absent.

"There was no formal declaration of war in the beginning. Germany declared war on Poland by invading on September 1st, 19... um... 38?"

"1939," corrected Sister Ethel, and gave Jessica a rap over the knuckles with her pointer. It stung, but it wasn't enough to leave any marks. "Now if you're quite done disrupting my class and ignoring the lecture, you may go."

Jessica breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed her coat off the back of her chair as she made a dash for the door. Maybe she shouldn't have betrayed such eagerness, but she was glad to be free. Sister Ethel watched her go, thinking to herself that this one had promise. She could see the wind when it danced, and that meant she just might be ready for the next level.