I found a note this morning, lying on the floor.

It caught the corner of my eye, as I was walking in the door.

A number. That's it. That's all there was. No other writing could be seen.

"Fourteen," it said. Nothing more. Whatever could that mean?

It COULD be someone's last Math test grade (I've been meaning to talk about that!).

Or is it the number of commendations this month? (By the way, what's up with that?)

I racked my brain all morning, but I couldn't solve this clue.

What does fourteen have to do with either me or you?

I feared this mystery would go unsolved; a puzzle forevermore.

And then I heard all of you gathering outside my door.

Then it hit me. Now I know! How could I be so blind?

As my Dad would say "If it was a snake, it would've bitten my behind!"

Your faces as you filtered in to start another day,

told the answer: our next break is fourteen days away!

Fourteen school days. Fourteen times you'll do Morning Math and Grammar Giggles.

Fourteen more days to make your handwriting look better than a bunch of squiggles.

Fourteen days. Then you're off, for a brief vacation.

But if I were you, I wouldn't have TOO big a celebration.

Because when you get back, all warm and happy, with your holiday glow,

you will have, approximately, ninety more days to go!