We can see Queen Mary school from our apartment. Soon after we moved in last year, I had to write a descriptive piece for my writing course. My instruction was, "Look out the window and describe something". Twenty minutes before I had to head out of the door for my Saturday session, I sat down, looked out the window and saw Queen Mary school. Here is my descriptive piece:
The red brick schoolhouse has a stately old-world presence. It stands with dignity against the backdrop of darkened mountains and snow-covered peaks. The blue hues of the morning sky and gossamer streaks of cloud lend a subtle elegance to the building. The sun has yet to reach around and warm the red bricks.
This citadel of learning peeps out above the disheveled rental apartments with its promise of order and opportunities. Its rectangular face is in equal proportions. Uniform windows guard the centre piece - a triangular arch in the black roof under which four beige-coloured pillars rest decoratively against the red brick wall. Two larger arched windows, stacked between the inside pillars, break the uniformity of the pawns standing side-by-side, two rows high.
The domed steeple adds a stiletto height to the schoolhouse. Sitting directly above the arched windows and triangular pitch in the roof, it oversees the order of the pawns lined below. Its crisp whiteness emphasises its prominence and authority.
The red brick schoolhouse is immobile in its properness. Just as a guard is at his post - not a flicker of an eyelid, not a twitch of a muscle. A seagull flies in to rest on the roof. Still no movement from the sentry. Except now, the chimney stack hiding low behind the steeple breathes furnace heat into the cool air. Its breath is evident for a short while. Then all is still and orderly again.
The red brick schoolhouse has a stately old-world presence. It stands with dignity against the backdrop of darkened mountains and snow-covered peaks. The blue hues of the morning sky and gossamer streaks of cloud lend a subtle elegance to the building. The sun has yet to reach around and warm the red bricks.
This citadel of learning peeps out above the disheveled rental apartments with its promise of order and opportunities. Its rectangular face is in equal proportions. Uniform windows guard the centre piece - a triangular arch in the black roof under which four beige-coloured pillars rest decoratively against the red brick wall. Two larger arched windows, stacked between the inside pillars, break the uniformity of the pawns standing side-by-side, two rows high.
The domed steeple adds a stiletto height to the schoolhouse. Sitting directly above the arched windows and triangular pitch in the roof, it oversees the order of the pawns lined below. Its crisp whiteness emphasises its prominence and authority.
The red brick schoolhouse is immobile in its properness. Just as a guard is at his post - not a flicker of an eyelid, not a twitch of a muscle. A seagull flies in to rest on the roof. Still no movement from the sentry. Except now, the chimney stack hiding low behind the steeple breathes furnace heat into the cool air. Its breath is evident for a short while. Then all is still and orderly again.
