Mary Agnes makes a suggestion

Sister Mary Agnes was as excited as a young girl before her first school trip. She waited impatiently until the evening meal was over and with it, the silence. On the way from the refectory to the cloister, she could no longer contain herself. She hissed the news to her fellow sisters.

"A carnival is coming to town!"

"What?" Mary Thomas asked doubtfully.

"A traveling carnival with merry-go-rounds, lottery booths and clowns. It will arrive at the station tomorrow and set up its tents on the large meadow across the bridge."

"And why should we be interested in that?" grumbled Mary Petra.

"Of course, because we're about to go there," Mary Agnes declared provocatively.

"Oh, nonsense," Mary Bruna rebutted, "Mother Superior will never allow us to do that."

"Why not?" Mary Agnes put on a pout, "We'll just ask her permission. Otherwise we'll never know if we're allowed to."

"You're crazy," Mary Thomas remarked, "how do you even know about this?"

"Hehe," giggled Mary Agnes, trying to look very smart.

The convent of the Sisters of the Order of the Magnanimous Mary was unusually modern and cosmopolitan. Not only did they have internet access via WLAN, but they also maintained their own social media account. Mary Agnes, who had dreamed about becoming an influencer before entering the convent, had volunteered to maintain the account in her limited spare time.

Obviously, she also checked other pages. Of course, this was only to stay up-to-date and continuously improve their own presence. Why else should she do that? She was usually well informed about what was happening in the outside world.

Barely thirty minutes later, she was standing in the abbess's office and making her request.

The abbess swayed her head back and forth. She tapped her chin thoughtfully with one finger. Exposing the nuns in her charge to worldly pleasures involved a certain risk. On the other hand, an excursion outside the convent walls could also be a means of venting unwholesome thoughts and making the sisters better members of the order afterwards.

Very well, she decided, she would allow the excursion, but only with an additional security measure.

" I agree, my daughter," she announced to Mary Agnes who stood in front of her, unable to hold back a grin at that moment, "but only under the condition that Novice Mistress Mary Josepha accompanies you. And if she notices any nonsense, your visit to this fairground will end immediately and you will return by the direct route. Is that clear?"

Mary Josepha, who was waiting with her folded hands next to the head nun's desk, paled. Going on a trip with a flock of young nuns was worse than having to tend a sack of fleas. But she was experienced and wise enough not to object.