In the Eighth Grade at a Catholic School in Columbus, Ohio as I neared the age of fourteen, I had a couple things going for me. One, I knew a lot of stuff, primarily anything that had nothing to do… Continue Reading
Ms. Marken, the substitute teacher, was doing a math demonstration. Julie had finished the entire math unit two days before, so that was boring. Instead, Julie had taken out her Kindle and was ignoring the sub in the spirit of… Continue Reading
Pleased to meet you. As you know, we start the interview with some standard bureaucratic questions. Do you remember Witchcaps? Right. I remember they were initially designed for edgy supermodels, so their popularity in elementary schools came as a surprise.… Continue Reading
“Marlina, we’ve been waiting for you. Please, take a seat,” the counselor said, gesturing to the empty chair. Marlina did what she was told, cautiously taking a seat across the room from Eddie. He smiled at her, prompting the knot… Continue Reading
“A class ring is a great reminder of all the memories you made in school,” the man in the too-small suit said to me, holding out the gold ring. On it was the school crest: a shield and two striking… Continue Reading
My spaceship lands in Australia and I come out with a big gun, to shoot lions. Mommy won’t let me have a gun. Mommy asked me where I wanted to go on vacation. I said somewhere where there’s no relatives.… Continue Reading
“Twenty lines! By tomorrow!” the Latin teacher shrieked. The class gave out a collective groan. Translating twenty lines of Ovid’s Metamorphoses seemed impossible, even with one hundred nights to work on them. I glanced down at my paper to see… Continue Reading
Back in Auburndale Elementary, Ms. Ponte was my first-grade homeroom teacher. She was so elderly she had probably crossed the Red Sea with Moses. The problem with her was she was falling apart right before my eyes. If you’ve ever… Continue Reading
Listen up, children. You too, Shannon. Derrick, no pushing. Class, we only get one field trip to the space elevator. Don’t ruin it with misbehavior. Leon, grab Susan before she floats back up the hatch. Maintenance is working on the… Continue Reading
I sat at my desk in Miss Austin’s class, engrossed in yet another book. We’d just been assigned Where the Red Fern Grows yesterday, and I was already halfway through it. I forced myself to detach from the fictional world… Continue Reading