Favorite Teacher
By chrcud
- 490 reads
Christopher Cuddy
Apollo, PA
Christopher.Cuddy@kiski.org
Approx. Words: 2,450
Favorite Teacher
Christopher Cuddy
All the children loved her--which was a miracle: all of the children
actually liking a teacher!--but especially Chaz Marner. He was in love.
He was sure of it.
As with most eight year olds, he didn't have much of an understanding
of what love really was--all he knew was that whenever his third-grade
teacher, Miss Klyke, walked past his desk his heart rate increased and
he got shivers all over his body; and whenever she looked at him it
felt like someone was tickling his back with the jagged edge of an ice
cube, producing a goosebumply sensation that he both loved and hated.
Chaz was a quiet boy and didn't enunciate his presence too strongly in
class. He wasn't assertive, and whenever he was involved in a dispute
out in the playground during recess, he was usually the one to concede
to the demands of the other party.
So how was he going to let her know that he loved her?
Miss Klyke was twenty-five--he knew that because one day, before class
started, he had overheard her speaking with one of the other teachers
out in the hall. His Grandma told him that when she married his
Grandpa--back when his Grandpa was still alive--he gave her a pretty
ring to put on the fourth finger of her left hand (the one in-between
the pinky and the "mean finger"). There was no ring on Miss Klyke's
finger.
What could he do to get her attention?
Miss Klyke was new to the small town; it was her first year teaching at
Chaz's school. If he was older, and could drive, he would probably ask
her if she wanted to take a ride with him. He imagined her smiling down
at him, her light blond hair falling about her shoulders with just
enough curl to add a little volume to her hair design--not too much,
just a little. He thought the curls were cute, especially the way they
bounced whenever she turned her head while addressing the class. He
imagined the blueness of her eyes and the whiteness of her teeth when
she would open her beautiful mouth and say: "Why sure, Chazzy, I'd love
to take a ride with you!"
He would show her all of the best places around the town ("So, you're
new around here, huh?"). He would take her to the park and they would
play on the see-saw, and then on the sliding board, and then once they
were tired he would push her on the swing. She would like that the
most. There would be a slight breeze and it would blow her hair in
romantic wisps. They wouldn't talk. It would be a moment to savor in
silence. And then after awhile she would look up over her shoulder into
his eyes, and he would lean down and--
RING!
Chaz looked up and watched as rows of his classmates stood up from
their seats and made their way towards the exit.
"Please make a straight line."
"Yes, Miss Klyke," they all said cheerfully, in unison. All of the
children liked Miss Klyke--she was their favorite teacher.
Miss Klyke stood to the right of the doorway, hands neatly folded in
front of her. "Have a nice day, class. Oh! And don't forget to work on
your homework! Remember what I want you to bring!"
"Yes, Miss Klyke," they answered again
She smiled as the children passed before her. "See you tomorrow!"
Chaz was the last person in line, he paused when he reached Miss Klyke
and she patted him on the head.
"Hello, Chaz. How are you?"
"I'm good, Miss Klyke." He slurred his words together. The scent of her
light perfume had a cloying effect on him.
"That's good. I just wanted to let you know that I'm very proud of you
for doing such a good job on your homework--you always do things on
time and you never forget. I'm very proud of you!"
Chaz blushed and looked at the floor. "I... I try hard... because
you're my favorite teacher..."
"Why thank you, Chaz! That's a very nice thing to say!"
He felt embarrassed, but looked up anyway and grinned. She was still
smiling at him.
"Hurry up now! You don't want to miss your bus now, do you?"
"Bye," Chaz walked maturely until he was completely out of the
classroom and then he raced down the corridor towards the front
doors.
He was grinning. They hadn't talked too awfully much, but it was a
start.
#
The kids on the buss were talking about their next homework
assignment.
"I think I'll bring in one of the movies daddy always watches when
mommy's not around," one of the kids said.
"I'm gonna bring in a beer can," said someone else.
"My mommy keeps a little bag of white powder stuff in one of her
dresser drawers--it kinda smells funny--I think it'll work," said
another kid.
Chaz just sat and listened to the other children. He didn't know what
he was going to bring in to class. It was harder with his family--he
only lived with Dad and Grandma, and they were usually happy. He had
never seen his father loose his temper or his grandmother cry. But he
would find something. He wasn't about to fail Miss Klyke!
"Why's Miss Klyke always say it's a secret?" one of the other children
asked.
"Because she said it's a surprise, dontcha remember?" someone else
answered.
"But why does it have to be a surprise? Don't you think it'd make our
moms n dads feel bad?"
There was a slight pause, then someone said: "I don't think so, 'cause
remember how Miss Klyke always tells us to love our parents. She
wouldn't tell us to do anything mean."
"Yeah!"
"She's nice and she's my favorite teacher. I'd do anything for
her."
"She's my favorite teacher too!" someone said.
"Mine too!"
"Yeah, she's my favorite! I even like her better than Mr.
Johnson!"
Chaz just listened to all of the other kids talk. He was a quiet boy
who usually didn't assert his own opinions.
#
That night all of Miss Klyke's students did their homework. Chaz Marner
had some difficulty with his--he usually had problems with his
homework--but he finally thought of an object that would work and
packed it away in his book-bag before he went to bed.
Miss Klyke had a large woven basket by her desk into which all of the
students placed their homework. She always collected the basket at the
end of class and returned each of the items to the children the next
day. Chaz had done well on all of his previous homework assignments,
and he hoped that he would get another A on this one as well.
"Good morning, class."
"Good morning, Miss Klyke."
She looked at the basket which was overflowing with objects. "I see
that you have completed your homework assignments. Excellent!" She
smiled at them: "I'm very proud of you, class."
"Thank you, Miss Klyke."
"Now, today, I'm going to give each of you a piece of paper, and on
that piece of paper I want you to draw a picture that shows your
parents using whatever it is you chose to bring in for your
homework--the same thing you did before on other homework assignments.
Okay, class?"
"Yes Miss Klyke."
"And since you all have been such good students and have worked so hard
on your homework assignments, I have something special to give each of
you before you go home today."
Cheers erupted.
Miss Klyke smiled and raised her hands. "Now, now, class. I know you're
excited and you have a right to be--you've worked hard! But let's get
to work on our drawings now so I can pass out your surprises later,
okay?"
A hand raised.
"Yes? Jeff?"
"Uh... I was just wonderin' do we get our own or do we have to, ya
know... share?"
Miss Klyke laughed, "No, Jeff, you each get your own; you don't have to
share." She drug a large black sack out from behind her desk. The bag's
contents clanked and rattled. "Your surprises are in here. I have one
for each of you."
More cheers.
"Now let's get to work. Amy, would you help pass out the papers?"
#
Chaz worked hard on his picture. He wasn't a gifted artist and drawing
wasn't something he enjoyed--especially not drawings like this--but he
worked hard and finished up before anyone else did. He looked around at
the other students--hunkered down over their piece of paper and
scribbling profusely--and then back at his own picture.
Don't you think it'd make our moms n dads feel bad? someone on the bus
had said. Would it make them feel bad? Chaz wondered. He looked at his
picture. Well, he sure didn't like it. But he didn't know about his
dad... Artistically it wasn't bad--probably his best drawing yet--but
would it...
He looked up at Miss Klyke. She was standing by her desk sorting
through all of their homework assignments. She was smiling--a big
smile, too. It was obvious that she was enjoying herself.
No, it can't be mean! Look at Miss Klyke, she's happy--she likes our
homework. No, it can't be mean; Miss Klyke would never want us to do
anything mean!
"Besides," he whispered to himself: "She's my favorite teacher. I'd do
anything for her."
#
When the other students appeared to be finished with their drawings,
Miss Klyke began to pass out their folders.
"I want you to stick your new drawing inside this folder--on top of
your other drawings--and pass it to the front when your through. Try to
keep it orderly, okay? Oh, and don't forget to write your name at the
top of your new drawings--that's important."
She paused next to Chaz's desk, and looked down at his drawing. "Very
good, Chaz! Very interesting! So, that's what your father does with
that."
Chaz blushed, and nodded.
"Here you go," she handed him his folder, "good job." She smiled at him
and passed by.
#
Miss Klyke pulled the large black bag out from behind her desk. "Here
class--now that you've completed and logged your final homework
assignment--are your surprises!"
Cheers.
"And, as promised, there is one for each of you." She untied the golden
drawstring around the mouth of the bag and reached inside. "Now, I'm
going to come along and place one of these on each of your desks, but
please: don't touch them until I say you can." She reached the first
student and set the surprise down on his desk--the student's eyes grew
large and he stared at it. "Once again I want to thank you for being
such good students. You're every teacher's dream."
"Thank you, Miss Klyke." they all responded.
She laid the next surprise on top of the second student's desk and
continued down the row. "We've learned so much, haven't we
class?"
"Yes, we have, Miss Klyke."
"Do you enjoy learning--do you like your homework?"
"Yes, Miss Klyke."
"Good, I'm glad."
Chaz saw what she was setting on the other kid's desks but it didn't
seem real to him. He wasn't sure if they were real or not--they might
be plastic, but they looked a little too big to be toys...
"Here you go, Chaz." It made a metallic clinking sound as she set it
down and Chaz jumped slightly, regarding it as if it were the world's
most poisonous snake. She smiled at him and proceeded on to the next
desk.
He sunk back into chair. There it was, sitting less than a foot in
front of him. This was the first time he had ever seen one up close. He
had seen them on television before, plenty of times, and he had always
thought that they were cool. But right now Chaz didn't think they were
cool--didn't think they were cool at all! He was afraid. More than
afraid; he was terrified, and he wished more than anything else that he
could jump up and bolt out of the room, down the hall, out of the
school, and not stop running until he was safe at home.
At home. Away from that!
He looked up at Miss Klyke and felt his chest tingle. She began to
speak.
"Now, class, as I finish passing these last few out, I want you to
listen very carefully to what I have to say and the instructions I have
to give."
"Yes, Miss Klyke."
"It's very important that you follow my directions and do exactly what
I tell you," she paused, then added: "as soon as you get home." Miss
Klyke studied them seriously: "Do you promise to do exactly what I tell
you?"
"Yes, Miss Klyke, we promise."
Miss Klyke smiled at them and set the last gun down on the final
student's desk. "Good! Now, pay close attention: As soon as you get off
the bus--"
Chaz was scared, but he listened carefully to the directions she gave.
Her voice soothed him, and by the time she was done explaining he no
longer felt afraid--the sweet scent of her perfume and the sound of her
soft voice overtook him, and he didn't feel anything. All he felt when
the bell rang and he walked out of the classroom--gun carefully tucked
away inside his book-bag--was love for Miss Klyke. He loved her. He was
sure of it.
After all: she was his favorite teacher.
#
Transcript Excerpt from Channel Seven News: Thursday, --/--/01
Police are feverishly investigating the brutal murders of, at this
point, no less than forty people--adult men and women--all of whom were
murdered in their homes between the hours of approximately four and six
o' clock this evening. This is the highest number of murders in state
history to occur in a single day, and because of possible national
connections to other killings the FBI is now involved in the
investigation. At this point the authorities have no leads, and they
have no suspects in custody and none have stepped forward. The similar
characteristics of these murders are the position and angle of the
victim's bullet wounds--experts have concluded that all of the deaths
are the results of a single gunshot wound to the head fired upward from
a position close to the ground--and the fact that in each and every
case, at least one of the victim's children has disappeared. All of the
missing children are between the ages of eight and nine, and were
reportedly last seen leaving school together this afternoon.
Authorities and special teams of volunteers are presently searching for
the missing children, but as of yet none--dead or alive--have been
located--
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