I walked into the classroom with bated breath as I searched for my seat. I had heard the rumors of the bald demon, toying with his prey through silly means like requiring a password to enter his domain or assigning a mountain of homework not even the greatest of warriors could climb. Now, starting this semester, I would become the next victim in his latest trap: dramatic writing.
So I sat down, hands shaking, as I started to look around the room. I studied the poster filled walls, puzzled as to why so many of them depicted the demon’s likeness and a... chicken burrito? And it seemed that the others who were unlucky enough to wind up here were just as confused. But their confusion wasn’t directed at the walls, no, it was because our teacher, the demon, was nowhere to be found.
We started chatting, discussing what could possibly be going on. After what felt like ages, the door creaked open with a hiss revealing the man, the myth, the demon: Mr. Giles.
A cold silence blanketed the room. We all shifted out attention to Mr. Giles, prepared for the worst, when he shouted, “These are the rules!”
And the rules he listed, well, let’s just say made absolutely no sense. But what was even worse was that all around me, people were starting to take out notebooks and... write them down?
I sat there, heart pounding as my mind went back and forth between grabbing my notebook and trying to pay attention. But as more and more people started to write, my feeble mind collapsed, and I snatched my notebook.
I began furiously trying to copy what Mr. Giles was saying, yet he was going so fast I couldn’t keep up. I tried to write faster and faster, but it was like every word he said erased the previous one from my mind.
My breathing picked up. I didn’t want to fail what was surely the first assignment, not like this! So, I kept trying and trying until finally, he stopped, his back to the class.
He then spun around, a grin scaring his face, and asked, “Why did you all write things down?”
And that’s when it hit me. This wasn’t an assignment, everyone else was just as, if not more lost than me!
I had misjudged Mr. Giles. He was not a demon, in fact he was far from being evil. No, he was a trickster, and I had just signed up for a years worth of what was sure to be one memorable trick.