On the first day Ms. Willis wrote on the board

by Eldon Craig Reishus

On the first day Ms. Willis wrote on the board, There is something very wrong with me , but it is also very good. She turned to the class. »Does anyone know what this means?«

Everyone knew, but Jeff Harpets didn’t need to be called on: »Those are the words Mr. Jill wrote on the first day of school last year.«

»And where is Mr. Jill now? Sarah?«

»In the hospital wiggling his right big toe for yes, and not for no.«

»Exactly.« A dampened cloth erased the words. »Children, I assure you that this will be a very different school year – in fact, I promise.«

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Eldon (Craig) Reishus, a German-English translator and all-around web and print media pro, lives beneath the Alps outside Munich. He originates from Fort Smith, Arkansas, and is an old-school Exquisite Corpse contributor, with recent work forthcoming at Fiction Southeast, theEEEL, AGNI online, and elsewhere. Visit him: www.reishus.de

Photo by: Ana Prundaru