Ms. Mary

Ms. Mary neatly stacked her pile of papers and placed them on the corner of her desk.

"Well, it seems as though nothing's out of the ordinary," Principal Brown said.

Ms. Mary smiled. "Of course! Those mothers, so sensitive you know?"

Principal Brown smiled back. "Yes, but a bunch of moms bombarding the office with calls is a bit concerning, don't you think?"

Ms. Mary's eye twitched just a bit. "Probably just bad grades."

Principal Brown shook his head. "Actually, every one of your students comes home crying, but we just can't figure out why."

"Oh, it must be the bullying." Ms. Mary replied with a sigh. "Just the other day I saw a kid beating one of my students up."

Principal Brown scratched his head. "Well...the kids have been saying...er..." He hesitated before continuing, "...they've been saying that it's...you."

Ms. Mary's pleasant smile turned into a look of sadness. "Oh...is that so?"

"Yes, but we have no idea why," Principal Brown replied. "You seem as though a great teacher."

"Why thank you!" And just like that, Ms. Mary's smile returned.

"Alright well, I'll be on my way then."

Just as Principal Brown closed the door, Ms. Mary's smile turned into an unpleasant look. She sat down at her desk and folded her hands in her lap. Then she proceeded to stare at the clock, counting down the minutes till class would start.

At exactly 8:00 and the students marched towards their desks in a line. Each one of the students did not show any emotion but the fear could be seen in their eyes. As they all sat down, Ms. Mary reached for her pen and started taking attendance.

"Abby?"

"Here."

One by one she listed out the names and the students responded just as quickly.

"George?"

There was no response.

Just then a boy ran into the classroom.

"No running inside the classroom, George."

George just nodded, his eyes looking at the ground, not wanting to stare back at Ms. Mary's piercing eyes.

"You are late."

George finally looked up. "M-Ms. Mary, I'm only late by a few minutes-"

"No excuses."

Ms. Mary walked to her cabinet and opened the very top drawer. She pulled out an object and made her way back to George, who was trembling in fear.

"P-Please, n-no. I-I brought a l-late pass."

Ms. Mary just chuckled and said, "It's too late, George."

She then she turned to the class. "Let this be a lesson for all of you."

The next day there was no George. No one but Ms. Mary and the students knew who he was. His desk and cubby were gone from the classroom. The only thing that remained of him was his late pass, which was on the ground in the very same spot where he stood the day before.