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Story: Teaching II

Children will give you plastic fruit. You are thrust into Pre-K, because the other sub is an administrator, and she needs to go deal with the Toshiba representative.

What a strange world: Pre-K! Monologues seem to spill from multiple mouths; there are few clear connections between one comment and its predecessor. The teacher keeps a stash of latex-free non-allergenic gloves for when children pee their pants; she has ten pairs, but she's not optimistic that these will last out the year. One sullen child pulls away from the group to monitor what appears to be a small worm-shaped robot; surely, this child will become a writer.

Most of the kids gather in the fake-kitchen, and they busy themselves with fake plastic foods. "An egg is missing!" "We have a cake!" Two girls will pick up small brooms and do fake-sweeping; note that none of the boys indulge in that particular game. Above: Letters from the alphabet. "A is for ant, B is for brontosaurus, C is for cat, D is for dingo." Bizarrely, X is paired with a large fish. An X fish? Consider raising this question with the children, and think better of this plan; the children are not here to help you meet your own needs.

A new sub bursts in: There are too many children in the kitchen station. The kids flash an anxious look: They knew about this rule, this quota, and they withheld their knowledge from you. They knew all along. There is wickedness, drama, naughtiness in the air. And no one ever finds that missing egg.

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