Short Story: The Bored Pupil

The Bored Pupil By Gary Davison William slouched at his desk, his fingernail fidgeting with the initials B. R. carved into his desk by some previous, equally bored pupil. "I hate writing", he muttered under his breath while glancing around at his classmates all exhibiting various degrees of contempt. Except for the girls. They all sat up straight, especially Mary, with her hands clasped politely together on her desk, her pigtails on full alert, showing off her perky, 'can do' smile and flashing her 'Ask me, I know the answer' eyes. Down the aisle, Miss Burns walked slow and deliberate like an executioner delivering bad news from the Warden. Dressed for business, she wore a plain blue dress with a white, starched, no-frills blouse. Her brownish …show more content…
After lunch, she marched the students up one by one and critiqued their sad scribbling. Finally, she finished looking over the very last paper and said "William, please come forward". Rising from his desk, William put one foot in front of the other and finally arrived, reluctantly, at her desk. Holding up the paper so William could see it, she asked, "is this yours?" William leaned forward for a better look and replied, "Yes Mam" being careful to not make eye contact. Scanning through the pages carefully, she came back to the cover page and raised her eyes, "this is not good" she paused, "I say that because, actually, it's really good. It's quite imaginative, an excellent plot sprinkled with bits of twists and turns. It needs some work, of course, the grammar needs polishing, but very promising still. Pointing to the title page she asked "what does this mean, 'I love writing', it's kind of ironic don't you think?" Grinning sheepishly, William shrugged his shoulders, pushed his hair back and said "I don't know Mam, I just made it up like I did the rest of the story" "Interesting", Miss Burns said as she handed him his paper back, "keep it up William," she added with just a hint of a