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CONTEST ENDED – Thank you for submitting your stories!

#198: Teacher’s Pet

Whether it was the one who taught you a valuable skill, encouraged you to strive for better, or simply put a band-aid on your grazed knee, there must be at least one teacher you’ll always remember. They’re a constant presence in our childhoods, and, when you’re only small, teachers can seem like larger-than-life characters; the source of all knowledge. It’s little wonder that they feature so often in our stories and our imaginations.


Teaching is a difficult and complicated calling. As in any profession, alongside the above-and-beyonders are also those who should never have become teachers, or who have become jaded. Perhaps your own experiences with a teacher of this kind, one who failed to believe in their students when they needed them the most, clipped your wings, or drove you to work even harder in life. Either way, let's use this week to draw from these formative experiences and write about the people who taught us things, or ought to have.



This week's prompts

Write a story about an unconventional teacher.

High School – 57 stories

Start your story with somebody getting called to the principal’s office.

Middle School – 40 stories

Write about a school trip that takes a turn for the unexpected.

Kids – 15 stories

Write a short story about a teacher or mentor figure who recognizes hidden (or magical!) potential in someone and helps them cultivate it.

Narrative – 46 stories

Write a story that contains the phrase “Okay class! Pop quiz.”

Teens – 24 stories

Stories

“Cherry Blossom” by Amanda Lieser

Submitted to Contest #198

It was on a Friday afternoon that they deemed would be the best day to herd 700 high school juniors into the auditorium for the presentation from the Yearbook Company. On that Friday I followed Sammy and tried not to stare at Parker who might ask me out on a date-might ask me to prom. She still nudged my side when she caught me searching the crowds of dyed hair, shaved heads, and messy buns. We took our seat on the bleachers. The gym was decorated with posters of overly enthusiastic students in caps and gowns. A woman in stilettos with ...

9 comments 9
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“Nekomancer” by Graham Kinross

Submitted to Contest #198

TW: Swearing Angela ‘Sneezy the Cat Lady’ Rhymes met the eyes of a billboard advert model through the classroom window. Three teenagers slouched in chairs with their arms folded, facing her whiteboard. One was on her phone. Angela sighed. “None of us want to be here at magic summer school so let’s get done what needs done and go home, deal?” Anna-May ‘the Animator’ Ghibli nodded enthusiastically, as the only one who wasn’t there through misdemeanors. Jesus Hernandez raised his hand. “Miss, how many classes do we have to go to before we can g...

16 comments 16
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“The Crossing Guard” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #198

“***** *****, please come to the principal’s office.” When you are young, it is possible to believe that adults are there for you; that they are aware of what is best for you; that they are doing the right thing. I thought so for a very long time, all through the great disappointment that was my father, his replacement who could not stand even in his shadow as an example worth following, and many other figures in my life who were always lacking in some way. My moment of discovery came in the most innocent manner and I still recall what it wa...

16 comments 16
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“Urlwyn's Ward” by Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #198

The Witch. Her Cottage. What Remained. Being Brave. Her name was Urlwyn Pitch, and when she died, her body was stuffed into a lidless casket propped upright against a hawthorn tree outside her home. A gruesome practice, the macabre display deterred sympathizers and served to caution the remaining members of her coven. Shortly after, the townfolk of Taemorden raized her humble cottage using mauls, sledgehammers, and mining picks, in a collective toil meant to expunge the witch from their memory. It was early morning, a day after Urlwyn’s demi...

19 comments 19
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“The Triumphant Exit” by Shahzad Ahmad

Submitted to Contest #198

Hamza ambled towards the squeamish student appearing to hide behind the cover of his notebook. As he came close to him, the student almost jumped out of his seat! Somewhat anticipating his reaction, he gently put a hand around his back and comfortingly smiled at him. “Son, don’t be scared when you haven’t done a thing wrong! Swagger back at the bullies and put them in place! The student whose name was Farooq, was quite astonished to see the accommodating behaviour of the teacher. He had been incriminated in a rowdy incident despite being the...

17 comments 17
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“Corner Art” by Suma Jayachandar

Submitted to Contest #198

For as long as she could remember, tendrils, peacocks, and rangolis ran amok in Suchi’s head. And leaped out at her notebooks. The public school she went to, close to her village, had half its teaching staff getting replaced every year. And given its proximity to the military cantonment, half its students got refreshed every year. Not that any of it mattered to Suchi. She had learned the art of becoming invisible by sandwiching herself between eager-beaver-answer-giver-oh-I’m-so-clever and I-care-two-hoots-for-your-chalk-and-talk-lady! briga...

26 comments 26
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“AN INCOMPARABLE MENTOR” by Viga Boland

Submitted to Contest #198

**small mention of physical abuse**So, here we are…a gaggle of gushing old geese fibbing to each other about how fabulous we all look, and how we haven’t changed in 50 years. As if! Okay. Maybe that’s a bit harsh, but I know what I see every morning when I look in the mirror: that reflection speaks a truth this reunion of excited, twittering ladies doesn’t. Oh, I know, I know! I need to be less critical of both them and myself. I’m such an old grouch these days it’s a wonder I get any compliments from anyone, anywhere, anytime. I need t...

27 comments 27
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“What You're Going to Say Next” by Story Time

Submitted to Contest #198

Principal Alonzo called Stephen Shy into her office at 11:04 on a Tuesday morning to discuss why using robots to write term papers is unacceptable. Stephen walked into her office seemingly unconcerned about why he had been summoned. Most of the sixth graders walked in sheepish--even anxious. Seventh graders tended to walk in providing a kind of false confidence that would fall away as soon as Principal Alonzo picked up the phone and interrupted their parents at work. The eighth graders were the best at appearing calm, but a raised voice an...

11 comments 11
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“What We Should Be Saying” by Russell Mickler

Submitted to Contest #198

CW: Language, Politics, Truth.{a high school graduation}{a crowd applauds}“Thank you. When Paul asked me to deliver the commencement address to Lake View High’s Graduating Class of 2023-”{applause}“... yes, well, I truly thought your principal had lost his marbles.”{audience laughs}“I even gave him a second chance this morning to rescend the invitation - for the Love of God, pick somebody else - but he declined the offer, and insisted I speak.”{audience laughs}“So I asked him, who wants to hear from some grumpy old Econ teacher anyway? He mu...

15 comments 15
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“Carnival” by Derrick M Domican

Submitted to Contest #198

Principal Wallace was standing with his back to the door, leafing through folders in the top drawer of one of his filing cabinets, when she entered the office, quiet as a mouse, stealthy as a ninja, gentle as the wind, despite her size. She smirked as she crossed from the door to the busy-but-organised desk, softly and swiftly like she was floating, and drew to a halt there, wondering how long it would take for him to notice she’d arrived. The window next to him was open and bright summer sunlight was streaming into the room along with ...

4 comments 4
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“Further Down The Tracks” by Jed Cope

Submitted to Contest #198

“And that is why rail tracks are four feet and eight and a half inches apart.” Mr Burton bestowed his dazzling smile upon the class, but somehow managed to make it land on Darren. Darren blushed, but returned the smile all the same. Mr Burton was his hero, or something like that. Mr Burton was cool and he not only knew stuff, he knew how to tell it in a way that made it really interesting to a point that the pupils in the class were lapping it up. “So you’re saying that train tracks are the width they are thanks to horse butts?”  ...

13 comments 13
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“The Paddling” by Steven Smith

Submitted to Contest #198

To declare my reinvented self, I decided Firestone Park Elementary School would be the site to appropriate a rebellion against authority. There was no question about the target, a classroom coterie of prim and proper girls, each pretty in her own right but at times collectively snippy. To cultivate my new rogue image, I joined a biker gang of sorts. We fired up fantasy motorcycles one afternoon and rumbled across the playground. On accident, I crashed into Beth Marshall, who shoved me back.I fled the scene, my arms extended, fists wrapp...

2 comments 2
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“Study Break” by Nichole Anderson

Submitted to Contest #198

I looked outside the window watching the wind blow the petals that had fallen from a tree nearby. They lifted gently and fell again as if the wind found them too heavy to carry and put them back on the ground, decorating the grass like polka dots. “Nichole”  My boyfriend woke me up from my trance with his deep voice. “Yes” I answered quickly as if I was pretending to be listening the whole time. “You know if you didn’t want to study, I know of something else that we can do to occupy our time.” He grinned, lifting his eyebrows for appr...

7 comments 7
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“Woot” by Murray Burns

Submitted to Contest #198

Woot “Miss Jenkins, could you please bring in the next candidate for the 10th Grade English teacher position?”“Please sit down, young man. And what is your name?”“Woot.”“What?”“No, Woot.”“What?”“No, not what. It’s Woot, sir.”“Miss Jenkins, can you help me out here?”“I think he’s trying to tell you his name is Woot, Mr. Carsons.”“What?”“No, not what, Mr. Carsons. I believe his name is Woot.”“Thank you, Miss Jenkins. Your name is Woot?”“Yes. Actually, it’s Woot Jr., sir. I come from a long line of Woots. Since my dad is a Woot, I’m Woody to my...

8 comments 8
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“Salamanders” by Myranda Marie

Submitted to Contest #198

The annual sixth grade class trip was approaching, and best friends Rachel and Laurie were equally excited as they were apprehensive. Five days and four nights away from their homes, their families and their own cozy beds made the two twelve-year-olds rethink the decision to attend. However, this particular trip was mandatory attendance with the only exceptions accompanied by a note from a doctor. A rite of passage for the last year in elementary school, each class passed down stories of survival as if they were a perpetual urban legend stra...

6 comments 6
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$250

Prize money

182

Contest entries

105

Stories

Ended on 23:59 - May 19, 2023 EST

Won by Zack Powell 🏆

Title: Multiple Choice

Submissions must be between 1,000 - 3,000 words and will be approved and published on Reedsy Prompts within 7 days of the contest closing.

Read the full terms & conditions or check out the FAQ if you have any questions!

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