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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

“It's Enough” by Michele Duess

Submitted to Contest #198

You had big plans and dreams. That's why you went into this. You wanted to be someone, to make a difference. And this seemed like the path to do it.It certainly wasn't for the pay.Maybe it just seemed like a good idea at the time. You liked learning and reading and didn't care which of your childhood friends knew it. You went from New Jersey to New York whenever you could afford it. It wasn't to drink or get into trouble. You wanted to see opera.What fourteen-year-old does that?When did it all begin to end?When did you start waking up?Was it...

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“Where in the woodlands” by Adam Beck

Submitted to Contest #198

Act 1 It was a cold dark morning at Woodlands, the rain lashed down on the depressingly horizontal concrete roof as the rusty gates squeaked and squealed in the ravaging wind. The hallways of Woodlands are cold, dark, concrete, beige unforgiving, but for a singular stripe of red running through the center of the wall. Adding a dash of colour. Ringgggggggg! – The bell rattles in its shell. Mr Mardy confidently struts into the room, old and wise, he has black and grey hair with a pointed beard, short in stature. He sh...

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“How to See in the Dark” by Steven Williams

Submitted to Contest #198

It was the beginning of spring, and I was counting down the days until the end of eighth grade. Most of us in my class were what you might call "not particularly nice kids"—we didn't care much for authority, and we were quick to judge and mock those who were different from us. We all grew up in the same rough neighborhood, with little regard for our futures. But as the school year drew to a close, I found myself growing restless and dissatisfied with our aimless existence leading into high school. One day after spring break, our previou...

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“The Handwritten Note from Mr. Gilliard” by Sam Grackle

Submitted to Contest #198

English class. I’m at the north side of the classroom, up against the windows. There’s a fly in the corner of the window, between the two panes of spotless glass. I was just wondering how it could have gotten there when I hear a screeching sound coming from the front of the classroom. I look up and Mr. Gilliard is wielding his handheld garden cultivator with four black prongs at the front of the classroom. Each one of those god-forsaken prongs is vibrating at top-speed as he drags them across the blackboard to get our attention. At fi...

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“You Only Need to Look” by Valentina Santillana

Submitted to Contest #198

My seventh-grade English teacher was, well, for lack of a better word, fat.Not chubby or a little overweight. She was a fat person. Andthat made the students feel they had the right to disrespect her.But I loved her. I loved her class. The knowledge about booksthat she possessed. The capacity that she had to transport me into different worlds and eras. Sometimes I felt the class was just between her and me because everyone else was passing little notes back and forth (no cell phones then) and whispering to each other and all were more than g...

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“The Tale of the Pointer” by Kaitlyn Wadsworth

Submitted to Contest #198

When I think about my co-ed high school years, two boys come to mind. One of them full of meanness, and the other full of mischief. The mean one, Mark, dreamed up many ways to torment me physically and mentally. I spent my last two years at High School dreaming up and sometimes succeeding in getting even with him. I recollect he took it very well. That’s another story.Years later, when I bumped into him unexpectedly at a Super Market with a babe in my arms, he seemed delighted to see me. He positively grinned, complemented me on my cute chil...

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“Mr. Woodrow's Senior Prank” by Timothy Rennels

Submitted to Contest #198

MR. WOODROW’S SENIOR PRANK Harper Woodrow gazed at the vista provided for the graduates of Pacifica High School. A platform festooned with blue and white bunting was centered between the goalpost, and rows of white chairs filling nearly half of the football field were filled with black robed seniors. Seagulls rode the thermals over the beach in the distance, and on a quiet night you could hear the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean beyond. The puffs of white cloud against the clear blue sky accented the sc...

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“Haven't You Heard?” by Ian James

Submitted to Contest #198

2007"Takumi Hikohito and Chip Martin!" Brad's voice echoed through the classroom, capturing the attention of the entire class. Mr Jackson, their teacher, beamed with satisfaction, relishing in the fact that none of the students seemed familiar with those names. He shared a knowing glance with Brad and their fellow group members, Delilah and Jason, as they revelled in their triumph."Thank you, Mr Johnson, Miss Smith, and Mr Davis," Mr Jackson acknowledged, granting them permission to return to their seats. He strolled across the classroom, hi...

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“Something New” by Catherine Hudson

Submitted to Contest #198

The cry of the baby, always another baby as soon as one was ready to explore, the pitter patter, stop, and then more pitter patter of those newly exploring feet on the wooden floors, the creek of the beds with Mary, and David trying to find room to play, all of these sounds greeted Thomas every morning without fail. The smell of the baby’s napkins, constantly needing to be washed, the acrid smell of the coal stove, the familiar smell of the same porridge day in day out were a constant, and without change every day. They weren’t all b...

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“Filth” by N.M. Stech

Submitted to Contest #198

TW: The following is a dark satire on the difficulties facing our teachers and as such, includes depictions of misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and allusions to school violence. “OK class, let’s make sure our names are on our beautiful creations and put away our markers!” Dolores Acosta smiled as she collected her first grader’s colorful self-portraits and drawings of cats, dogs, flowers and rainbows. “Excellent daisies, Sarah! Is this your new puppy, David? He’s so...

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“I'll Take the Days” by Steve Delgado

Submitted to Contest #198

Mottled groups of the wayward kids who walked to school each day instead of riding in air-conditioned vehicles sauntered to the outside reception area from different directions – some from the alleys, some from the side streets. All were gathering in the school bus loading area for the first day of school. For the older sixth graders, it was their last year of elementary school here, and they were looking forward to being wonderfully comfortable operating as the familiar rowdy group. I know this about those kids because I’m one of them.&nbsp...

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“Each a Fruitful Bough” by Alex Hippenhammer

Submitted to Contest #198

2:55. Jo clicked her mechanical pencil, then jabbed it against her desk, the graphite disappearing. She repeated. Once. Twice. More times than she could count. 2:55. Still. How is that even possible? Now Jo traced the rings of the lifeless wood, flattened into elongated patterns. She imagined the rings speaking to her, as though her pencil were a stylus revealing a story older than the building she sat in. She drew a dark spot in the middle, the gray spirals becoming the revolving rings of a distant, undiscovered planet. The stillnes...

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“Teacher Vision” by Benja Catton

Submitted to Contest #198

Mrs. Emily Lennon was the first one to name it. I didn’t even know I could do it. It was the nineties and I was in fourth grade. “Look at it with your eyes out of focus. You can cross your eyes and then bring them uncrossed slowly. Or you can try to look past the poster. A new image should appear. Be patient and keep trying.” We were starting a unit about space. Mrs. Lennon hung a Magic Eye poster on the classroom door. The obvious, surface image was a cosmic swirl of stars over the partial horizon of a blue planet. As a class, we ...

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“The Spartan Gym” by C. Charles

Submitted to Contest #198

Luke’s pulse throbbed through his entire body. He could even hear it in his ears as he faced the battered green, double door. He had begged his parents for weeks and they finally relented. They were banking on this being a phase, a passing fancy. No way Luke thought. Ever since the Saturday that his Dad let him stay up to watch the fight, he was hooked. The next day he had gone to the library and checked out as many books as they would let him take, but the grainy black and white pictures weren’t enough. They were like drops of rain t...

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“The Medical School Journey” by Rudy Greene

Submitted to Contest #198

It was September 1974 and the dean of the medical school was addressing my class on its inaugural day. I was already slightly intimidated by my classmates who, on average, were two years younger and star science students. I was an English major with minimal science background. I figured I charmed my way into medical school with the help of the dean of arts and science who wrote my recommendation letter. I was a novelty. I looked around the auditorium, which was modern for that time. The medical school was a relatively new building. The ...

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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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