Chapter 2- Jack

bzzzzt.  bzzzzt. Jack was sitting in class trying to focus on the video that his science teaching was showing, trying to ignore the phone buzzing away in his pocket.  bzzzzt.  bzzzzt. The blue glow of the projector lit the darkened classroom. On the screen, the magnified, blood-red legs of a male assassin bug were scurrying across a leaf as he protected the larva of his yet-to-be-born children. bzzzzt.  bzzzzt. Jack raised his hand and asked the teacher if he could use the restroom.

“Yes, but go fast I don’t want you to miss the end of the video,” his teacher replied, completely unaware that almost no one was paying attention to this movie, “you won’t believe what this insect does after the larva hatch.”

Jack hurried out of the room and around the corner.  As soon as he was out of the sight of Mr. Stibbins, Jacked pulled his phone out of his pocket: 4 new messages from Dad.  Jack held his finger against the home button and the screen unlocked:

-Dad: Hey Jack.  Change of plans.  Had to reschedule some meetings.  Heading straight to Lagos.  Won’t be passing through Accra tonight.
-Dad: Sorry, son.
-Dad: See you Monday.
-Dad: Study hard.

Jack’s shoulder slumped as he stared down at his phone.  Again? he thought to himself.  He started to type, “It’s ok…” then he deleted it.  It’s not okay. 

-Jack: k. see you monday

He tapped ‘send’ and returned to class just in time to see the assassin bug abandon his baby insects, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Comments

  1. Oh my. You said it right here - we never know what our kids are going through. Such an eloquent slice. Quite the ending. Perfect.

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  2. The structure is great--beginning and ending with those insects and drawing the parallel between them and Jack. I agree that your ending line is perfect. Your word choices (abandon, fend for themselves) are spot on.

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  3. A timely juxtaposition, and a sad one. Ditto the previous comments.

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  4. This is so, so sad. I hate knowing that so many of our kids live these kinds of lives. And what gorgeous writing! Wow!

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  5. Beautiful. I always worry that we don't take into account enough what our kids are going through, or find out enough! You had me curious right away who was interrupting Jack during his school day.

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  6. This is so heart breaking... I am a teacher who takes a lot of the students emotions on and try and have empathy, but you never can make it right. Poor Jack..

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  7. Oh, goodness. It’s so true- and so sad sometimes. Great use of the film story as backdrop.

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  8. I like that you chose to write this post from Jack's perspective. 'Jack' is any and all of our students. They carry baggage and it affects what and how they learn. Sometimes that baggage even makes it impossible for them to get as excited about learning as we are about teaching. And sometimes that baggage can affect us, the educators. Thank you for posting!

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  9. Two slices in one, driving home a point through effectively juxtaposed scenes.

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  10. Well done. Superb crafting and great use of juxtaposition. Truth, not only in the classroom; I'm personally connecting it to staff meetings and professional development.

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  11. Wow; this short piece packs such power of perspective. Thanks for reminding us of the stories and experiences our kids bring to our classrooms each day.

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  12. Short but powerful to driving the story further along. The text, inner thought, multiple settings at once - YOU'RE GOOD! That's not easy to pull off.

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