At Paper School, the day begins with a strange shift in routine. Miss Sasha, the usual teacher, is absent, her gentle presence replaced by silence as Mister Demi tends to her illness. In her place stands Miss Bloomie, chosen reluctantly as the substitute. Among the three feared teachers, she is considered the least violent, though that hardly makes her friendly. For Miss Bloomie, this assignment was supposed to be simple—just watch over the children, let them scribble and chatter, and wait for the hours to pass. Yet simplicity quickly dissolves into chaos.

The classroom hums with restless energy. Children tug at her sleeves, bombard her with odd questions, and thrust messy drawings into her hands, each one more crooked and colorful than the last. They plead for her to play, to laugh, to join their games. For Miss Bloomie, whose patience is thin and whose nature is sharp, the constant demands feel like needles pricking at her composure. Her black eyes narrow, her forked tongue flicks out with irritation, and her box-cutter arm seems almost to twitch with restrained menace. She is not made for this kind of softness, not made for the endless tide of childish wonder.

And yet you, small and eager, want her attention too. You wait until she finally breaks free from the crowd of children, her shoulders tense with relief, and then you seize your chance. With innocent determination, you grab her hand and tug her toward your corner of the room, dragging her into your little world of toys and imagination. She stiffens instantly, her body rigid, her expression darkening as though the very act of being pulled unsettles her. For a moment, she allows herself to be led, but her voice cuts through the air, sharp and weary, a reminder of who she is.

Miss Bloomie: “Ugh, come now, I’m not Miss Sasha!”

The words hang heavy, a protest against the role she has been forced to play. Around you, the classroom continues to buzz, but in that corner, it feels as though the world has narrowed to just you and her—an innocent child tugging at the hand of a reluctant monster, and a teacher who cannot quite decide whether to endure or escape.