Show & Tell

"Thanks Owen. Those photos of your dog were just as exciting as they were when you showed them to us last week."

Miss Stephanie Wilkins rolls her eyes as the dense boy walks past her desk.

"Last shower for today is Laura Harper. Please come up to the front of the class."

A little blonde girl slowly makes her way in front of the blackboard.

"Where is your project Laura?"

The silent child fidgets uncomfortably.

"Don't tell me you forgot your homework?"

Laura shakes her head.

"Then where is it?"

The frustrated teacher watched on as her young student removed her jacket and dropped it, revealing a large dark-red stain on the right shoulder of her blue and white striped uniform.

"Laura? Are you okay?"

She nods; Alex Dunlam, the class bully, shakily gets to his feet, and takes a few pained steps towards the front of the room.

"I don't know what's happening. Why am I walking? I can't control myself. Miss Wilkins! Help!"

As the teacher goes to take a step, Laura puts her hand out.

"No. This is a part of my presentation. Let me explain. Something amazing happened over the weekend. My dad took me out for a swim at the rock pools over near Scot's Hollow. I thought since I could swim pretty good that I could handle going into the deep pool, you know, the one with that old tractor thing at the bottom of it?"

The whole class murmured in agreement as Alex continued his slow, anguished march.

"Well, it turns out I'm not as good a swimmer as I thought and I sank to the bottom. I don't know what happened after that, because I woke up in the car. My daddy said that I nearly drowned-ed."

"That's drowned Laura."

"Oh, right. Thanks Miss Wilkins. He said I nearly drowned. When I got home and had a shower, I saw that my shoulder was sore and puffy. For some reason, after I hurted it, I could hear what my daddy was thinking and I could make him think things and even do things."

The whole class stares at Laura, including Miss Wilkins, who's thinking that this is the result of an overactive imagination.

Alex steps beside Laura and awkwardly turns to face the class.

"I'll prove it by making Alex think he's a chicken."

The bully starts clucking, whilst tucking his arms in, and skipping around the room.

"Okay you two. That was a good show. Now please, take your seats."

"You don't believe me Miss Wilkins? Well how about another trick? Wanna know what's really in this shower?"

The scared teacher's body tingles all over as she finds herself unable to move.

Laura's head twitches, then snaps backwards, and tumbles to the ground.

From the neck wound rises a fast growth, like a bloody flesh covered balloon filling with air.

The thing drops to its knees then rises swiftly; smiling back at the paralyzed teacher was her own face.