Bigger Fish to Fry, Circa 1958 WC 247

Bigger Fish to Fry: Circa 1958
WC 247

It was Friday, the last final exam of the year in Mrs. Abbott’s 3rd-year algebra class. Her exams were dreaded; the finals were downright mortifying.

“Class, clear your desks,” Mrs. Abbott said as she walked down the rows in her floral dress and sensible shoes, handing out the tests. “You have one hour to complete this.”

The classroom grew quiet except for the rustling of pages, pencils scratching across paper, and the thumping of hearts.

Sarah Broadhurst was absolutely stumped on the very first question, so she went on to the second one. She was not surprised; a student had to be prepared to pass one of Mrs. Abbott’s final exams.

Sarah was not.

She knew she wasn’t the only one having trouble. From her vantage point from the last row of desks, she could see John Deaton sneaking peeks at Georgia Klinkner’s test. Georgia was the smartest kid in the class.

Sarah couldn’t believe her eyes. Not only was John Deaton sneaking peeks, but Georgia was letting him copy her answers.

John and Georgia were an item, but still…

Something in the schoolyard caught Sarah’s eye. She turned to see a huge mushroom cloud on the horizon.

Then the air raid siren went off.

At that moment, Sarah realized that Mrs. Abbott’s class had much bigger fish to fry than a stupid math test. She crawled under her desk, covered her head, and said a prayer that she would get another chance to eat fried fish.