Classes Have Begun

Back to work she went after teaching from home for four years due to the great virus. The week prior to this, she had gone to the invisible island with her colleagues. Nobody ever mentioned it and nobody ever went back there. However, everything had changed.

The school was not a building anymore. I was an ally with closets. Each closet had technological equipment to assist the teacher. There was a kilometer distance between each closet so as not to bother the next class. It seemed like everyone needed to adapt to the new system.

The closet would open five minutes prior to the lesson, the closet door would open and some chairs would rise from the ground. Pretty high-tech, nonetheless strange.

Classes were smaller due to the great virus. Many people could not keep up with the sanitation recommendations; sadly, lives were lost. However, she was happy to be back.

The teacher´s lounge was also a closet, but it had a coffee machine and a food machine with even gluten-free and vegan products, which was a plus. She went there to great her co-workers before the first class of the day. Most of them she did not know.

The first bell rang and she headed to her classroom, I mean, her closet. Few students showed up. Some that she thought had switched to other schools due to financial issues. The student explained that many schools had shut down because of lack of staff and infrastructure.

Although it looked like we were in the middle of the street, there was a gigantic dome that protected them from rain, snow and wind. However, the sun provided the light they needed and were also protected from its rays. All of this was very new to her. After all, she had been teaching from home via computer.

During this first day back, she decided that she would just talk to the students about their break, expectations, insecurities, etc.

Everything was going well until one student asked if the end of the world was near. She asked the other students to give their opinions, some negative, others positive. Meanwhile she was seeking her heart and brain for her own answer. “You know my father always told me not to worry about the end of the world, because it ended for those who passed and eventually everyone was going to pass one day. No one wants to live forever”. The students put one those question mark looks on their faces. They had listened to the answer and were coming up with another question.

“So many people died due to the great virus and all those horrific stories about people turning into cannibals not to starve. Would it be great if a meteor just blew up the whole planet?”

Once again, the teacher allowed everyone to answer before she spoke. Like most teachers, she answered with a question “Why do we need to blow up this beautiful planet because of its inhabitants? Wouldn´t it make more sense for people to stop being selfish and start caring about making a change?” There was silence. If you listened really hard, you could hear their brains ticking.

The bell rang. “Tomorrow we can continue our talk. Have a great day!”

Written: January 12, 2022 (based on a dream)

 

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