Have you ever been to a bad school?
A place where it seemed like the teachers were apathetic and just generally ‘very bad’. Students had no recourse; the school simply was what it was. A below average school that had some serious needs to improve. The teachers tended to blame a lack of resources, but it was more then that. There had been a critical point reached where the teachers just didn’t ‘seem to care’ anymore. Bullying of students (and perhaps teacher too) had started to rise and while ‘that’ was sometimes dealt with, it tended to be done more quietly.
Sam Walters was an above average student… a little shy, perhaps a little nerdy with short black curly hair and glasses. Average build he dressed casually with shirts and jeans. He knew ever since he was young that he wanted to know about- well- ‘everything’ that there was to learn. He loved science, mathematics, history, and read many books. He often declined to use the internet, given that he had seen it could be altered in an instant… and Sam never wanted to be ‘wrong’. He hoped to be a scientist and help improve the world.
Though his scholarly pursuits made him a bit of a ‘teacher’s pet’ in his youth, it did not endear him towards his fellow students. They saw him as a little ‘weird’ to like school despite its failings. He tried to maintain a cheerful attitude at first but with time, that too started to degrade as he fell to the curse of this new place.
Sam’s keen fresh face was replaced by sour looks, matching the depressed teachers and poor classrooms. Everything began to look and feel… grey. As much as Sam tried to learn, he was feeling the pressure here… the sadness that was overwhelming him, threatening to take and corrupt his joy into misery…
…but suddenly that all changed.
It could all be traced to just one moment… one person.
A new teacher had arrived by name of Miss Sizzle. An… odd name to be sure. She had long blonde hair, and seemed to enjoy wearing rather ‘eccentric’ or rather ‘noisy’ colourful dresses with emblems of stars, planets, sometimes animals… but her way of teaching was just... incredible. The classroom seemed to change instantly with access to books, computers, and even the students were drawn into that energy that she provided. She took personal attention to every student’s needs…
Everyone wanted to be in her class.
Those she taught were considered lucky, and Sam was being moved to her class. He was quite excited as he entered the classroom, overcome by the bright lights that shone having been used to working with cheap incandescent lightbulbs when a candle could probably provide better light.
“Ah you must be Sam!” Sizzle smiled looking down towards him. “Welcome to my classroom! Please why don’t you sit over there.” The beautiful woman guided him to a desk and her motions almost seemed to ‘glide’ across the floor with that soft sky blue dress depicting a rainbow.
Sam sat down, glancing around at his peers. His fellow students smiled to him warmly, a greeting he had not seen or felt in a long time. He felt himself smiling too…
Sizzle clasped her hands together. “Well class, today we examine the Roman Empire and its impact on the world! The innovations, the technological achievements made in this time! It is an exciting moment, please do not be too overwhelmed!”
Sam stared at the animated woman and felt instant adoration for her. It was like she was smiling just at him. She was motherly, kind… and something about her eyes showed the incredible depth of knowledge she possessed. That knowledge was being given freely… just for him. He started to work…
In a half hour, Sam had learned more about the Roman Empire then he had ever learned in a day of study. Miss Sizzle had even brought artifacts to pass around the class… various coins, models, even a sword- which she said had been made ‘safe’ somehow… though as Sam held that sword and felt its weight, the odd imperfections that came from an ancient artifact he felt his mind almost transported to that world… knowing what it must have been to be born and fight in such a world…
He quickly passed on the sword, looking to the various coins and other artifacts as they arrived. He pressed his fingers into the indentations… the rough metal… “Thinner than I thought it would be…”
“Such a wonderful class you all are!” Sizzle smiled again. “Now next class, I will need to give you all a test- oh and it appears that I’ll be teaching you quadratic equations-“
There was a groan.
“Now now! It will be fun I promise! Please read your books on pages ten to fifteen, and if you need more help I have some sheets to explain things- ah yes Martin, Shelly you’ll need these sheets.” She passed over the notes with the student’s names.
Sam looked at the next assignment and sighed. This was super easy… he’d be done in a half hour.
“-and Sam, I see you have great talent… I want you to look at something a little harder.” Sizzle suddenly placed a new sheet for him with his name. Wait- how the heck did she prepare that! Sam had only just arrived in this classroom… he stared at the questions. They were easy at first but… progressively more difficult. He stared in wonderment, sensing how much work he would have to put in… but the task was not ‘insurmountable’… it even looked fun. “Whoa…”
“I’m sure you’ll do well. Just please try your best.” Miss Sizzle smiled.
Sam was utterly bewildered by what had just happened as he left the classroom…
Sizzle was the most wonderful- nay- ‘perfect’ teacher he had ever seen. The teenager had found himself blushing a bit at how attentive she was. He had never seen anything like that… the homework he had been given was ‘perfect’ for his needs, given especially to him. He was actually looking forward to doing it! So… weird!
Sam had been in the corridors for a while now, milling around and exploring the school… but he wanted to go back to that classroom, just to see it again. He glanced around and tried to get in, though unfortunately it was locked. Not quite deterred he put his eye through the keyhole…
He saw Miss Sizzle sitting on her desk. In the absence of any students she seemed a little sullen… he wasn’t sure why she looked sad now. He felt a bit bad for spying and would have stopped but some strange spark of light caught his eye when the woman touched her chest…
Sam had to squint… The teacher had vanished… in her place was a new young girl with long brown hair. She glanced around cautiously, the energy of Miss Sizzle seemingly just gone. The classroom itself had changed, becoming dusty, darker… as if nobody had studied there for a very long time. The warmth and brightness of the room had just vanished… it became like all the other rooms in the school… ‘She’s magic…’ Sam exclaimed. “I don’t believe it…”
“Hey! What you doing kid?” A voice made Sam turn around seeing another teacher. It was Mr Radford, the music teacher… a very ‘bad’ music teacher.
“Uh- Nothing,” Sam muttered getting slightly away from the teacher who still smelled of cigarette smoke. “Just um- the door is locked. I thought I forgot something in there.”
Mr Radford was unsympathetic. “Hm, well if you forgot something you can collect it tomorrow, this room is always locked.”
Sam looked at the teacher… maybe he could get some more information. “Um- can I ask you about Miss Sizzle sir?”
The teacher heaved a sigh as if that question was somehow a little difficult for him. “Oh... she arrived a few weeks ago. Very nice lady I think… I’m not entirely sure how she manages it…” He shook his head. Sam could tell there was an edge to his voice… was Sizzle not liked? “I can’t really say much more. I doubt she’ll be here long anyway.”
“W-why?!” Sam gasped.
“… oh I can’t say more.” The man then walked away.
Sam frowned. Sizzle… gone? No… she couldn’t! He had to talk to her… he kept an eye on the door to the classroom… He wanted to know who she was… who was Miss Sizzle?
It took another half hour… the door to the classroom unlocked as the young girl walked out. She looked like any other student… Sam realised the girl was his own age, a teenager. He wasn’t sure what to make of what was going on… but he quickly ran up to her. “Uh- Excuse me!” he called to her touching her shoulder briefly.
“uh- H-hello?” The girl suddenly looked nervous jumping almost out of her skin. “Sorry- I’m a- a little busy-”
Sam continued to stare… gone was the depth of knowledge and light he saw… the sheer ‘presence’ of Miss Sizzle. How would he ask about this? “… I was wondering if you were in Miss Sizzle’s class. I saw you coming out but I... didn’t see you when I was there before.”
The girl blushed suddenly. “Oh! Ah- I- well- Sizzle teaches me personally! She’s my personal tutor. Yeah...”
“Oh…” Sam could tell she was lying- well- ‘anyone’ could tell she was with that demeanour. He lowered his voice, making sure nobody else could hear. “What’s your name?”
“B-Becca- Rebecca!” She bowed slightly. “Nice to meet you ,Sam!”
“Oh- you know me?” Sam couldn’t help but smirk a little grin.
Becca blushed harder taking a step back. “Oh wait no- I havn’t yet uh-“ she looked now frustrated turning crimson red. “O-obviously I- I have heard of you!” She quickly said. “I recently arrived too…”
Sam sighed. He had to come clean. “…I saw you transform.”
The girl’s eyes widened though this did make her relax a bit. “Oh…” she rubbed her hands. “…well… uh… are you gonna tell?” She looked forlorn and saddened. “We should… talk.”
Once again Sam entered the dusty classroom… his desk was filled with graffiti now. He looked down a bit as the chair almost broke when he picked it up. “Uh- how did this place change?”
“…Same way I change. So… you gonna tell?” she asked curiously.
Sam shook his head. “You are the most amazing teacher I’ve ever seen… that I’ve… ever known. We- I mean- all the students just… fall in love with you.”
Becca sighed. “They fall in love with Sizzle… I’m sure you know who she is now.” She took out a phone showing a video of an old cartoon program. “You know… The Wondrous School Bus?”
“Miss… Sizzle… no… no way!” Sam gasped. “It- it all fits. You… you’re… you’re a cartoon character!” Sam looked at her incredulously. “H-How!”
Rebecca sighed. “I was given a gift… the Wonderlocket. Its powers are… strange… unusual… and seem to be unlimited…” Rebecca slowly recounted how she found this box… and it explained all about the ‘story flies’ and how she appealed to them. “I wanted to make the school a better place… I felt I could help- and such a power has to be used to help others…” Rebecca smiled as some of her nervousness vanished. “At first I thought I could be Sizzle for a few days, maybe give a class an outing as her… just like in the show… but then it became a full time job- well- ‘her’ full time job… it’s left me struggling a bit with my own studies.”
“But- you know everything!” Sam looked at her inquisitively.
“…Sizzle knows everything, Rebecca is… without her knowledge when she’s around- er- sorry I shouldn’t talk about myself in the third person. When you act as two people it’s really hard.”
Sam continued to stare at her. Rebecca was such a kind looking girl… it was the same look the two shared despite the differences. “Your personalities are so different… are you taken over by her or something?” Sam asked concerned.
“No! Not at all.. I’m still me… it’s just when I’m Sizzle, I have access to all her powers and her personality… and it’s a personality that people like… so… I just let that happen. I’m very happy being her… it’s actually fun. I don’t have to let it though um- I could just be me… but being Sizzle is like being the real me sometimes… or the person I’d like to be. It’s all thanks to the story flies.”
Sam was struggling with all this. Magic flies? What next? The teacher he was having a crush on turned out to be a student just like him! “How do you even manage to… well… you know… Sizzle has no passports or anything-“
“Magic I guess?” Rebecca shrugged. “I don’t know. I was offered the job and just said yes. I didn’t have to do anything else. I suppose at some point they might realise... but if I improve the school a little bit, it’s worth it. I can always go somewhere else. I think once they realise I have no paperwork I might have to vanish…”
“Please don’t-“ Sam begged. “I like Sizzle… she’s… she’s the best teacher I’ve ever had! You are the best teacher!”
Becca suddenly blushed. “I um- I’ve never… had someone say that- as- well- as me-“ she rubbed her hands a bit. “Hm… maybe…” She smiled suddenly. “I think I can trust you Sam. Would you like the same power?”
Sam blinked. “The same… power?”
“Yes. Find a character you want to transform into… it could be anyone, absolutely anyone- well except Sizzle, she’s already taken. There’s only one fly for each character and that one is taken… but anything else.”
Sam had to laugh. She had to be joking of course… “Any… character?”
“Yes. If you become someone magical, perhaps it might even help me a bit.”
Sam frowned. “I don’t think… I can. I don’t… believe in magic. There has to be a scientific explanation for all this.”
Rebecca nodded. “Well, the wonderlocket was constructed… so there is probably science to the magic… but it’s up to you. I have to ask the storyflies if they will let you become one. They might decide no…”
Sam gave it some thought. It was at least a ‘voluntary’ transformation… even if he didn’t like what he got, he was under no obligation to transform right? Besides this was magic… real actual magic! “I- I’ll do it!” He nodded eagerly. “Yeah, let me try it!”
Rebecca smiled as she touched the locket. “Then… please think of a character and let’s give it a try…” She concentrated on her hand bringing forth the magical key… “Please come out…”
