The Devil


      It was as boring a day as it could possibly be for Paul. The  sun  was
peeking through the windows and it was beckoning him to  join  the  carefree
merry-making. He could see the trees laughing and swaying happily,  enjoying
the beautiful day. Oh, how he wanted to be out there! How he would  love  to
have been at the beach, with the sun  massaging  his  body,  the  soft  sand
caressing his back, and the cool  water  tickling  his  feet.  It  would  be
heavenly!
Unfortunately, it was not  to  be.  Paul  woke  himself  from  his  reverie,
soaking in the dreadful reality. This dreary room, the confining desks,  the
clock that seemingly never moved, this was Paul's fate. "And  sine  of  this
angle is equivalent to the square root."  droned  Paul's  never-ending  math
teacher. The teacher, less than  affectionately  called  "The  Devil",  must
have been in his seventies, with his thick spectacles, and  tufts  of  white
hair. Paul watched as his teacher walked slowly from one side  of  the  room
to the other and back. The monotony made Paul unable to resist returning  to
the beach. The birds flew gracefully overhead, and every so often one  would
come near and stare intently at him. Shells of every  size  and  shape,  the
fresh breeze, an endless expanse of water.
      A hand touched his shoulder.  Paul  jumped.  "Ahh!"  Stifled  laughter
came from around the room. Paul blinked, and saw an angry face  scrutinizing
him. Paul had never seen anyone so furious. The Devil's face  began  turning
crimson red and those piercing eyes could have burned a hole  through  wood.
"Sleeping in my class, are you? I'll  teach  you  a  lesson.  After  school,
here." And then, he went back on with his pacing and his lecture,  a  little
faster now, as if he needed to make up for lost time.
      Paul knew better than to argue with a teacher who would have loved  to
rip apart his students piece by piece. He just had to accept his  punishment
whatever it was, which Paul soon found to be math of  the  worst  kind.  The
Devil gave Paul  sheets  filled  with  problems  and  prohibited  Paul  from
leaving until he answered all the problems.  This was bad news for Paul.  He
usually took the bus home after school, since he lived rather far  from  the
school, and now he was going to have to walk.
      Moaning in despair, Paul began  with  the  first  problem.  Two  hours
later, Paul at last finished the fiftieth and final problem.  Paul,  sighing
with relief, picked up his belongings and as he stood up, noticed  the  last
rays of light disappearing. The darkness  enveloped  Paul  as  he  left  the
cursed math room. The  sky  was  dark,  no  stars  had  come  out  yet,  and
everywhere, everything was resting. Faint sounds came rustling  through  the
night breaking the eerie silence.  The  chill  breeze  brushed  against  him
restlessly. He forced his legs to move, reminding himself of his hunger  and
weariness.
      Paul continued home gloomily. The shadows  followed  him  as  if  they
could sense the gloom and misery in Paul. It was now quiet. There was not  a
sound to be heard, and not a soul to be seen. He was alone, Paul thought  to
himself. No one in the world cared about him. No one  at  all.  Why  did  he
even bother with school at all? Why should he care  about  math  anyway?  He
wanted to be a politician and everyone knows that politicians  do  not  know
anything  when  it  comes  to  numbers.  Paul  silently  vowed   to   remove
mathematics from schools when he  became  President.  He  mindlessly  walked
through the dark alley, cursing his teacher  when.Paul  tripped.  "What  was
that?" screamed Paul to himself, as he fell to the  ground.  He  frantically
looked around, but saw nothing but the blackness.
      And here is where I come into the story. It had been a  wonderful  day
at the beach and I had returned feeling a little fatigued. So I had gone  to
my favorite location and fallen asleep. I had such a bizarre  dream!  I  was
in math class, what a scary thought.But that's another story. Where  was  I?
Oh yes, I was sleeping like a bear in hibernation  when  I  was  interrupted
rudely. I woke up, and like everyone who wakes up from  a  pleasant  nap,  I
yawned. OK, so maybe my yawn was a little loud.  "Ahhhhhhh!"  Well,  by  the
time I had opened my eyes, Paul  had  disappeared  with  a  yell.  I  looked
around, saw nothing, and soon went back to sleep.
      Later, I found out that my place had been designated "haunted" by  all
those who listened to poor Paul. Well, that was great for me, as  people  no
longer tripped over me while I was sleeping.