Bang!
Maintenance was doing some work in the crawl space beneath the classroom floor.
What was that?
Of course I didn’t tell my students I knew what was going on. Why? I’m an idiot and would much rather create a little chaos and then get upset about it later when the kids, for some reason, are totally out of control.
Bump. Bump. Bump.
“It came from over here!” a boy shouts and soon students are huddled around the spot, ears to the floor.
Solemnly, I mutter, “I was afraid of this.”
Silence. All eyes on me. Can’t turn back now. The truth, they say, is an excuse for a lack of imagination.
I’m not supposed to tell you about this, but I think I have no choice now. They suspect someone is living in the crawl space beneath the floor.
What! How does he get in there?
The security cameras showed what looked to be a homeless man crawling under the stairs. After some investigation we found a loose panel that leads into the crawl space. All the teachers watched it so we can identify the man if he returns.
What does he look like?
I can’t tell you. It’s just too creepy.
Please! Please! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
No. You’ll probably pee your pants.
No! Tell us!
Okay. Somebody get a mop. We’re gonna need it. The creepy part… It’s just so scary, I don’t think I can tell you…
Just tell us!
When we zoomed in on his face, he only had… one eye.
At this point in my retelling of this story to my wife she asks first, “What were you thinking?” and second, ”How do you come up with this stuff?” Proudly, I told her the best was yet to come.
One eye! How come he only has one eye?!
The police told us his nickname on the street is Cyclops. He was so hungry one cold winter night that he ate his own eye!
At this point the chaos I referred to earlier kicked in. After finally settling them all down, as if by divine intervention, another loud thump came from under the floor. More chaos.
The story spread.
At recess the next morning a group of girls were caught throwing carrots into the crawl space. Mr. O, the supervisor on duty, asked what they were up to. They told him. Without missing a beat Mr. O ponders out loud, “I thought we weren’t supposed to tell the kids about that.”
That’s how legends are born.
After reading this post on my teacher site, Edudad, my friend and fellow DadsRT Contributor, Jimmy Ettele, was so inspired he created this amazing sketch of Cyclops. He even sent me the original to hang in my classroom. Thank you so much Jimmy!
About James Hudyma
