Phrontistery Of Monster Kind - Six Feet Deep

Chapter 16

The second time the primary school came back, they once again roped me into helping Chiro. She pestered Mayor until my schedule for the period was cancelled, and Ophis was forced to run another movie day, this time with the year nine's. After speaking to Mors and Chiro, I placed an announcement in the morning notices asking for volunteers in those classes who wanted to help with the children. Initially, Chiro grumbled when I suggested inviting more students, but after two were people in her netball team, she loosened up. We cut the volunteers down to six, Deertria and Rosemary, our staple scouts and sport enthusiasts, Tiffany without her sister, the robotic bull, and Tiffany's friends.

We split the children up into different activities and rotated every fifteen minutes. Chiro and I were monitoring the groups and scattering the six teens amongst them. "Students, you will be sticking with the group you get. Please keep an eye on them and encourage them to participate. Now... Tiffany, which group would you like to go with?"

She was shocked I called on her first as to her preference. After looking around, she said, "I'd like to do the skipping."

I nodded. She chose the group with the ghost children and a few others. I continued asking the students until they all had groups. There were no complaints and soon I released them to go join the others as Chiro explained how the circuit worked. I joined her side, catching the end before all the students rushed to their sections to start. Miss Rigg set up some music for them, which consisted mostly of songs popular last year, and to my surprise, included both human and monster artists. I recognised some of the music from my short time teaching. Adele's Someone Like You, Call Me Maybe, Titanium and the song I dreaded after hearing fifteen times at a school camp for a human school, Gangnam Style.

Most of the monster artists were rock and metal artists: Gorgon's Gaze, The Howling Shadows, and The Fangtastics (which shifted to pop in their more recent years).

At one point I heard a year nine student yell from across the room, "Is this Enu's band?" But I never heard the answer.

The groups switched around, getting mangled up and some returning to the ones they did before. Chiro rearranged the groups, skipping the ghosts. When she passed me, she had a haunted expression. Wide-eyed and stiffer than a rod. She brought out some more skipping ropes for the groups that wanted to use it in their next rotation.

I watched on, having a seat next to Miss Rigg, who was scrolling through Spotify, avoiding any inappropriate songs on her list. She came alone today; the other teacher had a family emergency. "The other teachers hate the drive," Rigg informed me. It was an hour's drive with a bunch of twelve-year-olds through a forbidden forest. The children were fine, if something happened along the way, but no adult would dare be caught in the forest unless they had prior experience in those parts. What was odd was when I vocalised this, she agreed. I moved on, instead thinking about her taking the journey alone with them.

"Wouldn't they be a handful?" Kids could always be a pain when they want to be.

"I said I'd feed them to the Coca."

"You have one at Edgewood Primary?"

She gave me a look as if to ask if I was serious before going back to her scrolling. I took a gulp and resumed monitoring the students from my chair. The ghost children gathered around Tiffany, teaching her how to hold the rope handles. Some of them were giggling, the one known as Spirit was the one showing, but she didn't open her mouth once. Despite that, water dripped from the sides of her smile. Tiffany grabbed a small cloth from her short's pocket and went to offer it to her but stuffed it back quickly when the child refused the help.

Most children sang along to the songs as they exercised. Chiro stopped pestering the children and joined us on the sideline. She was exhausted, but all she did was sigh and take a sip of water.