Spawn Of A Mad-Man

A School For The Damned

30/3/2047

The classroom was small and cheap.

It was as if the room wasn't designed for any true use at all.

A simple blank room with a group of chairs with desks, all nailed down for reasons unknown, an old fashioned chalkboard and stains lining every wall.

"Soon. These. Walls. Will. Be. Ash!" The beast bellowed its malicious melody.

It wasn't long before a few children sauntered in.

They were covered in gashes and bruises and a look of broken emptyness; an existence Wing had known well.

Getting this job had been easier than Wing had expected, they were given it on the spot with the Interviewer merely claiming "you'll do".

From that point on, they were made to sign a contract claiming that disclosure of what they see as a teacher here will result in 'sanctions', which was more than clearly code for a painful death.

And from then onwards they were officially a teacher at a cult-lead 'school'.

"My name is 'Mx Harbinger'." they scribbled their name across the grass coloured board, repeating what they had seen on the few TVs they had been lucky enough to glance at. "I would like to introduce you to the wonderful world of Poetry."

The silence of the room was deafening.

They moved back to the chalkboard, rubbing out their name, and wrote 'Ozymandias'.

"Has anyone heard this poem before?" their query was met with a stony silence, as one would expect.

"This poem was written by Mr Percy Shelley husband to the author of Frankenstein Mrs Mary Shelley." They continued, despite the blank stares. "Now, when I was your age I was a big fan of all the older pieces of literature from Jekyll & Hyde to Dorian Gray I read them all. Those stories of power, of pain and of vengeance were the only things that gave me hope that I'd escape this my unkind life."

They could see the students begin to relax as the knowledge of mutual pain made them loosen up.

"Ozymandias is a very interesting poem, it tells of a broken statue found in a desert of a former tyrannical ruler that's been lost to time." They began, "There are many fascinating quotes from the poem but the one I'd like to show you today is from the end."

Wing started to scribble a sentence on the chalkboard again.

The writing said, "Nothing beside remains, round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away."

"This sentence describes what is left of the tyrant's kingdom. Now who can tell me what we can learn from this?" They asked hopeful, but there was nothing but a dreary silence.

Wing realised nothing would come about from the current lesson plan so they'd have to try something different.

"Okay then. How about something else?" They moved slightly closer to the students and stared directly at one student in the back right of the room. "You. Tell me your name."

The child was silent.

"I said tell me your name." They repeated.

"I'm.... I'm Seth." he stuttered.

"Hello Seth. Now Seth did you know that in the many decades of this classroom being here, they never once unnail these desks, nor do they ever replace them?" They asked.

Seth looked on, blank.

"Even though, Seth, I haven't been anywhere near that desk since I started teaching in this 'school'. I can assure you that written under that desk of yours is a simple quote, from this very same poem. In fact I am almost certain that carved into the underside of your desk are the words, 'Look on my works, ye mighty and despair!'. Please Seth tell us if I speak the truth."

"It does, how'd you guess?"

"I didn't guess, Seth. I wrote it one day whilst I bled from my lip, my stomach and my arm. But that was nearly 18 years ago. Back when I was a student here. Back when I was trapped in the same cycle of torture you are all trapped in. So tell me Seth what do you think the quote on the chalkboard can teach us?"

Seth looked back at the board for a moment before responding.

"Everything rots." He said.

Wing smirked, a small proud smirk. Just for a moment.

"Precisely. Everything rots." They repeated. "Everything."

Wind erased the quote from the board before turning back to the class.

"That will be all today, I'll see those of you that are interested tomorrow. Goodbye and Good luck."