Mr. Patch
“Brian!” his name rang out in a hoarse cry. Brian looked up; ink was on his face from having fallen asleep on his notes; he quietly sat up and waited as his teacher bombarded him with insults. Once the barrage ended his teacher turned around and resumed his studies, muttering to himself. It was amusing and ironic to Brian that they should be learning about soliloquy today in English. His teacher, Mr. Patch, was renowned for his odd habits, such as putting a pencil behind each ear, switching out his chalk for every new set of notes and talking to himself. Brian sat there attempting to rub off the notes that had previously been covering his paper.

As the bell rang, Brian prepared to leave but was halted by Mr. Patch. “Come here Brian,” he said in his strange voice that was both unbelievable and frightening at the same time, “I wish to speak with you.” Brian sighed and walked towards the desk. As he stood there he began to think of having to sit through yet another detention with Mr. Patch, the thought of which horrified him. Being that it had been eighth period no one else was in the class. “Brian,” he began in that horribly twisted voice, “I now see that no matter what I do you’ll never be a good student. This may be alright for you, your parents and your other teachers but I will not tolerate it. You, by being the fool, the hazbin you are, disrupt the learning of my other students!” His last statement was said with a frightening yell and froze Brian in place. Never had he seen Mr. Patch like this. Brian turned to leave and out of the corner of his eye he saw him raise a blunt object and then….. darkness.

He woke up in a hospital, surrounded by people with other infirmities. He then began to yell. As the nurse asked what was wrong he began to recount what happened but as he retold the story she gave me a worried look. She then left the room and his mother came in. He began to retell everything but she then interrupted him saying that there was no Mr. Patch, and that he had been found on the other side of town behind a warehouse. “No. NO! That’s not possible! He was there! He was there!” Suddenly again he was surrounded by darkness. Brian woke up again. He saw white all around him. He looked and realized it was padding. He attempted to stand up when he realized he couldn’t move his arms. He looked down at what he had on. “What is this?! Why?! Why am I here?!” he began to scream while trying to struggle out of the straightjacket that bound his arms. Brian managed to get up and then, as he turned around he saw a door. He ran towards it once he reached he began get pounding the glass with his head, screaming “Let me go! Let me out! Let me….. No. NO!” There before him stood Mr. Patch giving him an evil, maniacal smile. He said “Now you’ll never ruin my students” He turned and walked away as Brian screamed for someone, anyone to see what he saw.