Dr Skulley stared longingly at his pupils. They were busy working on an English assignment, quietly dragging pencils and pens across lined paper. He thought the class was in perfect working order by the time he announced the assignment on the Salem witch trials, which offended Luella one bit but she soon got used to it. During the assignment, most of the students turned and whispered to each other, giggling over those secrets. Everyone was paying attention to one another - all except for Chucker and Basher. They were just sitting in their seats, writing slowly, with no attention paid to them anymore. Dr Skulley knew something had to be done.
At break time, Dr Skulley called Chucker and Basher back into class. He wanted to have a word with them. “Now then, you two, recently I just saw how much my students aren’t paying attention to the both of you. All they do is talk to each other, but not you. What am I going to do with you?” Chucker and Basher looked at each other, confused and concerned. “Everyone pays attention to someone. Everyone needs special care sometimes. Which is why I suddenly have an amazing idea. Tonight is the next full moon. By that point, you’ll join me in a ritual to help you get understood better. The ritual will take place tonight, and you will stay in school until it’s time. No, I’m not saying that you need detention, it’s about time you need a bit of respect in this classroom. Now run along and play.” As Chucker and Basher ran out of the classroom, Dr Skulley rubbed his skeletal hands with evil glee. “Right, that’s another way out of the way, can’t risk having a werewolf around when the Poltergeist twins partake in a ritual…”
That night, a full moon shone in the dark, dark sky. Chucker and Basher stood outside as Dr Skulley came out of the empty school building wearing a velvety red robe. He drew a big circle on a clear patch on the ground, then placed a dozen candles around it. Lighting each one took rather a long time, but finally, he finished. “Stand well back.” he demanded, and the Poltergeist twins did as he said. Dr Skulley raised his hands as the clouds parted, revealing the full, delicate moon in the sky. “Oh great spirit, give my students the power to understand those naive Poltergeist children!” The moon’s light shone down on the candles, and immediately the circle started to light up with a thousand flames. “Arise, arise, and make them feel understood more!” Dr Skulley shouted loudly over the noise of the roaring flames. Chucker and Basher looked scared. The candles were melting, and the moon’s light shone brighter on the growing fire. “Give a more understanding nature to my pupils, and they’ll trust Chucker and Basher more!” The flames roared up into the sky and disappeared into the full moon, turning it yellow. The whole street shone yellow too. The candles had melted entirely, and everything was quiet again.
Chucker and Basher were delighted. The ritual had worked! The two ran to Dr Skulley and hugged him. “I’m glad you like this ritual. Now run off home to your parents. I suppose they’ll understand them more. But sssssshhhhh, don’t tell anyone I let you perform an ancient ritual at night!” Chucker and Basher grabbed their bags from inside the empty school building and raced away.
The next day, the students were quietly writing as usual. Dr Skulley waited long and hard to see if the ritual worked. Then, the students turned their heads towards Chucker and Basher. “Oooooooh,” they moaned sadly, and they all ran up to the lonely Poltergeist twins. They were being stroked, patted and comforted before you knew it. “Poor Chucker and Basher!” they said out of comfort. “YES!” screamed Dr Skulley, jumping up and down in excitement, “Let’s see how gravity defies you now, almighty devil!”
He turned away from his supportive class and smeared his white, boney forehead with bloody war paint. This begs the question: was it really Dr Skulley who made the ritual successful?
Who knows.
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