Alien

“Oh my God! That looks like my step-dad after a drunken binge!”



“Michaela, that is not appropriate.”



“That’s what I tell him, Ms. Dean.”



“You’re not going to say things like that in this classroom, young lady.”



“Sorry. Seriously Ms. Dean, I get trying to motivate us to write by getting inspiration from photos, but a dead alien? Really?”



“It’s not dead. That’s just how they look,” Tyler chimed in.



“Well, it’s how your date looked last Friday,” Jason said as he gave Tyler a slap on the back of the head.



“Shuddup. Besides your momma was my date Friday.”



“Boys! That’s enough. Can we please get back to the dead alien. I mean picture. Everyone will see something different, that’s the whole point. It’s what makes us unique and writing interesting. The same photograph can spur a variety of stories and ideas.”



“I like it,” Rylee interjected quietly.



Michaela glared at her. “You would. Maybe tomorrow you can bring us one of your posters of Marilyn Manson to brainstorm about.”



“Michaela, that’s enough. I will not warn you again. And I don’t think I have to remind you that if you earn one more detention you are out of Student Council.” Usually, Ms. Dean was cool, but when you pushed her too far she had a stare that made a student slide down in their chair and hope for a fire drill to rescue them.



“Somebody else tell the class what you see or think about when you look at the pic. What’s your first thought?”



A hand shot up. “Honestly, at first I thought it was a premature baby. But maybe I just thought that because of my baby sister.”



“Very good, Alison! I was going to talk about that. A lot of times what we see does relate to an experience we’ve had, and we can draw from that.”



“Ms. Dean, I just see an alien. Guess I have no life experiences.”



“Maybe because you have no life, Dylan.” The room chuckled and then quieted again as Ms. Dean was silently giving Tyler the death stare. She must have perfected it over many years, because it never failed to work.



“Last year, someone wrote about a video game on this assignment. Anyone see a good video game coming out of this picture?”



The boys in the classroom came alive.



“Oh yeah, totally!”



“Zombies versus aliens.”



“Aliens would win hands down.”



“Not if the zombies have eternal life.”



“Good! Hold that thought, gentlemen. I had one student use comedy for it. She wrote about how it was a picture from a blind date she had. No limits, that’s what’s great about writing. Okay, fifteen minutes, no talking. Just write what comes to your mind when you look at the picture. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers; let your imagination lead you. Well, as long as it doesn’t lead you past PG13 thoughts. You may begin.”