When we last saw Suzy Snowden, she had been forced by her evil TA to begin crafting a complicated essay with a spooky pencil. The pencil began to speak, which startled young Suzy. We now seek to learn about this mysterious pencil and what it might mean for Suzy’s plight.
“Oh Suzy,” the pencil began, “many years ago I was prized and valued. I was what students took their notes with, an essential part of every lecture and discussion. I traveled with students wherever they went and never left their sides.
“Seasons changed and I changed too. Students started wanting mechanical pencils, but their ever-breaking graphite heads made their competition futile. I believed I could be used forever. Oh how I was wrong.
“Laptops, everywhere, started infesting classrooms. I was surrounded by all these devices, flashing their bright lights at me. Professors looked out for me, creating screen-free policies in their lectures. Foolishly, I believed I was in the clear. Yet as I looked around, students still brought these devices to take notes with and watch March Madness on. This was when I knew my days were limited.
“I stopped being brought to classes last year, and when I was thrown away, I entered this spooky realm we are in. I’m rotting away Suzy. Rotting! There’s no hope for me in this world.”
Wiping a tear from her eye, Suzy grappled with answering the pencil.
“What a tragic story. What must you do to get out of here? I know I have to write this essay, but I really don’t think that’s going to happen since I don’t have any Netflix to watch intermittently while I write paragraphs,” Suzy said.
The pencil shed a single wood chip, and said, “I cannot leave alone. I need to find someone to be my companion, to promise to take me to a class and sit, undistracted, for a full power lecture.”
Suzy gasped at the thought. How could anyone do that? She saw a glint of hope in the pencil’s eye, which was located right in front of the eraser. This was the moment she recognized what she had to do.
“Well Mr. Pencil, I think I can help you out,” Suzy said.
“Tim. Call me Tim, please,” Tim the pencil corrected.
“Yes, uh Tim, maybe I could take you to class,” Suzy whispered, almost in shock of the words coming out of her mouth. A lecture typically consisted of her checking Twitter every 5 minutes on her MacBook Pro. This would certainly be a challenge for her.
“Oh, how frabjous!” Tim exclaimed, “Suzy, together we will find a way out of this dark nightmare and return to our former lives. I will forever be in your debt.”
The duo lunged for the door but was met with a sudden stop. They knew they had to get out of the portal together in order to return to their former lives, but the door out was locked.
The question loomed in the room: How do we leave?
Will Suzy and Tim escape out of this extreme nightmare? Will Jon catch them after his daily run to Dunkin? How many Twitter notifications did Suzy miss while in the deep dark portal? Return to the Spooky Story Corner next week for the penultimate installment.
