“Measurement Lesson”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “Laughter is the closest distance between two people.” — Victor Borge

“Okay, class, today we’re going to be learning how to measure distance.”

The teacher paced back and forth in front of her class, tapping her pointing stick on her hand as she walked. This was a lesson that she had taught many times before and she knew how challenging it could be to understand for the students.

“So,” she said, “can anyone tell me the units of measurement?”

Silence fell over the classroom. The teacher sighed; at least the students weren’t talking anymore, but it would be nice to have some class participation.

Finally, one of the students lifted his hand.

“Yes, Marcus,” she said, gesturing for him to speak.

Marcus cleared his throat before saying, “From largest to smallest, the units of measurement are indifference, hate, sadness, fear, peacefulness, happiness, and laughter.”

The teacher nodded. “Very good, Marcus. Would you like to come up and demonstrate the distance of laughter?”

He nodded and stood up. He walked slowly to the front of the room to stand beside the teacher before taking a small step away from her.

“Excellent,” the teacher said, giving Marcus a smile. “Laughter, as you all can see, is the smallest unit of measurement and measures about this distance. Now, Marcus, could you demonstrate where happiness would be?”

He took another step backward.

“Perfect,” the teacher said. “Happiness is farther than laughter. However, it must not be confused with peacefulness, which is just slightly farther than happiness. I will demonstrate peacefulness now.”

She took a half-step back from Marcus.

“Thank you, Marcus, you may take a seat,” she said. “Now, for your homework. You must practise measuring laughter, happiness, and peacefulness at least five times each before the next class.

“Class dismissed.”

Final Comments: This one was… interesting…

Overall Rating: 🤔