Unfurl

Drowsy

The kids settled down and the teacher pointed. No one really knew where she was pointing at. It was some unidentifiable area on the left wall. All the kids followed the invisible line connecting her finger to the wall. When they got tired, they turned back to the front and magically there was a word written on the board “UNFURL”.

“Ahm, Mrs. Brown, what does that mean?”

“Find out.”

There was a rustle and bustle in the classroom. Some kids went for the dictionaries, others turned their computers on. After a few minutes of agitation, one of the kids yelled “to unfurl - unroll, unfold, or spread out or be unrolled, unfolded, or spread out from a furled state". He was very proud of himself for having been the first.

The teacher nodded.

“Now, close everything and write a story with the word unfurl.”

A wave of protests swept through the room. It was too difficult, it was too complicated, what kind of word was that, why hadn’t she chosen an easier word for them to write about.

She raised her hand. All the kids got silent.

“Big commotions unfurled when the teacher asked the students to write a story using the word unfurl.”

The kids laughed.

“That easy?” one asked.

The teacher nodded.

“Now, it’s your turn.”

And the whole class went on to unfurl a lot of ideas written into sentences organized into paragraphs that unfurled amazing stories. A magazine was published with all the “Unfurled Stories”.

“What is the next word, Mrs. Brown?”

“We shall see, we shall see!” And the teacher smiled. She had them hooked. That was just the beginning!

Writer's Dash