Chapter 1

Miss Whittle is nice. I like her. She lets us play with blocks, dress-ups, in the sandpit and with teddy bears. She is the best teacher in the whole world.

Aside from a few spelling and grammar mistakes corrected in red pen, these were the honest feelings of ten-year-old Courtney Amberson. Jotted down in her diary with a grey-lead pencil, for she had not mastered her writing to the point of a pen license yet.

Courtney had always liked Miss Whittle as a teacher. She was nice to her, even when she whispered to her friends during class.

Even now, Miss Whittle didn’t say anything as the class chatted whilst cutting out paper animals to decorate their journals.

Courtney spent time discussing her favourite cartoons with her two best friends, Leah and Sarah, whilst colouring the creatures in with textas. All they had to do was finish cutting them out and sticking them in.

This is why she loved coming to school each day. Beldale East Primary School was the best school in the entire world, with the best teacher in the entire world.

“Everyone, I have a big announcement. Can you all gather around?” Miss Whittle asked softly. Ordinarily, you’d expect such a soft request to be ignored. But the kids instantly put down their safety scissors and glue sticks and rushed to the mat.

They all had to be first. It was an unspoken game amongst all the children. Whoever was first received all the bragging rights. Which is why Courtney was annoyed when one of the boys, Jack, was the first to sit. She hated losing. Especially to him. She had never once beaten him.

“You lost again,” he remarked, sticking his tongue out at her.

Courtney clenched her fists. She wished she could hit him. But that would land her in detention, and she didn’t want that.

“Don’t be mean to Courtney,” Leah defended her friend.

“Jack and Courtney, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G,” Sarah sang.

“We are not!” Courtney snapped back. She couldn’t believe that Sarah would say that. She absolutely did not like Jack.

By this point, the remaining stragglers finally took a seat, and Miss Whittle began her announcement.

“As I said a few months ago, I will be leaving as I am having a baby…”

Telling them she was going on maternity leave would be too complex for the poor ten-year-olds to understand.

“Is the baby here?” One of the girls asked excitedly, glancing around the room. Her confidence convinced several other kids in the class, including Courtney, to start glancing around to see if they could spot the baby.

“No, the baby is not here yet,” she carefully explained. “But to prepare for the baby, I will have to go on leave.”

“Like a weekend?”

“A bit longer than a weekend,” she responded with a kind smile.

This announcement made all the kids cry out, “But we like you!”

Miss Whittle clutched her hand in front of her chest. Not saying a word until all the students could finish their objections to the announcement. Every word stung her a little more. But there was nothing she could do.

“Thank you all so much for your kind words,” Miss Whittle commented through a faux smile, hiding the pain she felt at having to leave. “You have all been my absolute favourite class. It makes me sad to leave. But I cannot wait to come back and see how much you have grown.”

“Don’t leave!” Courtney begged, which caused a few other kids to join in.

“I’m sorry, but I have to leave.”

Courtney felt a wetness go down her face. She hadn’t realised, but she was crying. As were some of the other kids.

“Now, now it will be alright.” She leaned in towards the students. “Can you all keep a big secret?”

Although she was still sniffling, Miss Whittle’s question made Courtney stop crying. She was curious. What was this secret? She was playing spies on the playground the other day, so she knew how to keep secrets.

The kids all nodded.

“Well then, because I am going on leave, you will be getting a new teacher.”

This hadn’t occurred to the students until now. The sadness of Miss Whittle's leaving was now succeeded by curiosity about who the new teacher would be.

“Who is it?” one of the boys asked.

“Do you want to know?”

The kids all nodded.

“I don’t think you really want to know. Raise your hand if you would like to meet your new teacher?”

Courtney raised her hand high. She wanted to make sure hers was the highest. She glanced over Sarah and Leah. Jack also had his hand raised. Courtney had to beat him this time.

“Me! Me!” A few students called out.

How dare someone try to win by showing more enthusiasm than her? Courtney couldn’t have that. None of the students could have that. They all joined in the chorus of chants, sequestering their desire for the reveal of their new teacher.

“I don’t know,” Miss Whittle brought her index finger to the side of her mouth as if she was thinking. A performative gesture intended to offer a second chance for all students to be treated equally. “I don’t think you want to meet your new teacher.”

The students' faces turned shocked. Had their cries not been enough?

Courtney rose to her feet along with her friends. Their hands raised even higher in the air. They would show Miss Whittle they wanted to meet their new teacher more than anything.

The students had now completely forgotten how sad they were only moments before, engrossed in a superficial competition.

Miss Whittle smiled, knowing they were all good kids with a bright future ahead of them.

“Alright, I see I was mistaken. You can all sit down now.”

The students obliged, but Courtney couldn’t help but rock from side to side, awaiting the new teacher's arrival.

“Let me introduce you to your new teacher. Mrs Grungle.”

The children cheered as the door slid open with a loud creak. The room felt frosty, as if it had dropped several degrees.

In walked a woman who was as bulky as a bull. She towered over the children like a mountain. Her cold, piercing jade eyes left the children petrified. he was dressed head to toe in black, a grey scarf wrapped around her neck. Even her hair was pitch-black and pulled back into a bun.

“Silence!” she called, and the students all obliged without complaint.

The previously excited Courtney stopped rocking. She didn’t even dare breathe. If she did, she feared Mrs Grungle would shout at her. She didn’t know why she had this feeling. She just did.

“Good afternoon, children.”

There was silence.

She cast a look over all the students.

“Did I misspeak?” she asked, causing all the children to gulp. “I said good afternoon, children.”

“Good afternoon, Mrs Grungle,” the students responded without any hesitation this time.

“Good. As you heard, I’m Mrs Grungle. I’ll be your teacher from now on.”

Courtney gulped. This was her new teacher. She had a few teachers before, and none of them was like this. Mrs Grungle was scary.

Like a monster.

This was the first time she met a monster. A monster pretending to be a teacher.

This was Courtney's first impression of the monster known as Mrs Grungle.

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End of Chapter 1