There was a cool breeze playing through the trees in Salem, Massachusetts. The wind whipped around, gathering some fallen leaves, and carrying them past a church and an accompanying graveyard, past homes, farms and markets, to a small schoolyard. Inside, a chalkboard read OCTOBER 28, 1693 in the corner, and MINISTER COMING TODAY AT 3:00 in the center. As for the rest of the room, it was hot and stuffy , with three rows of desks running down it.
Behind every desk was a stool upon which a sweaty student sat, all around the ages 10 to 13, and on the desks were holes, each of which had an ink bottle and quill, The book ‘New England Primer’ lay open on a page showing A:‘in Adam’s fall, we sinned all’ B: ‘thy life to mend, this book attend’ C: ‘the cat doth pray, and later slay’ and other rhymes of that sort.
In front of the students, there was a sower-faced looking man, the teacher, wearing an impeccable suit, and behind him, a large hour glass stood, slowly trickling sand, and earning many a glance from the students. Finally, right as they were asked to repeat ‘F: the idle fool is whipped at school,’ one of the students in the back corner, a boy whose shirt was covered in stains , jumped up.
“ Sir, When’ll the Minister get here?” he asked.
“George!!” snapped the teacher, “I have told you, time and time again, not to talk in the middle of my lesson! Please come up here and write “I will not speak in class” on the board fifty times.”
George stood up, apprehension etched into every line of his face. But just as he got past the first row of desks, the hourglass ran out, and, a few seconds later, a sharp knock came from the closed door. Mr. Brown hurried to open it and George, taking advantage of his teacher’s distraction, rushed back to his seat. He then turned to look at the only people who hadn’t laughed at him, two girls and a boy, the latter of which turned to look at him and said, “This happens WAY too much, you know?”
“I’s excited, Joseph,” said George in a disgruntled voice, but his tone soon changed as he saw that the door had been opened and a man in immaculate black robes and a white ruff walked in. “ E’s ere!!” George whispered excitedly.
“ I thought we agreed my dad was nuts?” said Joseph.
“ He does agree,” said one of the girls sitting by them. She had long, wavy black hair, and a pixie chin. She tugged at her itchy black dress and continued, “He just was sick of reciting the alphabet.”
“That makes sense to me” said the girl next to her, with short red hair and large brown eyes.
“Shh!” said several people in the front row. The door had just opened, showing a skeleton-like outline against the red sky. Then the figure stepped inside, revealing itself to be a priest, clad in dark robes. He walked to the chalkboard with quick, purposeful strides, and turned to face the class.
“Today,” he said in a resounding voice, “I shall teach you of the evil of witches”