Metafiction: My friend Chang is missing

*Chang's Blog*

Mar 8th, 2014

Catalog-Diary

 

Today I heard two guys passing me. They were talking about some rumors.

“Did you know that? Mr. Hutton is a racist!”

“I know that he never gives good points to Asians.”

 Their sigh and whispering sound poked my ears sharply. I tried to neglect them but the rumor was too loud for me. I shook my head twice and walked into Hutton’s office.

 As an ordinary, old fashioned professor, he usually wore bright blue check shirt and bright brown pants with a big black belt. There were numerous spots and stains on his shirt but he never washed it out. The heavy glasses and his slowly moving mouth also played some role to make everyone except I doze.

The bell rang but Hutton stayed at his chair staring at a piece of paper. Not until students gave up waiting for him, he softly drew a chalk on the board. Chang grabbed her pencil hard.

Soon I became the only student who was awake. The clock was running toward the end of the class. Suddenly Hutton turned around and made a big smile.

“You guys look so tired. Let’s just write a simple essay during the rest of the class. It will not be graded.”

I looked into the paper which Hutton passed to me. My colleagues opened their eyes one by one. They seemed surprised by the white paper in front of them.

The backside of the paper, there was only one sentence: If (   ) turned out to be (   ), I….

“Fill the paper. You have 30 minutes. Just let your imagination free.”

I looked up at him. Hutton was lifting his glasses to make his vision clearer. After passing all the sheets to students, he returned to the chair. He held a thin sheet of paper but his eyes became red almost at once. Through the thick lens, his blue eyes were shining with joy because of the creative and vivid ideas of young people. However he felt, the students just frowned as a representation of their annoyance. I neither felt cozy so I just wrote about my older brother who was dead when I was young. His name was James.

'If my brother turned out to be alive, not dead, I will...'

 

When I was middle on the way to home, I realized that I left my cellphone in Hutton’s office. I hesitated at first but in no time I arrived at the school.

I carefully knocked the door and noticed that there was no sound inside Hutton’s office. There were his stuffs on the desk. On the one side of the desk, there were piles of sheets that his students handed in yesterday. There was a single piece of paper and a pencil next to the files. I couldn’t help but to suppress my curiosity, read the first part of the paper.

 If my favorite friend turned out to be a racist, I will continue listening to the class however keep some distance between us. No matter what subject he or she teaches, I think I can’t get rid of thoughts that racists are inappropriate in the world we currently live in. Unless he is a Big Brother.

It was the in class essay paper. “Wait, Big brother?” Because the word reminded me James, I couldn’t stop saying it out loud. And suddenly, I heard footsteps. I hided behind a nearby desk. I didn't know why I should hide but the instinct commanded to hide.

 Hutton rushed from the door. He looked around quietly and then started to scrawl something down on it. His face was so serious that no one could even say hello to him.

 

Yes, for sure it was normal to be racist in the past. And that age revealed itself to be one of darkness and sorrow. Only when did we make concrete the notion of equality to all men did men see light, hope is for everyone.

After a minute, he held the paper up and read it aloud. His face was full of satisfaction. He then started giggle which developed to a laughter. 'Well, his word is sound.' I was quite worried about him and myself. 'Is he okay..? Can I escape from this room today?'

And now, history restored itself, as men strived for evolution. New men were found. No. They were invented. They called to be the new race. They called themselves as trans-human. They believed that they were the chosen ones, or even members of a new race, who could utilize the digital gadgets far more effectively than the normal Homo Sapiens. By using such gadgets on a daily basis, they would be far smarter than the “normal” people.

Hutton's mouth was grumbling and his hand was scribbling. I soon became so bored. The murmuring sound tempted me to fall in a deep deep sleep.

Pop!

I heard something explode. I lifted eyelids up to find the old professor.

Hutton was gone. Only the paper was on the desk. I read the rest of the passage.

As the development of technology began to improve, those trans-humans started to get controlled by tech. Gadgets turned into robots similar to human-beings and they started to get over the limit of fragile body made of cells. They would strengthen their motor senses and strength. This is how ‘Big Brother’ appeared.

 Big Brother, an unknown being guessed as a trans-human, appeared and took control of the “gadgets”. Big Brother now had the power to take secure of the world and control of both gadgets and trans-human. They are so different from the ordinary men, so they are deserved to be distinguished. In this vie

 

And that was it. The fragments of thick glasses were scattered on the floor.
I don’t know. Maybe the Big brothers took hi

Inclass activity2) Forced Empathy: Only For The Young[2]

Prompt : Sharing your opinion on the monk’s disciplinary method, relate your own life experience.

 Forced Empathy: Only For The Young

The monk makes the young boy to realize his cruel commitment by doing the same thing to him as he did to others. To let a child know his or her fault, the monk’s method is efficient. However, it can play no role to adolescents who have already set their own value of the goodness.

Before I went to elementary school, my parents had taught me about things that I must do and must not. In everyday life, I’ve got used to those rules and followed their advice. My friends were all like me and we couldn’t find any wrong point in parents’ sayings.

But then we entered middle school. I met various people from different places. Most were new to my friends and me. They were not a good boy or girl. They thought text book is just boring and their parents were binding them from freedom. Even more, they bullied others. Some of my original friends, who definitely believed their parents and textbooks, started to hang around with the new ones and became the same.

To be honest, I couldn't understand them over two years. They hated every adult, slept over every class and didn't follow what teachers said. What’s more, some of them spat at the floor to release the throat which was suffering from cigarette. At first, teachers tried to tame them and prepared several counselling courses with special activities, but they soon got bored and denied to participate in. Even the disciplinary action such as what the monk did had not moved their minds.

If some teachers nagged at me, I easily accepted and tried to look myself back. I don’t deny that I had those moments of wrath but it didn't last long. As being a nerdy kind girl, I thought every adult is always wiser than me. Usually it was true, so I had no problem so far.

Time flew, and I became a high school student. The school made me to think of the good and the evil. Before I started to think by myself, I believed that every adult around me is wiser than me hence always ethically right. That was the reason why I almost indoctrinated myself to obey parents' words.