It is Easter morning, and there are no kids running around my house on a sugar high.  There are no kids at all.

There are no colored eggs, no little baskets, no hidden jelly beans.

So.

Yesterday I read a great blog by ElGuapo, who introduced me to a writing challenge.  The idea of the challenge is that you have to use three words (in this case “cacophony, soap, insects”) within one piece of writing.  You have to use them in order and your piece must be between 33 and 333 words. You can find the rest of the rules and some wonderful, creative writing here.

What the heck?  I’m giving it a try.

It was a warm spring Friday. I sat at my desk, desperately sorting papers for correcting over the weekend. Math to the left, vocabulary in the middle, science questions on the right. Hurry, sort, hurry, sip some coffee, sort, organize, sort….my class was out for recess with the classroom assistant (also known as my Angel of Mercy and Right Hand Woman). If I focused and refused to waste any time running to the bathroom, I should be able to get it all sorted out before they came back.

Suddenly, the silence was broken by a cacophony of wails and cries, surging closer in a wave of running feet. “Hurry!” It was the Angel herself, running in the halls of the school! Shouting to the churning mob of children behind her, “Run! Get the soap and lather up, fast!”

I stood in shock, my hands full of homework papers, my mouth open with surprise. The kids came roaring into the classroom, some crying, some laughing, all slapping at their ankles and backsides.

I looked at my assistant for an explanation.

“Insects.”, she stated calmly, in her proper English accent. “We seem to have sat on an anthill.”