The entire room was like something you’d see in a dream. Pink and blue polka-dotted hills, lush red trees with plushy fruit growing from its ivory branches. Even rainbows sprouted above us, glistening in the bright yellow personified sun that was literally smiling.

Everyone was just as taken aback as I was. Then Reina broke the silence.

“I’m going to leave and find a new group.”

“W-wait, don’t go!” A young girl’s voice exclaimed in the distance.

The girl then appeared, running down the blue dirt trail with hurried breaths. She wore a white onesie with a cute bear's face atop the hood. Her hair was bi-colored brown and honey-gold, matching the plush toy bear she held close to her chest.

Chase adjusted his glasses. “Are you our instructor’s kid or something?”

“What? N-no! I’m your teacher!” The girl said with a confident grin.

In my district, having instructors younger than oneself was not uncommon. Several world advancements disrupted centralized education, leading to the emergence of child geniuses who mastered the required curriculum faster than their peers. In underfunded districts like mine, the state employed these prodigies as teachers.

“Aw, what a cute stuffed bear you have! What’s its name?” Kimberly asked.

“His name is Ursus. Want to guess why?”

That was a very particular name, though nothing rang a bell as to why'd she called it that. Chase closed his eyes and crossed his arms in deep contemplation, then his eyes lit up as if he found an answer.

“It’s the Latin word for bear,” Reina answered.

“Ding, ding! Correct! You get a treat!” The girl said, dug into the bear’s front pocket, and offered Reina a blue-rolled candy.

She took the candy and popped it into her mouth. I didn’t know she had a sweet tooth, but now that I remember, she said such during our class introductions. Chase scrunched his eyes and turned to the side. I guess he wasn’t too pleased at not being the first to answer.

“Ah, yes. My name is Naomi, and I’m your homeroom teacher. You’re my first class ever, so please be kind to me, okay?”

Naomi smiled with dimpled cheeks, twirled, and skipped down the path. “Now, follow me to the teaching grounds!”

Though first prejudiced against the colorful wonderland, Reina was the first to follow her. Perhaps Naomi’s sweets swayed her. Had she expected a student’s aversion to this setting, influencing their initial interaction, and understood their preferences, she could have subtly crafted a scenario to win them over.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

There may have been more to this little girl than met the eye. However, I might just be over-analyzing.

We reached a playground with cotton candy sand, gram-cracker swing sets, and green gummy slides. Naomi sat on one swing and pointed down on the floor for us to sit.

“If you curl some cotton candy into a little ball, it makes an extra comfy seat!” Naomi said with a giggle.

I sat down on my pink fluff ball, which was surprisingly comfortable, along with the others.

“Okay, so, you may be thinking… What is this place? This doesn’t look like a regular classroom. And you’re correct! This is called a Mindspace, a room made of an amorphous material that can create anything in someone’s head! Isn’t that wacky?”

“Ah, so all of this was your doing. Do you mind explaining why this is a suitable learning environment?” Chase asked.

“That’s a good question! Learning is a lot of things, but it’s how and where you learn that makes all the difference. If you teach in a bland classroom, it doesn’t invigorate your brain to keep any information. Seya agreed, and that’s why they let us teachers create classrooms to invoke creativity and inspiration!”

Though I agreed with the theory of bland classrooms being terrible for retention and active learning, I couldn’t help but fathom how a gummy paradise was any more suitable.

Kimberly bubbled over with realization, “Ohh, I get it now! It’s like walking your dog after a tough math problem or sitting in a park when reading. A difference in atmosphere could help form better ideas or something...”

“Yay! Kimberly gets it! Now then…”

Naomi tapped her bear hoodie’s nose, causing several holograms to sprout around her. A Proatrix embedded into an outfit. It’s the first time I’ve seen one of those.

“Wow, we’ve got a diverse academic pool. That makes my job a lot easier.” Naomi said, then snapped her fingers.

The holograms faded away, and two additional chocolate-powder roads rose from the dirt in front of the playground.

“So here’s how it works. I’m in control of the Mindspace, so I’m gonna create a little exercise for you. Chase and Reina, you take the right path. Kimberly, Paige, and Tiger, please follow the left. But you’ll diverge from them after a while, and I’ll tell you when. Is that understood?”

We all nodded and walked down our separate paths. I glanced over to Chase and Reina, who were facing away from each other at different lengths of their path. Though they were both prideful and had varying degrees of intelligence, I wouldn’t say those were attributes that would cause me to put them together. Perhaps the proclivity of interjectional conversation could spark something between them. But that was just wishful thinking.

Naomi strode alongside me, clinging to her bear with a joyful hum. The bright blue sky became shrouded by tall, shadowy trees, and our surroundings changed into a dark forest. We approached a forked road with a wooden sign in the middle. We found an equilateral triangle, with three additional segments coated with sprinkles, carved into the white oak.

“Uh, teacher… where do we go next?” Paige asked, squinting concerned into the dense thicket.

“I dunno. I was following you guys,” Naomi said with a shrug.

Kimberly shook her head. “But, wait, you said you could control the Mindspace or whatever. Can’t you just clear the forest and—”

A blue bush behind us rustled, interrupting her plea. An icy wind brushed my neck, causing me to shiver. I couldn’t believe I was saying this, but I’d rather go back to the candy wonderland than stay here.

Paige, sharing my concern, took a step back. “I… don’t like this. Can’t we just go—Eep! T-teacher!”

I looked to the side, and my throat instinctively swallowed a glob of saliva.

Naomi was gone.