1492

"In Fourteen Hundred and Ninety Two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue," the teacher said to her class.

"What happened next?" one of the students asked, eyes wide, lips trembling with anticipation.

"Well, Columbus sailed along in his three ships-"

"Four ships," interrupted by a voice from the back of the room.

"Three ships," the teacher said, louder, and staring intently at the student at the back of the room. "The Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Then, one day, one of his lookouts spotted land ahead; it was the New World!"

"Yay!" the children cried.

The teacher smiled broadly. "Well, Columbus went down to the shore and what should he see but a group of Indians approaching him on their knees with trinkets to offer him."

The voice at the back of the room lifted itself from hiding. "Then Columbus enslaved the friendly people who he regarded as savages, in hope that they would 'bring' him more trinkets which he could ship back to Spain."

The room was extremely quiet. A single bead of sweat ran down the teacher's waxy face as she furiously pressed a small button on the top of her desk. "When Columbus returned to Spain with a few of the natives as guests-"

"Slaves!" The voice corrected.

"Examples," the teacher decided upon. "When he returned with his examples the Spanish court was amazed. They had discovered a new world, and a new people to bring into the folds of Christianity!"

"Yay!" the children chimed.

The owner of the voice at the back of the room leapt from his chair. "When are you ever going to learn?! Dear god, when will this ever end?"

"It will end with you in detention, young man!" The teacher glanced at a heavy-set man standing by the door, having finally arrived from the main office. The owner of the voice looked into the teacher's eyes for a moment before he moved into the man's rough grasp.

"Well class," the teacher said as she directed her attention back to the children in front of her. "What have you learned today?"

As one voice they shrieked out, their conjoined voices high pitched and bestial: "IN FOURTEEN HUNDRED AND NINETY TWO, COLUMBUS SAILED THE OCEAN BLUE!"

"Good class! You all get stars on the chart!"

"Yay!" the class howled.

Outside, the owner of the troublesome voice was shot in front of a gloriously wind-swept flag. Seeing this through the window, one of the children began to cry.

"Oh! Don't cry!" The teacher bustled to the window and began to close the blinds. "We need only draw the shades. Don't worry . . . you don't have to see it, dear. You don't need to see it."