Bobby spent most of his time in Geometry class drawing pictures:
He was certainly dissatisfied with Mr. Bexley, the teacher. Mr. Bexley wore bowties and plaid jackets, and liked black coffee, even cold. Whenever a student asked "What if" Mr. Bexley would answer "Onward." Bobby often wondered what Mr. Bexley did on his spare time, besides refill his coffee mug, or perhaps clean it, or perhaps-- store it next to his books of mathematical calculations. Students noticed that Mr. Bexley always seemed to be in the room, doing meticulous calculations. When Bobby stayed late for detention once, he walked by the geometry classroom and saw Mr. Bexley sitting at his desk and looking down at his hands. The teacher looked up at Bobby and gave him a dry smile, saying in his authoritarian voice, "Onward, son. WeÕll see you bright and early." And Bobby walked on out of the school, with a dry taste in his mouth.
But the next day Mr. Bexley was nowhere to be seen. Bobby sat down at his desk with his math book clutched between his fingers, wanting to leave. To pass the time he drew graffitti on the desk:
He hated Mr. Bexley, he hated his dry mouth saying Onward as if nothing they wondered mattered.
The next day, when Mr. BexleyÕs desk lay empty, Bobby got up in front of the class and began causing a ruckus. He drew stickmen doing bad things on the chalkboard, and began to imitate Mr. Bexley.
"Onward! Onward!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, and then proceeded to moon the entire class.
But just then, the door opened. The class gasped, not sure of wheter or not to scream or sigh in awe. Before them stood what appeared to be a matrix of points, that overall had a human shape. The substitute teacher had arrived, holding in a matrix of fingers that they saw as a series of connected points-- a book of Geometry. The matrix smiled, and sat down at the desk. With a warm resonant voice, the substitute teacher announced to them all: ÒThese are stretchable laws.Ó And proceeded to discuss four dimensional geometry.
"Ah!" Said one student.
"Wow," sighed another.
"I always wondered about that."
"I never knew about that."
And the hour was over before they knew it. Bobby was fascinated, and when the class ended, he went up to the substitute teacher to thank her.
And then something very strange happened.
She nodded, and he saw something very faint-- Bobby saw a trace of her movement, from a set of one points to another. "My God! What am I seeing?" Bobby exclaimed. "The time dimension," the teacher replied, "One of the many others."
And when he went home, he drew a picture of the teacherÕs face, nodding at him. He sat and stared at it for an houd before finally going to bed.