Tim entered the classroom for the last time, about fifteen minutes late, to be exact and he wasn’t apologetic either. He walked to his usual spot, in front of the class, and said “the traffic was horrible!”

He brought several items with him, and we were wondering what was inside the glossy paper bag, could it be the grand prize, the prize the winner of the contest will bring home? That could only be it, there is no other reason why Tim would do it any other way.

Tim raised the bag and said “This is it, the big prize, only to the group who answers the toughest question.”

While Tim went on to discuss the mechanics of the contest, my mind wandered again, taking me several weeks back. Flashbacks of the cool and happy moments started rolling-in, the moments he would ask tricky questions to any student, and he would throw a piece of candy from his usual spot, launching it from his arm to the lucky student sitting somewhere in the room. Another unforgettable moment was when students would question him about his explanation and try to pin him down to the exacting  grammatical rules of spoken language. Sometimes, even professors make linguistic mistakes, too, you know. And he would easily escape from it like a slippery toad from a clenched hand.

I was pulled-back to reality, the vignette is now gone, this is reality now. Tim is now looking at his laptop screen calling out names, he is organizing the sitting arrangement. He called my name, “you go to group One, in front.” So I waved to my seatmate and off I went to sit in front. Sitting next to Mr.Salinsky who happened to also aced several tests, “now I know you Mr.Salinsky, I’ve never seen you this close before Mr.Salinsky. You’re the one who managed to ace those quizzes? This time Mr.Salinsky, we’re going to be teammates. Now who’s going the be wingman?”

I threw my eyes up and couple vectors away, from there my view of group one was flawless. I see several geeky classmates sitting in group one as well. “So, what Tim is up to this time?” But then group two has their geeks too, as well as three and four! “Hmmm, Tim has evenly distributed the geeks, eh. Now it gets even more challenging.”

I gave out a huge shout inside my head….

Mua-Ha-HA-HA!

When Tim gave his final number and all students were finally re-seated, Tim clasped his hands and motioned the start of the contest.