What A Dream Wants

"Good afternoon, remember that wonderful homework I gave you?" The teacher asked, with an undiscernable glint in his eyes.

It clearly wasn't a very good afternoon, now that Mr. Nye mentioned it.

Groans filled the air. Those who forgot or didn't attempt to do the homework knew that the start of a tragedy was about to occur. The curtains raised and even those who did do the homework probably would not be spared. They all wished upon a lucky star, hoping that Mr. Nye wouldn't be harsh when grading the homework. Woe was the students, for empathy was not in Mr. Nye's dictionary. The grand climax only seemed to be a no-win situation for the students. Indeed, for those that completed the homework, with Mr. Nye's unreasonable way of thinking, it still was hard to say if they would pass. The end... was near.

Nonetheless, the students were left with no other choice to pass up their homework. That, or pray to the gods for forgiveness.

"Anyways, we'll be continuing that wonderful assessment from Monday." Mr. Nye said, a subtle smirk on his face.

Steven wondered how sadistic this engineering teacher was.

"This time, you'll be building a robot that'll need to be able to complete all the actions on the sheet I'll be handing out! Good luck!" Mr. Nye cheered on the students, passing out the sheets and bins full of pieces.

Steven looked at the bits and pieces in the bin.

Were those... legos?

As if hearing his question, Mr. Nye abruptly said, "Yes, the robot will be built using Legos."

And so Steven started building a robot.

. . .

Steven looked at his amazing creation that was most definitely, quite positively, very likely, guaranteed to fail. He had to test the robot out before time ran out.

The first task was to jump over a 3-inch tall platform.

He tried. The robot jumped backward instead.

The second task was to navigate a mini maze.

He tried. Steven got lost... err... the robot got lost.

The third task was to pick up a small object.

He tried. It was like trying to win a plush from one of those rigged claw machines.

The fourth task was the speed of the robot.

He tried. The robot fell flat on his face.

. . .

The bell rang.

"Alright, I collected the results from everyone." Mr. Nye said softly. "Class is dismissed."

Needless to say, Steven was still happy that he got to build a robot and test it out. Constructing a robot helped put his creativity and ingenuity to the test. He was glad he got a teacher who allowed his skills to shine! He was glad he got a teacher who truly understood the passions of young students. For the first time in years, he had... fun.

Steven was just glad the teacher didn't give homework again.

. . .

'No matter...'

. . .

Outside the classroom, the hallways were filled with whispers and murmurs.

"I failed the test..." Someone groaned.

"I'm sure you didn't do that bad, Jackal." His friend consoled.

"Aha! I didn't just fail the test, I fail my life, too." Someone else said.

'The mood is depressing...' Steven thought to himself.