What A Dream Wants

"I apologize for the delay. Anna, thanks for covering for me."

"No problem, Carol." The other lunch lady replied.

"Anyway, table 10?" Mrs. Watson called out, "Come, get your lunch quickly and quietly, please."

. . .

Everyone finished getting lunch and started eating. After a while, the bell rung, signifying the end of lunch. Steven cleaned up and returned his plates to a lunch lady.

He then peered down at his schedule. The next class was Phys Ed. in the gymnasium.

. . .

The gymnasium was brightly lit, sleek floors, and benches on both sides. As the students poured in, Steven saw some unfamiliar faces.

A whistle blew.

"Alright Soldiers, Call me Captain Baker." A middle-aged man holding a whistle shouted. "I am your gym teacher. Alright anyone wanna know a cool fact about me?"

Before anyone could speak, he continued:

"A cool fact was that I had a profession before this... I was a Captain. Well, I wasn't very professional, but that doesn't matter as a gym teacher. Alright, I'm gonna be answering some questions now. Don't interrupt."

Before anyone could speak, he continued:

"Do I have qualifications to be a gym teacher. Obviously, ha. You don't need qualifications to be a gym teacher. You little peeps are funny."

'They still need a bachelor degree program...' Steven stared. He wondered if the Captain had perhaps bonked his head on one of his many voyages.

In truth, the Captain was always like this.

"So I'm your gym teacher and I will be teaching cultivation..."

Before anyone could speak, he continued:

"What? You guys don't know what cultivation is? Well..." He looked down at his book, Cultivation 101.

"Let's see... Cultivation is like farming. You know... planting and agriculture and stuff."

Before anyone could speak, he continued:

"Okay, gardening is pretty easy. All you need to do to maintain most plants is: water them here and there, some fertilizers here and there, and some sunlight here and there."

"But..." a guy raised his hand.

"No buts. Didn't I say no interrupting? Anyways, remember to pull out weeds and give your plants adequate space to grow."

He looked at the book again.

"Oh wait, wrong book." He went to his desk and took out another book. "Okay, this is the correct one. They had the same title, sorry guys."

"Anyways, without this book, you guys wouldn't be able to comprehend the profound truth of cultivating."

"Captn. Baker, most of us... maybe even all of us here know cultivation." A guy said.

"Nonsense! You guys know how to grow plants and stuff? You guys are city kids, not country kids. A-ha-ha-ha-ha." Captain Baker bellowed out, chuckling.

"No interrupting." Cptn. Baker shouted. "Where was I? Oh right!" He opened the book and flipped through a few pages.

"Let's see..."

"Oh, I see." He said, "After reading this book, I think I know what cultivation is now. So cultivation, in this case, refers not to plants, but to humans. It is when humans utilize their innate abilities to gain strength using the energy found in nature!"

He read a bit more.

"Oh, there's a bunch of realm thingies too."

He read a bit more.

"It is when you surpass the boundaries of normal humans. Sounds cool and all, but very tiresome. Luckily, I'm not the one cultivating, you guys are. For the rest of the class, I want you guys to cultivate. I want to see who draws in the most energy, who has the most endurance, who has the most talent, and who will work the hardest. Okay, good luck!"

He plopped out a chair from his office and started drinking some juice from a cup. It had a tiny umbrella in it and was reminiscent of a drink served in Boujee vacationing islands.

"I will be sitting on my vacation chair if anyone needs me." He said, relaxing...

'One of the profound mysteries of the world is how this gym teacher got his teaching license. Even pondering this concept for an eternity would not give a rational answer.'

"Teacher, will you give us any pointers based on our cultivating prowess?"

"No interrupting," he said slowly, laid back, and began to snore.

Steven tried to interpret the concepts of growing plants-

Steven tried to interpret the profoundness of cultivating-

Steven slept.