Greg was enjoying his Senior year English class. His teacher, Mrs. Smith, assigned great books to read. She seemed to genuinely see the kids and speak with them with respect. She assigned writing assignments that were pretty interesting, and mostly fun.

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She assigned an essay about where the kids saw themselves in ten years. This was a tough one for Greg, because the situation in the house where he grew up and where he lived made it difficult for him to prepare for his future. He would try to express himself in the best way he could.

Greg wrote his ideas down. They were long, run-on sentences. They were passionate, but the piece was cohesive and came to a resolute conclusion.

During their reading assignment, Greg could see that she was reading the essays. He had marked the corner of his, so he’d know when she was reading it. He watched her face as she read it. The best he could tell, he liked the reaction she had to his writing.

Mrs. Smith ended class ten minutes early. She did that when she wanted to give someone special attention. Mrs. Smith asked a few of the kids, including Greg, to stay after class. The other kids knew to stay very quiet in the hallway on their way to their lockers, or else this somewhat rare practice would be disallowed.

She called Greg up to her desk first. She said, “Greg, you have sentences here that are very long. There is one that is 41 words, and another that is 58 words long. Those are long sentences. They have to be broken down into smaller pieces that people can absorb. These are technically correct sentences, though, Greg. It’s actually remarkable. They make sense and they follow. Most people can’t do this, Greg, and most people have a difficult time following sentences like this. I’m going to teach you how to tailor your writing in a way that the majority of people can read it.”

Greg looked at the essay. He noted the red ink, the remarks about punctuation and the encouraging comments. “Thank you.” Greg said.

Mrs. Smith looked up at him. “Greg.” She said. “You have thoughts.”

367 Words.

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