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The Creature at Oakland School
Rebecca Edmonds
It had rained all night. Not just a shower, but a deluge. The rain
had come down in sheets, with gusts of wind strong enough to
send the dogs into their doghouses. It was a damp and soggy
Thursday morning at Oakland Elementary in Pipers Gap, Virgin-
ia. The school children tramped in with wet and muddy shoes
and squeaked down the halls to their classrooms. The sun was
trying to peek out amidst angry clouds, and the wind gusted and
whistled around the school building.
As I walked down the lower hall to class, a group of excit-
ed children caught my eye. They were gathered around a pair of
windows which looked out upon the preschool playground. My
curiosity stirred, I walked over to the group.
“It’s a snake!”
“No, it’s a rat!”
“I think it’s a mouse!”
“No! It has to be a fish!”
The children were bursting with excitement! I looked out
the window and was astonished by what I saw. In the corner
of the playground, up close to the building, a large puddle had
formed overnight. Wood chips were everywhere, floating in the
puddle and scattered around the ground. In fact, there were so
many wood chips in the puddle, that the water was obscured.
“Look, look, look!” cried a little girl, “It’s ALIVE!”
I looked at the puddle, and saw a mound of wood chips
form and move quickly across the length of the water to the op-
posite edge. It then abruptly changed direction, and went back to
the other side. The mound disappeared, but then reappeared and
began to move in a frantic circle. The children squealed! I shud-
dered.
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