“What do you mean, I don’t know the half of it?” Josh asked.
“We can tell him now, right teach?” Sid said.
“Yes, I cannot imagine what harm would come of it at this point,” Mr. Symarian said. “The truth is always simpler, when that option becomes available.”
“What are you two talking about?” Charles said.
“I believe,” the teacher continued, “we are discussing the nature of my existence. You see, I have been engaged in a bit of subterfuge.”
“All this time you’ve been lying to us about who you are?” Josh asked, looking annoyed. “That is so rude!”
“Not exactly lying,” Mr. Symarian said, looking a bit flustered at this response. “I have indeed been your teacher these past months. I assure you that my credentials in that regard are quite in order. In fact, I daresay that my credentials are in better order than those of of many of my colleagues. One needn’t be an expert in the science of pedagogy to realize that…”
“Yer gettiin’ off topic teach,” Sid said. “The kid wants to know what the deal is with you.”
“Well, to begin, I am not, as you might say, ‘human’.” Mr. Symarian said, and paused dramatically.
“Gee, why am I not surprised?” Josh replied, rolling his eyes. “To tell you the truth, I’ve been starting to get used to this stuff. What’s it going to be this time? Alien?”
The teacher looked indignant. “I assure you…”
But Josh wasn’t finished. “Hold on, let me guess. Angel? Banshee?”
“No, I’m afraid…”
“Bigfoot, blob, bogeyman or brownie?”
“Young man…” Mr. Symarian said.
“Centaur? Changeling? Cherub? Chimaera? Cyclops?”
“Do I appear to have one eye?” the teacher managed to interject.
“Good point,” Josh said. “Wait, I’ll get it. Demon would be too easy. Let’s see… Djinn? Doppelgänger?”
“Actually no, but my brother…”
But Josh wasn’t finished. “Dwarf, dybbuk, elf or fairy? Or wait, I know … you’re a sprite!”
“None of those are …”
“Wait,” Josh said. “I’ll get it. Gargoyle, ghost, ghoul, gnome, goat man? Goblin? Gremlin? You’re not the grim reaper are you?”
Mr. Symarian was beginning to get annoyed. “If I were, by now you would be…”
Josh cut him off. “Harpy? Headless Horseman? Hippogriff? Hydra? Jabberwock, kraken, leprechaun, leviathan? Loch Ness Monster? Medusa?”
“This is awesome,” Charlie said. “Go for it Josh.”
“Actually,” the teach said weakly, the Medusa is a …”
“Oh right”, Josh said. “Merman? Minotaur? Mummy? Phoenix or poltergeist? Oh I know! Quetzalcoatl!”
“Joshua,” Mr. Symarian said sternly. “I do believe you are being…”
“Satyr? Selkie? Troll? Vampire? Werewolf? Wraith? Oh I know … zombie!”
“If you are quite finished,” the teacher said breathlessly.
“Guess I am,” Josh said, smiling, “Unless there’s a letter after ‘Z’. Sid?”
The little demon was working hard to hold back a laugh. “No more letters kid. I’m pretty sure you’re ok there.”