The Ironist

Peter Scotchmer writes a short story on how love sees truth even when the eyes refuse to. Near the beginning of the semester, Rebecca Cooper, slim, blonde and beautiful, stood somewhat shamefacedly before her teacher’s desk after class, self-consciously twisting an...

Peter Scotchmer’s fictional story of an administrator straying into matters she doesn’t understand may be too close to reality for those committed to following the latest fad of the day. Geoff Carter, a veteran teacher of thirty years’ standing, tried hard to win over...

In this quietly funny and poignant short story by Peter Scotchmer, a fledgling teacher learns that the classroom isn’t just a place of learning but a spotlight, a stage, and sometimes, a fishbowl.   The bell rang, and the class quickly settled. The teacher...

Chapter 1 India This is the story of my sister Lakshmi. She is two minutes older than I am.  The story starts on a chilly morning in early January, and we were high up on the ramparts of the great Merangarh Fort. I will never forget the day. That was the day Lakshmi...

  Finding Her Voice   Lou-Ellen Lewis was a quiet girl given to reading. She was not shy, but her reflective disposition discouraged her from revealing her inmost thoughts openly in class. Unlike so many of the other girls, enthusiastic and vital as they tended...

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. --F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby I have often wondered why it is that some slight and unremarkable memories remain strongly embedded in our waking consciousness while others...

Yes, I do like to vomit upon the carpet under the piano.  Of course it is much harder to clean there than it is to clean vomit off the linoleum in the kitchen.  Why else would I do there – if not to make them get on their hands and knees?  It is obvious that the...

(A Children’s Story for Grown-Ups) Editor’s note:  The Pendulum has already swung back to defend Enid Blyton's Noddy books from charges of racism and of excessive insensitivity to such human afflictions as having large ears.  See the Independent...