I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!

The beanbag flew through the air.

It hit the edge of the monster’s mouth.

It wobbled.

It teetered.

It fell inside.

"POINT FOR CLASS D!" Professor Hobb announced, sounding genuinely surprised.

Boo’s eyes flew open. "I DID IT! I FED THE MONSTER!"

He floated in happy circles, his ribbon trailing behind him.

"PROFESSOR EGG! DID YOU SEE?"

Professor Hobb sighed. "I saw, Boo. And please, for the last time, my name is—"

"PROFESSOR EGG SAW ME! I AM VICTORIOUS!"

Professor Hobb gave up. He just marked the score and moved on to the next child.

---

Meanwhile, at the Ring Toss station—

Kelpie and Rocky stood in front of a large tub of water. Floating on the surface were several small targets, bobbing gently in the ripples. Children from different classes were gathered around, holding rings in their hands.

Miss Kelly was running this station, her bright smile unchanged despite the chaos around her.

A girl from Class B with fish scales on her cheeks tossed her ring. It spun through the air and landed perfectly around a target.

"POINT FOR CLASS B!"

She smiled and flicked water at Kelpie. "Beat that, water boy."

Kelpie grinned. "Watch."

He grabbed a ring and tossed it. The ring sailed through the air, landed perfectly around a target, and stayed.

"POINT FOR CLASS D!"

Kelpie bowed dramatically. "The water king has spoken."

The fish-scaled girl laughed. "Lucky shot."

"Skill shot," Kelpie corrected.

From Class A, a boy with leaf-green hair stepped up. He held his ring carefully, closed his eyes, and whispered something to it.

"Are you praying?" Rocky asked.

"Communicating," the boy said. "The ring needs to understand the water."

Kelpie tilted his head. "Does that work?"

The boy threw his ring. It hit the water, bounced twice, and landed around a target.

"POINT FOR CLASS A!"

The boy opened his eyes. "It works."

Kelpie stared. "I need to learn that."

Rocky picked up a ring carefully. He held it, aimed, and tossed. The ring hit the water, splashed, and floated aimlessly.

"No point," Miss Kelly said cheerfully.

Rocky’s face fell. "I missed."

A girl from Class C with cat ears stepped forward. "Let me show you," she said kindly.

She took a ring, flicked her wrist, and tossed it. The ring spun perfectly and landed around a target.

"POINT FOR CLASS C!"

She turned to Rocky. "You have to be gentle. The rings don’t like force."

"Rings have feelings?" Rocky asked.

"Everything has feelings," the cat-girl said seriously. "Even water. Even rings."

Rocky nodded slowly. "Rocks have feelings too."

"Then you understand."

Rocky picked up another ring. He held it gently, like he was holding one of his precious stones. He breathed slowly. Then he tossed.

The ring wobbled through the air, hit the edge of a target, and fell into the water.

"NO POINT!"

But the cat-girl clapped. "Better! Much better!"

Rocky smiled happily.

Kelpie tossed another ring. Perfect shot.

"ANOTHER POINT! KELPIE IS ON FIRE! WATER FIRE!"

Miss Kelly laughed. "I don’t know what that means, but I’ll allow it."

A boy from Class C with shark teeth laughed. "You’re weird, water boy."

"I am proudly weird!"

The shark-toothed boy shrugged and tossed his ring. It hit the target perfectly.

"POINT FOR CLASS C!"

He grinned at Kelpie. "Not bad for a land-walker."

"You are also a land-walker, but I am both a land and water walker!"

"I am a water-walker too. I am versatile."

Kelpie’s eyes widened. "Versatile water-walker? We should be friends!"

"Maybe."

"Maybe is not yes!"

"Maybe is maybe."

***

Back at Feed the Monster, Boo had made his one point and was now cheering for everyone else.

"GO, CLASS A! GO, CLASS C! GO, PROFESSOR EGG!"

Professor Hobb stopped writing. "I am not competing."

"YOU ARE COMPETING IN MY GHOSTLY HEART!"

Professor Hobb sighed and continued marking scores.

The messy-haired boy from Class C made another point. The fairy girl from Class A made two more. Lucien finished his attempts with a perfect score.

Sable made three out of three.

Boo made one out of three.

But he was the loudest cheerleader, floating from group to group, congratulating everyone, even children from other classes.

"You threw well!" he told a boy from Class B.

"Thank you?"

"Your form was acceptable!"

"Um. Okay?"

Boo nodded and floated to the next child.

Professor Hobb watched him, shaking his head, but there was a small smile on his face.

"Professor Egg is smiling!" Boo announced.

Professor Hobb’s smile disappeared. "I am not."

"YOU ARE! I SAW IT!"

"I was not."

"THE CORNER OF YOUR LIP MOVED!"

Professor Hobb adjusted his glasses and looked down at his clipboard. "Next child, please."

But Boo was already floating in happy circles.

He had fed the monster.

He had made Professor Egg smile.

It was a good day.

***

Meanwhile, Alina was running another station across the field. Her station was the most chaotic, the loudest, and arguably the funniest, because it involved jumping.

Lots of jumping.

The game was called "Bouncy Bouncy Frog Pond." Alina had no idea who had named it, but the name had made her laugh when she first saw it on the schedule. The game was simple: children had to hop like frogs from one lily pad to another, using only their feet, without falling into the "water," which was just a blue tarp spread on the ground. The lily pads were large foam circles placed at uneven distances. The goal was to reach the other side as fast as possible without stepping off the pads.

But there was a twist.

The pads moved. Volunteers from the upper classes stood at the edges with long poles and gently shifted the pads after each jump, making the children adjust their aim mid-hop.

It was ridiculous.

It was hilarious.

It was exactly the kind of game that made Sports Day memorable.

And today, the participants from Class D were Drake and Vlad Jr.

Alina stood at the starting line, her red outfit bright against the green grass, her clipboard in her hand. She had a whistle around her neck and a smile on her face.

"Alright, everyone!" she called out. "Welcome to Bouncy Bouncy Frog Pond!"

A boy from Class A raised his hand. "Why is it called that?"

"Because you bounce. Like frogs. In a pond."

"Are there real frogs?"

"No."

"Then why—"

"Next question!"

The children laughed.