The Sergnoc Monster

There once was a monster species named Sergnoc and it had 2 heads. The left head was named Tarcomed and it controlled the left side of the body; and the right head, named Nacilbuper, controlled the right side of the body.  The two heads were always fighting but they both loved their pet, named Acirema.   Unfortunately,  Acirema  had been ill for a long time, four years, infact.  Luckily, she seemed to be recovering and if given some medicine would likely recover rapidly.   In the left hand, Tarcomed possessed a handful of blue jellybeans which he cherished.  Likewise, Nacilbuper had a similar handful of cherished red jellybeans.  Both sets of jellybeans had magical medicinal powers.  The red jellybeans and the blue jellybeans had the ability to make Acirema feel much better.  Even though they possessed different ingredients and had different actions in the body they resulted in the same effect.  Acirema needed some jellybean medicine but both Tarcomed and Nacilbuper insisted that Acirema take their respective jellybeans as the medicine to cure their pet.  Tarcomed insisted that they feed Acirema his blue beans because he believed they would make Acirema feel good right away but Nacilbuper countered that his red jellybeans were better for Acirema because they would guarantee that she is healthy in the future.   Acirema just wanted to feel better she didn’t care how.  Acirema growled at the two headed monster hoping to get its attention.  Tarcomed and Nacilbuper continued to argue, sometimes launching into lengthy dissertations on the advantages of their respective jellybeans and the ills of the others.  Each time one reached to give his jellybeans to Acirema the other blocked him.  Acirema grew very unhappy.  She would have liked to bite the two headed monster but she waited patiently, thinking they would eventually do the right thing.  The heads continued to debate and argue about which jellybeans are the best, at times forgetting that Acirema was there, waiting; getting sicker by the moment.  Eventually, one of them suggested that they give Acirema both some red jellybeans and some blue jellybeans, but the other decried that his jellybeans were better and should be the only ones used.   Acirema growled out one last moan of discontent to let Tarcomed and Nacilbuper know how unhappy she was with them.  Without medicine soon, she would be thrown back into the throngs of sickness through which she had suffered over the past 4 years. Tarcomed and Nacilbuper finally decided that they could not agree on which jellybeans to give Acirema.  They both professed their love for the sickly Acirema and left her to her suffer.  Acirema soon deteriorated to her prior condition but mostly she became despondent over the betrayal she felt towards Tarcomed and Nacilbuper who could have simply given her a few red jellybeans and a few blue jellybeans to prevent her current state of suffering.

The Innocents

The Innocents

Michael Raucci
Middle School Science Teacher
December 16, 2012

A sunny morning in a New England town
Is breached by a shattered window
Inside a school - Children laugh, and play, and learn
As a Darkness enters through the window

26 will perish this day
26 Heroes
26 Futures, 26 Dreams, 26 Poets, 26 Screams
26 innocent lives extinguished

And to what end?
To continue the debate over guns?  Or mental health?
When will it end?
How will it end?

In the aftermath, we shed our tears
We consider how they lunged and ran and cowered and feared
We interview those who held them dear
Why had he chosen this window?

26 innocents that will never feel
26 families that will never heal
At their bedsides a nation kneels
And asks...Did he ever look through the window?

It seems there is too much to process
We ponder our lives and the meaning of death
The value of these lives we can't possibly assess
Why Them?  Why Now?  Why Here?

Was it the guns?  The man?
Some incarnate Demon?
Mental Illness gotten 'out of hand'?
Can we comprehend?

With heavy hearts we wipe our tears
Our leaders play upon our fears
Through the killer's eyes we dare to peer
Can we see in through the window?

And through the shattered glass we grieve
Why did the Innocence have to leave?
In time, we will again believe;...or deceive?
That we are safe behind the window.