The Markman's Prophecy

No error escapes its notice.

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A strange being is rumoured to wander the hallways of schools after dark. Not a single student has ever seen it, but it has a way of making its presence--

Felt. 

It hides itself between stacks of worksheets, piles of exercise books, beneath teachers' tables, and behind the walls of school corridors. Its clipped, clattering heels resound on floors all over the school. No one has ever caught it on their mobile phones, but students and teachers have reported--

Hearing it.

Feeling its breath down their necks. 

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The creature's shadow, as described by those who experienced it at the periphery of their vision, is a furry cross between a hawk and a headmaster in a pressed suit. Its hands are claws stained with red ink.  Its fur is covered by handwritten feedback, thoughtfully delivered. Its glowing eyes, shaped like commas, apparently bore straight into students as it signals impending doom.

With efficiency and tact. 

Staff and students of the school call it "The Markman."

A student, acting on a friend's dare, attempted to leave an essay filled with syntax errors on the teacher's table. 

He wanted to be the first to catch it on film for social media. 

And improve his visibility. 

But every error disappeared overnight, with a cryptic message on its margin--

"You'll always be marked."

The student, petrified beyond belief, never attempted the experiment again.

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This is not another cryptid creature. Not merely another vampire in a Romanian castle. 

It draws genuine fear. 

To this day, students mention The Markman. It stays one step ahead of them, gathering their mistakes like a grim reaper's harvest. No error escapes its notice. It lurks where weak phrases gather. Hovers where sentences are not properly conjoined. It petrifies more than the most difficult examination. 

Legend has it that when it delivers performance feedback to students, they are doomed to pass 

their examinations.

And if your ears do not fail you, you may hear:

"You'll always be marked."

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An original character description from the teacher's desk of Michelle Liew Tsui-Lin. AI tags are coincidental.

For Leslie's What Am I challenge:

Mirrors of the Mind by Michelle Liew is a collection of psychological and supernatural short stories that explore the quiet unease beneath ordinary moments. These are not tales of spectacle, but of subtle fracture — where memory distorts, silence speaks, and the self is not always singular. In these stories, what is unseen often carries the greatest weight, and what lingers is not what is shown, but what is felt.