Board of Destiny

Teenagers. One can't live with them, and can certainly live without them, so thought Miss Karen Lim as she trudged into the staff room after another trying day with

Secondary 2/3.

The class of rowdy 14-year-olds was the pain of most teachers because they refused to listen to instructions.

Notoriously ill-disciplined, the teaching staff knew them

For their wild antics and causing ruckuses in and out of school.

Miss Lim, the lady who had the good fortune of being their form teacher, was completely exhausted after her usual verbal battle with the class. One of the boys had been caught smoking right in front of their mathematics teacher and she had spent the entire lesson listening to his defense.

She was the one who needed defending.

Part 2

"Eh, Miss Lim isn't going to be in class today," Thomas Lee, the boy who probably had to wildest reputation in Punggol High, set with the back of his chair facing him.

Everyone knew that he probably had another hair-brained scheme in his head. The one he had concocted this time seemed more than most.

He promptly provided everyone in the class with lined paper. He quickly gets them to draw the symbols of an Ouija board on it.

The class follows his instructions to the letter, and he begins to ask several questions.

"Is there a spirit here?" Thomas questioned the board.

There were a few tense minutes as the rest of the class hung on to his words.

"Hello?" his face fell when there was no response.

"Well, Tom, looks as if you lucked out," A few boys in the class started chortling uncontrollably.

That left Thomas, ever the narcissist, returning to his seat in undisguised anger.

Part 3

While Thomas was busy stewing, inexplicable events began to take place.

They began after Miss Lim, their beloved form teacher, didn't turn up for a few days. The students of this hard-to-contain class should have been over the moon.

But they began to do the homework she had set. They even tidied the classroom of their own accord and became usually punctual for lessons.

The sudden compulsion to do the right things actually prompted the rebellious teens to secure the Best Class In the Level award.

Part 4

Miss Lim finally returned to class after a few weeks, bearing the Best Class in the Level award in her hands with pride. "You've finally given me some face," She addressed her charges tersely and nodded.

The class, noting the positive attention it was getting, kept up with their good behaviour. Perhaps it was because Miss Lim had a curious habit of appearing in the class without anyone noticing her.

That is, until Thomas the Menace became tired of being "guai" (well-behaved).

"Let's try Ouija again. I don't believe there's no spirit here."

Everyone dutifully brought out lined paper and put it on their desks. They drew symbols of the Ouija on the sheets.

"Is there a spirit here?" Thomas asked, with a twinge of nervousness in his voice.

This time, pen scrawls appeared, blue as can be, on the sheets of lined paper, pointing decidedly to "YES."

An entity began to take its horrendous shape. Clearly a woman, she had long, unkempt hair and visible, hairline cracks on the sides and forehead of her skull.

Thomas finally gathered whatever courage he still had to gaze at her face.

It was Miss Karen Lim. Her pallid face put the sheets of white paper on the desks to shame. Blood lined the sides of her mouth and caked her teeth.

This time, no one needed instructions. They ran out of the room in unison, screaming and jamming the door.

Part 5

The Principal, Mr Harry Tan, finally completed a long-awaited investigation of the matter. Miss Karen Lim died in a car accident involving a collision of 5 vehicles.

"Then......why was she in school?" Thomas asked bravely.

"Yeah....why?" A few of his classmates chorused.

Mr. Tan paused for a few moments. "Well..." He didn't need to complete his sentence.

Needless to say, the students received a stern warning never to play with Ouija boards, or paper, again.

This time, they obeyed.