Broadcast #1

A television placed at the front of the classroom flipped on, showing the Mother of Snakes sitting behind a desk, face holding the most enthusiastic of phony smiles. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen! I’m Mother of Snakes, and welcome to the first Empty City High School broadcast!” She paused, as if waiting for cheers to die down. In not one classroom did a single student cheer. “We owe this program to a very generous donation from our mayor, the Architect, who provided our Media department with the equipment needed to run a televised broadcast!”

Once again, Snakes waited for an applause that never came. Unaware of this lack of enthusiasm, she went on in the same scriptedly enthusiastic tone. “For our first broadcast, we have a very special guest! Principal Jack himself!” A drumroll played and the camera panned right, pulling an empty chair into the shot. Snakes’ eyes looked between the chair and the camera, her smile becoming increasingly nervous. “Principal… Jack!” She said again. Jack remained absent. “It looks like the Principal’s a little tardy, haha!” Flashes of anger were trying to break out from Snake’s cheerful mask. “We’ll just move onto the rest of the program then!”

“Wait!” Jack ran into the shot, still trying to put on his tie with one hand and his white coat with the other. “Sorry for the delay. There was an issue with… an animal on school grounds. All resolved now, though.”

“Well then Mr. Jack, you said you had a short announcement for the school?” Snakes said.

“Of course. Thank you, Mother of Snakes.” The camera turned so that Jack was at the center of the shot. “I know it’s only been two months since the school year began, but this year has felt like an eventful one so far. And I expect that even more exciting adventures lay in store for our students.” Jack steepled his fingers and smirked. “Yes, it feels like change is coming. And I am looking forward to seeing what fun comes out of it all.”