Storytelling Week 5: Mindy Heller Fails

"I'm sorry, Mindy, but you're failing this class.”

Mindy Heller dropped her head into her hands, stifling a sob. She looked up at Professor Higgins helplessly. "But how? I just don't understand—"

"Mindy, it's really not worth discussing any further. After all the emails, and phone calls, I'm spent. I'm sorry. You need to up your game if you want to make it in this class." His stiff salt-and-pepper mustache frowned at Mindy, and she sighed.

"Yes, sir." She picked her yellow backpack off the floor and left his office, shoulders sagging.

That week, Mindy took her study sessions into overdrive. She stayed up until two in the morning reading Professor Higgins’ notes, reviewing key terms, and looking up extra information online about reptile anatomy.

When Monday rolled around and Mindy went to the computer lab to take the next online quiz, she logged in with confidence, sure she would ace this one.

When she finished, she said a prayer over her grade, left the lab, and went right back to her books, prepping for the next quiz.

But on Tuesday night, Lily received an email from Professor Higgins.

She had failed the quiz.

His email blurred before her as tears welled in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Mindy. You might consider dropping the class.”

Mindy’s breath caught in her throat. But I’m trying so hard! she thought. She didn’t understand what else she could possibly do.

But she studied harder, even when the next test material hadn’t been announced. Mindy read her Zoology II book like it was the Bible, carrying it with her on the bus, to other classes, and to bed.

(Study time!)

I have to prove him wrong, she thought. I’m not a failure.

March rolled around and Test number three was on its way. Over the past month, Mindy had received a C on two homework grades and another D on a quiz. Nothing seemed to be working, but she was determined to make this test count—even if there was barely any way for her to pass the class now.

Because his class was online, and it was an upper-level class, Professor Higgins hosted all his quizzes and tests in the computer lab monitored by TA’s. Now, every time Mindy handed over her ID card, her stomach churned. The alien-like glow of the computer screens made her want to vomit.

But she knew this material.

Mindy clicked and read, clicked and read, and typed and read and clicked for an hour and a half, double-checking her answers before the TA announced the end of the test session. Only a few of the questions had stumped her, but she was positive all the others were correct. Taking a deep breath, she logged out, collected her ID from the TA, and left.

No sooner had she left the building than her phone pinged with an email. She held it close to her face, shielding her eyes from the sun.

It was Professor Higgins.

“Mindy, I would highly suggest you drop my class before it goes on your record. The last test did not help to improve your grade. My apologies. Best, PH”

Mindy’s breath caught in her throat.

How had he already collected the test grades?

Tears filled her eyes, and she rushed to a nearby bench. She wrapped her arms around her legs and wept softly into her knees.

“I’m not a failure,” she mumbled. “Mindy Heller is not a failure.”

“Mindy?” a voice chirped in front of her.

Mindy glanced up, where a tall, blonde woman with bright red lip stick stood in front of her. “Yes?” she asked, sniffing.

“Are you Mindy Heller?” The woman was smiling.

“Yes…”

“I’m Professor Higgins! Your Zo teacher! Since the class is online, I rarely get to meet my students, but I’m glad I ran across you! Your essay was superb!” she smiled encouragingly. “It’s nice to see something so well researched and thought-out. I could tell you put a lot of effort into it.”

Mindy’s brow crinkled. “You’re Professor Higgins? But I thought…” Mindy thought of the stiff man with the mustache, telling her she was failing. “I thought Higgins was a man?”

The woman laughed. “Oh, well I hope you don’t still think that! I know there's another Higgins on campus, though…why, were you looking for me?”

Mindy’s eyes widened as a realization dawned on her. This was a big campus. If there were two Higgins, there could be two Mindys. Even two Mindy Hellers.

“So…I’m not failing your class?” she asked hesitantly.

“Goodness, no! You’re doing excellent! I don’t see any reason for you not to finish this semester with an A, Mindy.”

Mindy smiled, standing. “Thanks,” she said. “But I think there’s another Mindy around here the other Higgins might need to talk to…Something must've gotten mixed up with the online systems.” She pulled up her email, squinting against the sun.

“Well, it was very nice to meet you!” Mindy’s Professor Higgins said, walking away. She twisted and called back, “Keep up the good work!”

“Thanks!” Mindy smiled to herself. “Will do.”



Bibliography: Turkish Fairy Tales, The Patience Stone and Patience Knife, by Ignacz Kunos (1913)

Author's Note: The original story tells of a young maiden working home alone, when a bird flies in and tells her, "Your fate is with the dead." She tells her mother about the experience, and her mother warns her to lock the doors the next day. But, the bird slips in through the window and tells the girl the same thing again. This happens three times, frightening the girl and the mother until the mother stays home with the girl, but the bird never returns. Then, three girls come and ask the young maiden to go out with them. She does, and a magic wall grows out of no where, separating her from her friends and her mother. She weeps, then the next day walks through a door in the wall to a palace, where she finds a corpse with a note that reads, "fan me every day for forty days, and then I will wake and the palace will be yours." So the maiden does as the note instructs, and on the fortieth day, another girl comes in. The maiden asks for her to take over for a moment so she can refresh herself, but when she returns, the body has awoken and taken the other girl for his wife, thinking the young maiden must be his new cook. The maiden laments her troubles to a stone, and it bubbles over as she weeps about her lost mother, her work in the palace, and now the girl who tricked her. The prince walks by and overhears her, and then makes sure she gets justice, taking her as his true wife.

From this story, I took the idea of a bad omen (you're failing the class) that was sort of "mistaken." At the end of the original story, the bird flies by and sings about how lovely the maiden's new life is. So I wanted to do the same with my story, sort of twist what the character thought was a bad omen into a mistake.