The Kindergarten Teacher Who Doesn’t Exist

The next morning when I dropped my son off at kindergarten, I made a point of running into Alice’s mother.

Her expression twisted oddly when she heard that Justin had also seen Miss Never.

“Mrs. Young, did he happen to say Miss Never looked like a white-robed angel with black wings?”

I frowned in surprise. “No. My son said Miss Never was an old woman with a cat’s face.”

“A white angel and a cat-faced old lady? That is quite a difference.”

We compared notes carefully, and the more we talked, the more it seemed like two kids just making up stories out of a cartoon.

Still, to be safe, we suggested Ms. Zinn stopped showing the cartoon for now.

After all, both children had said the same thing. Every time the cartoon Doraemon was on, Miss Never would appear and interact with them.

Ms. Zinn agreed. “Then this afternoon I’ll switch to Tom and Jerry instead.”

That evening, when I picked up my son, he suddenly pointed at a loaf of bread in the bakery window, his face was alight with excitement. “Mom! Doesn’t that look just like Doraemon’s gadget—the Memory Bread?”

“Miss Never said if I can figure out how to make Memory Bread, she’ll choose me to be Nobita in Doraemon.”

Miss Never and that robot cat again!

I yanked him off to the side with a stern look on my face. “Justin, if you keep making up stories about Miss Never, Mommy is going to be very angry!”

His mouth turned down in a pout, his whole face sinking. “Mom, I am not making anything up. Miss Never is real!”

“She was the one who put Doraemon on for us this afternoon!”

A flare of anger shot through me.

Did Miss Zinn not say she was switching to Tom and Jerry?

The moment we got home, I pulled up the classroom surveillance footage. I wanted to see with my own eyes who was lying.

The moment that blue robot cat holding the Memory Bread appeared on the TV screen, I completely lost it.

I clipped the footage immediately and sent it to the class group, tagged Miss Zinn, and asked: [Miss Zinn, what is going on here?]

Miss Zinn replied: [Mrs. Young, what is the matter? Is there something inappropriate in this episode of Tom and Jerry?]

Mrs. Jones answered: [Of course there’s a problem. Imagine, the cat cannot even beat the mouse. What kind of nonsense is that for kids to watch?]

Mr. Payne added: [You are all overreacting. It is just a cartoon. My son loves it.]

Their replies left me reeling. The clip clearly showed the cartoon Doraemon playing on the TV. Why did they say it was Tom and Jerry?!

Then, Miss Zinn sent me a private message: [Mrs.Young, do you think maybe Tom and Jerry is not a good choice?]

I replied to her message: [No, Miss Zinn, are you absolutely sure you put on Tom and Jerry this afternoon?]

Miss Zinn answered: [Yes. I even had the kids draw their favorite character afterward.] She then attached a photo of the children’s drawings.

As I stared at those little crayon cartoons, I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach.

I reopened the surveillance feed. No matter how many times I scrubbed through, the eerie Doraemon clip was gone without a trace.

Could it be that I was just being paranoid, that I saw it wrong?

The footage now showed only Tom and Jerry. My son sat neatly among his classmates; eyes fixed on the screen like all the others.

The one thing that stood out was…

He was not looking at the TV at all. His eyes were locked on the classroom door.

It was as though something was standing there.

I stared at the empty doorway for a long time but saw nothing.

Then came the part that made my skin crawl…

When the cartoon ended, what he drew on the blank page was not a cat or a mouse, but an old woman with a cat’s face.

My hands trembled as I slammed the laptop shut.

Something was terribly wrong with him!

I had to talk to him. Nevertheless, as I reached his bedroom door, I heard his tiny, cautious voice, “Miss Never, do you like the picture I drew for you?”

“Oh, Alice has already finished her task? You are taking her to the moon tonight? What about me? When will it be my turn?”

The unease inside me surged into dread. I immediately shoved the door open.

“Justin, who are you talking to?” I scanned the room. It was empty.

“Miss Never, of course. She is standing right next to you, Mom.”