My mom was born and raised in a small village in the glorious mountains of West Virginia. In the late 40s, she graduated from high school. It was in this educational institution that she met one teacher who made an indelible impression not only on her, but also on many of her classmates. In life, he was a kind mentor. However, it was after death that everyone recognized his true nature.
Mister Eddie
The man who preferred to be called simply "Professor" by his students was actually Mr. Eddie. My mom isn't sure if "Eddie" was his first or last name, but she always referred to him by his academic nickname. In any case, he was one of the leading specialists of the school for many years, although he was still a relatively young man of about forty.
He was tall and rather thin, with slicked back hair that was jet black. He was not overly talkative or demonstrative, but he managed to instill a respect for the sciences, thanks to which, many of his students then entered universities.
Mr. Eddie had a laid-back teaching style. He cared more about getting his students to practice than about knowing every geometric configuration. He was the only teacher in the school who allowed his students to look for answers in textbooks in the middle of exams. His methods were not the accepted norm, but keeping his classroom relaxed and free seemed to work for both teacher and students alike.
Death of the professor
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This happened somewhere in 1949-50, when fate struck a blow that irreparably changed both the school and its students. One day, Mr. Eddie was doing one of his activities at a local animal watering hole as part of a nature study program. It was a welcome respite from the stuffy classroom for both the teacher and his students.
And so, when Mr. Eddie led his charges through the forest and showed the children various flora and fauna, a small creature like a wasp suddenly appeared in the air in front of him. The teenagers watched in horror as the teacher suddenly squeezed his throat and collapsed to the ground.
In a panic, a couple of boys ran to the nearest farm, where there was a telephone, and they were able to call for help for their teacher. By the time the doctors arrived at the scene, Mr. Eddie was lying pale and motionless in the clearing. It was later revealed that he suffered an allergic reaction to wasp venom.
For some people, wasp poison is deadly.
My mother was not present at school on the day that fate brutally pulled Mr. Eddie out of life, but she has heard this story many times from friends who witnessed the tragic events. Many of them were traumatized by not being able to provide any help as they watched their teacher die before their very eyes.
After the tragic death of Mr. Eddie, many staff and students were left alone with their grief. The professor was loved and his unexpected death shocked everyone. Then everything was a little different than in modern schools. The adolescents who attended the tour that day were not offered the help of psychologists.
No one discussed this issue with students who had lost one of their favorite teachers. Instead, school continued as usual with little or no mention of Mr. Eddie. The logic of that time, it seemed, was that it would be better if everyone quickly forgot about the tragedy. However, everything turned out to be not so simple.
School oddities
Soon after the resumption of classes, teachers and students began to notice some strange events taking place in the school. In the middle of the lesson, the window could open for no apparent reason, even when all the students were quietly sitting in their places, and the teacher was standing at the blackboard. When the opened window was closed, another opened instead. Sometimes this strange game went on all day.
This was important because Mr. Eddie always kept at least one window open, regardless of the weather, because of his strong belief in the health benefits of fresh air. Despite the fact that many students were alarmed by the fact that the windows opened on their own, teachers refused to admit that something unusual was happening. They just continued the lesson, as if there was nothing strange about this behavior of the windows.
Many of the students claimed that they seemed to have heard Mr. Eddie's voice in the hallway several times. During his lifetime, he kept track of student discipline during school breaks, and apparently his spirit was still doing it.
Mom recalls that she once lingered in the toilet room, and, fearing that she would be marked as a latecomer, ran down the empty hallway to her class. And suddenly she heard a stern voice warning her not to rush and walk with a calm step. Although she was the only one in the hallway at the time, she immediately recognized Mr. Eddie's voice - the Professor! Other students also reported hearing the familiar voice of the teacher in the small hallway.
Mr. Eddie was known at school as a big fan of perfume and skin care products. He was very careful about his appearance, and was very neat and sometimes exuded too strong a scent. Needless to say, many young teachers and schoolgirls were in love with him?
In keeping with his role as Casanova, he used the aftershave lotion that was popular at the time. After his death, the scent of the lotion is said to have spread throughout the building. My mom says that at times the perfume scent was so strong that she gasped. There was a feeling that Mr. Eddie was walking along the rows of students' desks when he lectured.
Help from nowhere
During lunch breaks and after school, students gathered and shared their impressions of all the strange events that happened after Mr. Eddie's death. It was soon established that many of the students experienced similar sensations and heard the voice of the late teacher.
One young woman struggled to pass a written exam she desperately needed to pass, claiming that someone had whispered answers in her ear. Startled by a voice that seemed to come from nowhere, the girl nervously wrote down the words as they were spoken. When she received her grades, she found that she answered all the questions correctly. The girl had no doubt that her savior was Mr. Eddie!
Other students claimed that their deceased teacher supported them mentally when they were on the verge of giving up their studies. Although none of the students said they had ever seen Mr. Eddie, his special voice inspired them and helped them even in the most difficult situations.
Wasps again
There was only one memorable occasion where Mr. Eddie's presence felt differently, his spirit clearly disturbed. A strange event happened one day during lunchtime. While my mother and several other students were sitting in the grass near the school, a wasp suddenly landed on one of her friends. Before anyone could react, another wasp swirled around them, and then another.
Everyone who was sitting in the grass, as well as other children who did not even know what was happening, jumped up and ran screaming into the safe building of the school. Oddly enough, none of the students were hurt, although dozens of wasps fell on them!
Wasps have been known to bite violently anyone who gets in their way. However, on this day, the insects seemed to have one purpose - to scare the students and make them go into the school building.
Later there were rumors that a dangerous criminal, a maniac killer, escaped from a prison in a neighboring district. And immediately there were suggestions that it was Mr. Eddie who sent the wasps to protect the students from the dangerous fugitive. Of course, all this was just idle talk. My mother cannot remember if the criminal escaped from prison, and if this incident took place at all. And, nevertheless, it is strange that the wasps did not sting any of the children that time.
Be that as it may, the wasps posed a very real and terrible threat that young people did not soon forget. Since then, my mother has been terrified by wasps to the point that she still panics if she hears the slightest buzzing sound when she is outside. She says that none of those present that day in the schoolyard can say how many wasps surrounded them then.
After my mom finished her studies, she stayed in the area for several more years before moving to a larger city. However, she heard from time to time from people that the ghost of Mr. Eddie was still haunting the school.
It is difficult to say what kind of power connected the teacher with the place to which he devoted his life. Perhaps his death happened so unexpectedly that he could not accept or understand what happened. This may explain why, after his death, he returned to school and tried to resume his duties.
It is said that over time he would be able to handle the situation and accept his fate, which allowed him to move on to the afterlife. It is also possible that Mr. Eddie remains part of the school of his own free will, or is forever trapped in this world … and he will play the role of Professor forever.