"It's time to turn in the homework I assigned last class," my teacher, Mrs. Benzow, announces in a sing-song voice.

I look down at myself. I am covered in mud from head to toe, my hair is a mess; a tangle of rotten food and garbage, and my clothes are soaking wet. I smell of dead animals and other repulsive scents. I hope the people sitting next to me do not die of my revolting odors.

My eyes glance back up to my teacher. Her hair is blonde and in perfect curls at the side of her rosy cheeks. She has not noticed me yet, but her eyes scan the room. I can almost feel the heat of her lasers as the red beams make their way towards me.

"I hope you've all finished your homework-" my teacher starts again, but quickly stops as her eyes land on mine. I blush, embarrassed by my appearance, and get ready to present my explanation, but her red lasers keep on scanning. The heat of her stare leaves my body and the cool air of the classroom causes me to shiver. Her expression stays the same, as if unimpressed, or just not surprised. A leaf falls from my hair and flitters leisurely onto my desk. I flick it away and it lands near my beat up converse.

"Anyways," she continues. "Turn in your assignments to the hand-in basket."

I raise my hand, slowly and steadily, ready to explain myself. Mrs. Benzow's laser eyes dart back to me, as if they can feel the most slightest of movement.

"Yes, is there a problem?" She acts almost bored.

I open my mouth to talk and the kid next to me nearly dies from my bad breath. My mind flashes back to this morning. It had all started with my stupid alarm clock...

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*

I slam my hand down on the 'snooze' button, barely aware that it is not the first time I have done it this morning. Suddenly, my eyes flash open. Today is school. My stomach drops. I am going to be late. I jump out of bed, my blankets flying in all directions. I quickly shift my eyes to my alarm clock.

7:30.

I decide to ditch showering, there is just no time. I throw off my pajamas, faster than humanly possible, and in a blink of an eye, I am newly dressed in an outfit for school. I stand there in pure astonishment before realizing there is no time to lose. I head for the bathroom to brush my hair.

I look into the mirror and cringe. Dark circles underline my eyes and my hair looks as if it just won the contest: "Worst Hair Day". I snatch a hairbrush and start yanking down my greasy, untamed auburn hair. Suddenly I stop. I hear a faint beep in the distance, almost identical to the sound of a bus pulling into a driveway. My heart flutters and I can hear the ticking of a clock.

7:37.

Crap.

I race out of the bathroom and down the hallway, hopping on one foot as I shove the other into my brand new pair of converse I had just gotten for my birthday. I sprint to the window and sure enough I see a big yellow bus pulling out of my driveway. I run back to the kitchen, grab a jacket, and fling my backpack over my shoulders. The bus is still within sight, if I could just-

My homework!

I race back to the kitchen, looking frantically for my homework; a 2,000 word essay paper due today! I had been up all last night, writing it by hand, and finally finished before falling asleep.

My eyes scan the counter and I finally spot it. I hastily pick up the stapled pieces of notebook paper and charge back to the front door. The bus is pulling away.

"Nooooo!" I shout. "Wait for meeeee!"

I dash out the door, nearly tripping on the porch step, and chase after the bus. My driveway is wet and muddy and I cannot grasp any traction. The bus is getting farther and farther away. With a sudden burst of energy, I take off and charge down the road after the bus. I get as close as making out the shape of a body sitting in the back seat, before I slip on a puddle of mud and feel myself start to fall. I throw myself awkwardly to the road in attempts of protecting my essay, but as I hit the ground, a big splatter of mud flies up and lands on my face. My homework flies out of my hands and the wind carries it elsewhere. The bus drives away, out of sight, and disappears into the distance.

I shiver as the cool mud slides down my back. I stand up and wipe off my face. I look down at myself and see that I am covered in mud. I groan. Even my backpack is ruined.

But where is my homework?

All of a sudden I hear the loud sound of a garbage truck coming from behind me. I spin around. It stops in front of my house. Two men get out and head for the bins of garbage. They do not notice me somehow, standing in the middle of the road. They open the lids and grab the trash bags. Suddenly I see it; my homework!

The piece of paper, slicked with mud, is stuck to the bottom of a trash bag. The man holding the bag chucks it into the back of the truck. I run after him.

"Noooo! Stop! Stop right there!" I yell.

The men ignore me and get back into their truck.

"Stop! My homework's in there!"

The garbage truck's engine starts up again and it begins to move forward.

"Get out of the way, kid!" One of the men shout back from the window.

"No, you have my homework! I neeeeeeed it!" I whine back, panicking even more.

The truck continues driving and they swerve around me. I begin chasing after it. I needed my homework. Finally I reach out and grab a handle from the back of the truck. I jump up and hoist myself on. I duck and plunge into the pile of smelly, black garbage bags.

Without warning, the truck lurches forward, knocking me over into the pile of trash. The bright sky disappears as the door slams shut. It is pitch black.

"Great," I mutter under my putrid breath.

Feeling with my hands I lift up the trash bags and check underneath them. The smell is horrendous and I cough.

After what feels like an hour of searching, the truck stops. I hide under the bags of trash as the door slides open. Suddenly I spot my homework. Slowly, I stretch my hand and reach for it.

"Here, help me with this." A man's voice says.

I quickly grab the paper and lay perfectly still. Two men dump a huge green dumpster of trash all over me. I try not to breath. When the men are done, they walk back to the front seats. I slowly stand up, shaking the garbage off my face, and make a dash for the open sky. I jump out as soon as I hear the men slam their front doors and hop inside the truck.

Where am I?

I look around and smile at the familiarity of my surroundings. I am standing in the parking lot of school! What a very, very life-saving coincidence! I look down at my hands and see my dirty, ripped up, smelly homework essay. I laugh to myself. At least I have it.

The bell rings and I hurry to the doors.

Maybe I won't be late after all! I mean, what else could go wrong?

As if on cue, the garbage truck pulls off the curb into a gigantic puddle, covering me in a blanket of mud. As it drives away, the garbage door slams shut and a mountain of garbage flies at me. I drop my homework somewhere and it disappears under the mud.

I immediately crouch down and start flinging a mixture of mud and trash into the air, in hopes of finding my precious essay. Suddenly, the corner of a piece of paper, it seemed, caught my eye. I lunge for it and pull it up into the air triumphantly.

I got it!

I raise my homework to the sky like a knight raising his sword in battle, but then out of no where, a giant, majestic bald eagle comes swooping in and snatches my assignment from my defeated, muddy grip. Then it flies away and vanishes behind the clouds.

I am too tired to fight. I stand their astonished, and cry.

"Excuse me? Is there a problem?" it is Mrs. Benzow. I am back in my classroom about to tell my teacher why I do not have my homework.

She is not going to believe this.

"I'm not going to ask again. Is there a problem?"

I take a deep breath and open my mouth to speak. "Yes.." I start hesitantly, "About my homework-"

Mrs. Benzow cuts me off. "If you're wondering if I graded it yet, then no, I didn't."

I am so confused. She must tell because she continues, "You turned your essay in early, remember, but I don't have it graded yet." she explains. Her laser stare moves on and she adds, "As for the rest of you, turn in your assignments to the basket."

I look down. I am wearing a clean pair of jeans, a spotless, white T-shirt, and my brand new converse. I feel my hair; tightly braided in a beautiful french braid. I look around the classroom. No one looks as if they might die from my stench. A few of my classmates actually smile at me. Then it hits me.

I had imagined everything! No muddy road, no garbage truck, and no eagle. In fact, I distinctly remember turning in my essay yesterday. Everything is coming back to me. Oddly enough, it was about 'The Best Lost Homework Excuse Ever'. I guess your work really can get the best of you. I just needed to relax a little.

I reach down and pick up a pencil that lays by my feet. Then I begin working on finishing my other homework assignments, but I quickly stop myself. Maybe I should just turn this one in on time.

The End

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