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 ex

With those words, the entire chat seemed to sink under a suffocating weight.Mrs. Sherman wrote: [My son came home today and smashed the TV, saying he had to find some kind of time machine.]Mr. Clark added: [That’s nothing. At least yours is just clueless. You did not see my boy. He has gone completely off the rails. He drew a door on the wall with crayons, then kept banging his head against it! Said Miss Never gave him a Magic Door, and if he broke through, he could reach the moon. It scared me half to death!]Mrs. Jones chimed in: [Your kids are clearly possessed. Let us come over and cleanse them. Three-visit package, twenty percent discount!]I asked Mrs. Jones out of curiosity: [Mrs. Jones, is little Veren acting strange too?]Veren’s grandmother, Mrs. Jones, answered: [That child is a loner. All she ever does is draw, draw, and draw. What trouble could that cause?] Then, she attached a photo.Mrs. Sherman wrote: [That is exactly the kind of kid you need to watch. The more

How could this be?My eyes went wide in shock, unable to believe it.Miss Zinn’s eyes were full of guilt. “I told you, there is no way a child could have done this. We nearly accused a five-year-old for no reason.”At that moment, I did not know what to say.Could I have been wrong all along?After some discussion, Miss Zinn and I set up a separate group chat, adding the parents whose children had not yet been affected Mrs. Sherman and Mr. Clark.Mrs. Sherman asked: [Why another group?]Mr. Clark: [Huh? There is one person missing. Why isn’t Mrs. Jones in this chat?]Miss Zinn typed solemnly: [I am so sorry. I just received news—Veren has died in an accident. At the same time, Justin’s mom found a small card given by Miss Never on Justin. Please, check your children carefully for any suspicious cards.]Mrs. Sherman replied: [This is terrifying… and it’s only the second day?]Mr. Clark asked: [I checked my son—no cards. Whoever is behind this is truly evil. How many kids does

The landlord had no objections and simply pulled out the keys she carried with her.The room was small. There was only one bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom, but it had everything it needed.Hot water was still running on the stove, evidence that Veren had left in a hurry.We stepped into the bedroom and found a card on the desk, still unfinished.It was clear she had been drawing a boy entering the moon through a Magic Door, and it was meant for Justin.Officer Wayne took a photo of the card, then put on his gloves and carefully placed it into a sealed evidence bag.After a preliminary inspection, he said to us, “Although the evidence isn’t enough to directly label Veren as the culprit, we can trace her real identity through the public records system and issue a warrant for her arrest.”We believed that once Veren was found, the truth would finally come to light.A month later, the police finally tracked down Veren, who had gone into hiding under yet another al