The Reluctant Teacher

Tril was floating lazily in the bloodstream when a deep voice boomed behind him.

"Tril! Just the cell I was looking for."

Tril spun around and groaned. It was Big Red, the oldest, most wrinkled red blood cell in circulation.

"Nope. Not me. You must be looking for someone else." Tril tried to drift away.

Big Red blocked him. "Nice try. You're perfect for the job. We need a substitute teacher for the young blood cells today."

Tril’s membrane wobbled with horror. "Teaching? Me? No, no, no. You need someone patient. Someone responsible. Someone who doesn’t get headaches from high-pitched giggling."

"The regular teacher is sick. And you’re fast, smart, and—" Big Red hesitated. "Well… available."

Tril narrowed his eyes. "That sounds suspiciously like ‘no one else wanted to do it.’"

Big Red clapped him on the back. "Exactly! Off you go!"

Before Tril could protest, a chaotic swarm of bouncing, giggling young red blood cells came zooming in from the bloodstream.

"Woohoo! No class today!" one of them cheered.

"Let’s race to the lungs and back!" another shouted.

"I bet I can do a flip!" a third one yelled before smacking into a capillary wall.

Tril sighed. "Great. I’m babysitting bubbles with legs."

"They’re your responsibility now," Big Red said with a grin. "Teach them how the lungs work. And try not to lose any."

Before Tril could argue, Big Red floated away, leaving him surrounded.

"Alright, listen up!" Tril clapped his membranes together. "We’re going on a field trip to the lungs. And no, you cannot skip ahead. We travel together. Got it?"

The young cells responded with various forms of chaos—one cell tried to float upside down, another was distracted by a passing platelet, and two others were already fake-wrestling.

Tril pinched his membrane. "This is going to be a long trip."

Shaking off the dread, he took a deep breath. "Fine. You wanna race? We’ll make it a race. First one to the lungs learns how they actually work!"

The young blood cells exploded forward, laughing and shouting. Tril sped after them, determined to turn this into the most memorable lesson of their short, chaotic lives.