Mrs Eleanor Chumbley liked to think she was a good teacher, who made the material in her Dunian literature and language class engaging.

She knew that when she was a little hellion in high school, she didn't see the point of reading old books and writing essays. It had seemed like busywork to her. Just something the boring old adults made the cool teens do to fill time.

As an adult herself, she now saw the value in being able to coherently write down your thoughts and support your arguments. And in examining why the classics of literature remained relevant while other books faded to obscurity.

So she tried to make the material interesting and help her students connect with it. But as hard as she tried, lately it seemed she couldn't keep Dall Mackenzie's attention.

He was a ram student, sporting a big pair of curved horns on his head. At the start of class, he was like the rest of her students: listening and raising his hand and answering questions. But before long, he would rest his cheek on his fist and stare forward unattentively.

Maybe he was having trouble with the material. Maybe he had trouble at home. She wished she could pull him aside and talk about it but he always scurried off after class in a big hurry.

That left confronting him in class.

She stood in front of his desk, hands on her hips, and a stern look on her face.

"Hey! Are you even listening?" she asked the ram.

"Mmmhm," he muttered, staring straight at her with a dreamy smile but not paying the slightest bit of attention.

Mrs Chumbley sighed. She clapped her hands to get his attention.

"See me after class."

Dall shifted uncomfortably in his seat and blushed. "Y-you got it, Mrs C..."

---

A cool sketch commission I got from  ifhy . The first of a few that I've gotten by the time I post this one! For example, there is an alt of this.

---

Eleanor Chumbley owned by me
Art by  ifhy