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"The Helen Files"

SUSPECTS: Mrs. Leeming, Mr. Fletcher, Ms. Miller, and Mrs. Remick

For as long as schools have been in session, there has not been a single child on earth who would not swear that at least one of their teachers was an alien, and when asked which kind of alien, would point towards the starry sky. Helen was no exception to that rule. She sat in detention staring at Mrs. Leeming's long, thin nose that had just the slightest curve to it like Helen's pet parakeet's beak. But if Mrs. Leeming was any sort of bird at all, she'd have to be a flamingo, because she always wore bright pink and she had the longest legs Helen had ever seen on a person. The woman had to be nearly seven feet tall, or maybe only six feet, but either way that was incredibly tall for any one person to be.

Finally, Mrs. Leeming looked up from grading this week's spelling test. "It's been an hour, Miss Bradbury. Your detention is over."

Helen started to leap up from her seat.

"Just a moment, Helen." Mrs. Leeming clicked her red pen shut. "I want you to promise that you will never throw water onto anybody again."

"But Ms. Ruhl had all the signs of being a real witch!" Helen leapt forward across the distance between herself and the teacher's desk. "That was the water test to see if she melts."

"And she did not melt."

"Because she wasn't that kind of witch." Helen forced her temper down. Her Father said she had to pick her battles, and Mrs. Leeming had proven to be just as stubborn as she was. Besides, Helen had much more important matters to be getting on to. "But I promise, Mrs. Leeming, that I will never throw water onto anyone at school ever again." She smiled her adorable, innocent smile, the one that made her cheeks both dimple. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

Mrs. Leeming only nodded. She clearly did not believe, nor trust, Helen to do as she promised, which Helen greatly resented as she returned to her desk to gather her books, but Helen's word was her honor.

It just so happened that Helen had reason to believe that one of her teachers really was an alien, so her mission, should she choose to accept, and she did, was to discover which of the teachers on her list was the alien before class tomorrow. Mrs. Leeming currently was on the bottom of the list since her height was really the only thing that had her under suspicion. The list of suspects went Mr. Fletcher who taught eighth grade science, Ms. Miller who was Helen's English teacher, and Mrs. Remick, the principal.

Each

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