Some things just stay with you forever.

Twenty-one years ago...

...I was six years old and in first grade. I loved my teacher. She was the sweetest, prettiest, and kindest lady in the entire world and I wanted nothing more than to be her favorite student.

And I was. I was one of those genuinely good, kind-hearted little kids that just wanted to please please please everyone.

I kept my desk neat. I turned in my papers early. And I was quiet unless addressed. Because that's how mom taught me to be.

One day, my wonderful teacher was out. And the vice principal subbed in. She was notoriously mean, not very pretty, and not very kind.

We were working on a spelling worksheet. It was early in the morning--I think around ten-thirty or so. I can't be sure. We didn't know how to tell time yet.

But we had recently learned about drugs. And I found an odd object in my desk that I thought might be a drug. It was a small black pill. It looked like a little space ship. And it smelled bad.

I didn't want a drug in my desk. I couldn't have a drug in my desk! So I picked it up and took it to the trash can.

"What is your name?" the assistant principal screeched at me.

Shocked at her tone, I meekly responded. "Veronica."

She went fishing through THE ENVELOPE where THE WORMS were kept. Kids who did bad things got WORMS.

"Why don't you have A WORM in here," she hissed.

Completely confused and caught off guard--how could I be getting A WORM?--I said to her, "Because I have never got A WORM before."

So the evil assistant principal grabbed a BLANK WORM. And she wrote my name on it in permanent marker. And she taped THE WORM to THE BOARD.

And I quietly cried at my desk as the other kids stared and whispered in shock. "Veronica got A WORM."

And the next day, my favorite person, my first grade teacher was back. And I was so happy, I gave her the biggest hug ever. And after class started, she saw THE BOARD and I heard her say to herself, "Veronica got A WORM?"

And she quietly came to me, crouched down, and asked me, "Veronica, what did you do to get a worm?"

Confused and ashamed, I almost silently answered through my tears, "I threw away a piece of trash."

And my wonderful teacher removed THE WORM. And it was never seen again.