(As we're writing rough drafts of an essay, John sneezes loudly.)
John: Oh, hey! Somebody better bless me right now or the devil will climb into my soul!
Class: Bless you!
John: My aunt taught me that. And did you know that if you held your eyes open and sneezed, it would blow your eyes right out of your head? My science teacher from last year told me that.
Me: Um, really? Hmmm. I'm not sure that's really accurate.
John: No, it's true.
(Michael nods vigorously.)
Me: Sigh. Okay. So let's try to find an example from the book to prove this point . . .
John: What? You don't believe me? I'll prove it.
Michael: Oh, I heard that, too. It's true. There was a show on the Discovery Channel about it.
Me: Um, okay. So, your topic sentence is good but . . .
John: It would look just like this:
John takes his lime-green earbuds from around his neck, positions the right one over his right eye and the left one over his left eye, pauses, and
John: ACHOO!
John flings his earbuds from his eyes and rolls his head back and forth so the earbuds flop from his eye sockets, like tiny green eyeballs dangling by their roots.
Me: Ewwwww! Whoa. Thanks for that, John.
John: You're very welcome, Miss. But see? That's just what would happen, so it's a really good thing to keep your eyes shut when you sneeze.
Me: I don't think I have any choice, but thanks so much for the lesson. Please keep me posted on anything else I should know, okay?
John: Oh, I will.
