"Paige dear, may I speak with you for a moment?"
The little girl stood, unsure of what the teacher could want.
"Everyone else, you're dismissed"
Cautiously she approached the desk, starring up at the teacher who's dark hair and sharp, bird like features that once seemed pretty were now only menacing. She pointed to a chair by her desk which the first grader jumped into
"What's wrong ?"
The teacher sighed
"Can you explain this Paige?" She held up a paper on which was a child's sketch of a crayon green cat
"It's a kitty!" She grinned. Paige had been particularly proud of that drawing. She had expected her teacher to love it too. Then she noticed the large red F in the corner and her lip quivered.
"Did you not like it"
"You were supposed to draw the bowl if fruits on the table. That was the assignment"
"But...I just wanted to be creative..." Her voice shook
"I know, but school is for learning, not playing." She handed the drawing to the girl
"I would like you to take this home and tell your mother what happened." The girl nodded and stood, tears dripping down her cheeks.
She shoved the paper in her back, hearing it crumple and tear as it pressed against her supplies.
She slung her backpack on and grabbed her sketch pad from her desk. She ran off sniffling and hugging the notepad to her chest
what does the teacher know
she just wasn't thinking creative
who wants to draw stupid fruit anyway
Her tears blurred her vision as she stepped to cross the street
she never likes my creative ideas
never ever
Paige didn't even see the car.

Tony peeled the Sketchpad off the ground, holding onto it despite the blood and oil that spattered it's pages and cover. His other hand intertwined with that of a young girl. She looked up at him
"Mister. Who are you?"
"My name is Tony" he smiled at her
"A-are you..."
"Dead? Yes.
"And I'm-" her eyes welled up
"Dead as well"
She sobbed
"But I'm still little!"
"Shhh" he knelt down to the girls level and placed his hands on her shoulders
"It's all right Little Miss. Eventually everyone runs out of time. But now you have a new life. And you can use this to become whomever you want." He wrapped his arms around her. Seeing her creativity smashed reminded him of his own end. How he had been the only one to ever ask the big 'what if' questions. How countless professors had tossed him out for his questioning. How one particular professor had humiliated and hurt him for these ideas that he had decided to take his own life. The feel of the rope...the shatter of the clock as it tumbled from it's perch...the loneliness of death...
But now he had her.
Two spirits together
"I promise, I'll stay by your side" he mumbled to her "and no one will ever say we're wrong again."

Ten years later Paige returned to that classroom. To that teachers desk.
And she showed the woman just how /creative/ she could be.
And Tony watched her and supported her, just as she'd done when he'd sent his past into a spiraling decay.
And together they became teachers in a sense. They taught fear.
And as Tony had promised, they were never separated, and no one dared to say they were wrong ever again.