I've been having trouble writing stories lately. It's not really a writer's block, actually it's more like the opposite, I guess. You see, I've got so many ideas (at least one Discworld fic, two and a half HP fics and about three or four crossovers…) I can't concentrate on one for long enough to write something…

But I can try…

Disclaimer: not mine (wow, that was original, eh?)

1. prof. Binns

Professor Binns opened his eyes. 'I must have fallen asleep again,' he thought. This tended to happen a lot recently. Many people thought it was because the History teacher was growing old. He didn't agree of course. He was only 124 years old. Many wizards lived longer than that.(1) He had just realised recently, that he liked to take a nap between the lessons sometimes. That's all. Well, all right, maybe that's not all. Maybe he wasn't exactly young any more. So what? He was a teacher. A History teacher. His job was mostly about talking. How can you possibly be too old for that?

Anyway…

He he looked at the clock. What time was it? Oh dear! Had he really slept that long? He was almost late for a lesson. Professor Binns got up quickly. 'See?' he thought 'I'm not old. If I can get up from that armchair so fast, I'm definitely not old!' He began to walk towards the door, feeling, for some unknown reason, that something was wrong, like he had forgotten something, or as if he was leaving something behind. 'No!' he said to himself 'I did not forget anything! There's nothing wrong with my memory! No matter what all those young people say. Why should I listen to them anyway?… Oh… Right… Dippet is the Headmaster… But the others? That new Transfiguration teacher, what's his name? Doublefork or something? How dare he say… ?'

PROFESSOR BINNS? asked a voice behind him. It was a very strange voice. It spoke in capital letters. Most people would be scared or at least shocked if they heard that voice speaking their names in that way, but professor Binns wasn't. This was not because he was particularly brave. He just had other things on his mind at the moment and hardly noticed that the voice sounded strange.

'Yes, that's me,' he said 'ButI haven't gottime for this.'

OH, I AM SURE YOU HAVE, the voice told him.

'I do?' Binns asked.

YOU HAVE FOREVER.

Professor Binns turned around. The owner of the voice was very tall. And extremely thin. Skinny wasn't the right word, though… More like… bony… He was wearing a black cloak and most of his face was hidden under a hood. But the part that was visible certainly did look bony. He was grinning. He looked as if it was impossible for him not to grin. And it was not beause he was a very cheerful person.He was holding a scythe in one hand and an hourglass in the other. All this did not make much of an impression on the teacher.

'No, I don't,' he said and looked at the clock again 'I have two minutes.'

WELL, YOU COULD ALSO SAY THAT YOUR TIME HAS ALREADY RAN OUT. BUT AT THE SAME TIME YOU HAVE MORE TIME THAN YOU EVER DID.

'What was that all about?' Binns was confused.

TIME IS JUST ANOTHER DIMENTION. HUMAN BEINGS ARE FORCED TO MOVE IN ONE DIRECTION ALL THEIR LIVES. FOR ME, HOWEVER…

'I really don't have time for this, young man,' Binns interrupted 'I have a class to teach.'

The stranger sighed and his scythecut the line of blue light between the Professor Binns in the armchair and the Professor Binns who was just leaving the room through a wall.

'What was that all about?' the teacher thought, gliding along the corridor to his classroom 'And why do I feel like I'm leaving something behind?'. He flew absent-mindedly through the door. 'And why are those students looking at me as if they've just seen a ghost?' And then he realised he'd forgotten to open the door…

(1) Many wizards also lived much shorter than that, he knew. He taught History after all, and History is all about wars. And wars are all about people living much shorter than 124 years. But those people were not old when they died, were they?