After an outdoor workout, they would rest in an empty classroom.

"Ok, we got about a week until the next competition and then that Final competition, so I now that we're rest up." Mike had a mischievous grin. "I've got a little surprise drill for you guys."

They leaned forward from their desks, ready to react to his barrage of homemade flashcards, expecting him to shout out hypothetical situations.

He whipped out some notebook paper. "A timed essay."

Sulley, Squishy, and Terri simultaneously threw out an immediate "Aw," as disgruntled students do when ambushed with a pop quiz. Don and Terry exchanged glances. Art went, "Aw yeah."

"Pardon me, Michael," Don remarked. "I appreciate the drill. Wouldn't it be more productive to rehearse our knowledge rather than... scribble it down?"

Mike seemed prepared for this sort of feedback. "The idea is that I read them aloud. And based on your knowledge and content, I toss out miscellaneous tips, based on what I assess from your display of knowledge." Mike especially gave Sulley a look. "Can't write a decent essay on Scaring, less chance of doing a perfect Scare."

Sulley resisted the urge to chomp on his pencil.

"The prompt is Scare Semantics."

Sulley shot his hand up. "Wait, what does-"

"Just write what you know!"

Terry was the most amply prepared, the lead of his pencil already on the first line of the notebook paper.

Terry Perry

The Scarer's Semantics

Semantics in Scaring is like improvised choreography, according to the interchangeable environments of various children's bedroom as well as the children's preferences, meant to entertain (not in a comedic connotation) the insecurities of the child to maximize the acquisition of Scream energy. Any miscalculation in the choreography could downplay the effectiveness of the Scare by sending underwhelming messages to the child. The execution of the three main stages of contact - Entrance/Initiation, Confrontation, and Departure - are critical to the message the Scarer must convey to the child.

Entrance/Initiation involves atmosphere building, evoking suspicion in the child and stirring up fear. Shadows can be applied in building the atmosphere. Sometimes a small nightlight can be an advantage for the Scarer to play with shadows. Minor noises, like a scratch or a creep, can set the mood. A noise like hissing noise may offer the impression that the monster can strangle it in its coils. Optionally, a Scarer can wake the child early on and let the child absorb the atmosphere before the Scarer reveals himself. Sudden Scares are optional too, but developing the atmosphere increases the chance of potent Scare energy. Atmosphere building stirs the fear in the child and warms up the Scaring effectiveness of the Scarer.

In the Confrontation stage, the Scare has to be direct. The roar, or fearsome pose, must have a paralyzing effect so the child does not think to dash out the door and alert the parents. The roar must convey "fleeing is useless." They have to be too busy wasting their energy on their fears to act rationally. Making the child cry has to be avoided as technology has yet to progress to dampen out cryings or wailings. An immediate cry suggests that the Scare wasn't direct enough. No physical contact, that has to be avoided due to toxicity. But proximity matters in sending Scary vibes. The distance between Scarer and child must be risky but safe, preferably two inches ahead of the child's average arm's length from the child's. Eye contact is often a must to assert a threatening image.

Departure must be swift, so an exit plan must be thought out during Initiation, based on the arrangement of the hazardous playthings, as the Scarer previously assessed in Initiation. Although door technology can temporary deaden the noise of the child scream to delay the arrival of the parents, the exit has to be theatrically and inconspicuously quick so the child can barely process that something was in its room all along.

The tricky part is that the Scarer must overall have the child believe in the existence of the Scarer without knowing the Scarcer's clearly tangible existence. We have to appear tangible without giving away that we are tangible all along. To minimize the danger of discovery, the Scarer must act accordingly to the human's perception that the world and idea of monsters is a myth - a figment of imagination - to the children. It involves a deftness of misdirection and tricks to play of the young human's paranoia. Semantics in the Scaring is distinctive from causal semantics between mons. Scaring semantics rarely involve verbal communication - though a concise verbal threat can be an optional Scare - and are more auditory and visual driven. Verbal words take too much time, though a concise verbal threat can be applied to certain children depending on their fear preference. The ideal Scarer makes a fleeting, but monstrous impression on the child. The Scarer must maintain that myth that children have to fear the mons, not the other way-

"Time's up! Terry, drop that pencil!"

After tossing aside Art's elaborate sketch of a child's room, Mike read Terry's paper aloud. He read everything but the final paragraph, for as pleasantly lengthy and detailed as it was, it seemed that last paragraph was trailing off to slightly irrelevant tangents. Although he needed to jump ahead to the physical practices, he did not forget to throw out a compliment.

"Well fellas, looks like someone has been closely studying those advanced books I recommended."

And he switched off the classroom light. Without being asked, everyone scrambled the positions of the desks to create a training ground. The blinds were yanked down to limit the sunlight.

"Terry. Oh, and Terri. You first." Mike's voice emulated the sternness of Prof. Knight, ready to toss out a hypothetical situation.

And Mike especially looked forward to what Terry and Terri could do with shadows.