by Cecilia Butler

To any teacher this may offend, I’m sorry. I cannot stop the wrath of daydreaming. I am a victim to the overwhelming control of my imagination.

Stage One: The doodles

During this stage I’m not thinking about anything. It’s like someone switched my mind off and a robot is controlling me. This usually involves drawing a bunch of squiggly lines that don’t make any type of shape. It’s a pretty boring stage of daydreams.

Stage Two: The concentrated gaze

During this stage I may still hear what the teacher or peers are saying, however about half of my attention span is directed elsewhere. This stage often includes mentally making lists about upcoming assignments that need to be completed or debating how I am going to be wearing my hair for my hot date. This stage is actually productive in the sense that it organizes the jumbled up thoughts in my mind. So maybe I didn’t fully focus on the PowerPoint about gun laws, but I planned out how I would spend the rest of the day!

Stage Three: The grinning stare

Many would associate this stage with the typical idea of daydreaming. This would include thinking about future events and impractical situations. I usually imagine my life as a movie. Sometimes I am on a safari looking for King Kong’s brother that has capture Kate Middleton. The soles of my shoes are wearing and we are running out of water. There’s giant bugs all around us that want to eat our brains.

Then snap. I come back to reality right before the climax and realize I don’t understand how to solve for “x”.

Stage Four: The open-mouthed, tilted head, eyebrow raised gaze

Woah. This stage of daydreaming is entering another world. It’s like one of your weirdest dreams but you control it. The walls of Mr. Bertalott’s room become pink and the ceiling disappears. There’s creatures running around that look like the minions from Despicable Me. Everyone is talking in German and the tables have turned into swimming pools filled with lava. The Amish people in the documentary we are watching walk out of the screen and dance around the room. The blonde chick that left the Amish church when she was sixteen grabs Mr. Beralott’s hands and they start doing the tango.

Then the bell rings. And my world of daydreaming will have to just wait until the next class.