Jett Mclachlan

Ben stepped into the class. His hands were shaking slightly. He looked around the room
nervously, eyes flitting from one inspirational poster to the next. Ben sat at his desk
pulling out his notes for the day.

Today is the day we talk about the wave huh? He muttered under his breath. Moving
things into order on his desk, Ben shuffled through his papers he had prepared the night
before. All the prepared topics for discussion now seemed silly as he read them.

Why do you think it was easy to become a part of the Wave? How could I ask such
stupid questions? He grumbled.

There was a sharp knock on the door. Ben looked up in surprise. Principal Owen stood at
the door smiling.

Hey Ben, just wanted to congratulate you on stopping the Wave so successfully. You
handled it just like you said you would, well done.

Uh, t-thank you sir. Ben stumbled over his words. Just doing what was right.

Principal Owen nodded. You did well Ben, although it shouldnt have gotten so out of
hand in the first place. I trust there will be no more of these experiments?

Ben smiled weakly, No sir, Im leaving this one out of next years courses.

Good man. Now if there are any other problems, talk to me. You know where to find
me. The principal left the doorway and walked down the hall, whistling a happy tune.

Ben sat in his chair looking at the door for a few minutes. The clock ticking quietly
behind him. The bell ringing snapped him out of his daze. Students flooded into the class,
chattering and laughing. They took their seats one by one. Ben looked out at them all,
smiling.

Good morning everyone, Im glad to see you are all doing well. Ben called out.

Morning Mr Ross. Half the class chimed back.

This behaviour would have irritated Ben had the Wave still been in effect. Now he was
thankful however. They were no longer a part of the Wave in any sense.

Ben looked at his class. I thought that we may dedicate today to talking about the Wave.

The class went silent; the clock ticking was the only noise except for a few stray whispers.
Emotions went wild in the students faces however. Emotions like fear, regret, worry, and
sadness.
We will not discuss what you all did while under the waves influence. A few students
shoulders sagged in relief, But we will talk about how the Wave grew and why.

A small handful of students developed a sudden interest in their shoes, mainly the
students who had worked to bring people into the Wave. A few started fidgeting with
pens and paper.

I know many of you were asking others to join the Wave, you out of everyone should
know how easy it is to convince someone to join if theyre promised good things. Ben
looked out at the sea of students; it was obvious that they didnt want to talk about the
Wave. It should now be clear to everyone why people joined the Nazi party. The Wave
didnt even come close to what they offered in exchange for joining the Nazi party. The
Nazis and in particular the Hitler Youth performed group activities that would have been
fun.

Some of the students looked up in surprise. Like what? a few of them asked.

Ben continued, They went rowing, camping, and many other fun things, not to mention
they had one of the most charismatic speakers likely in the world.

Many students were looking at Ben, no longer in embarrassment, but interest.

It would have been so easy to fall into the Nazi party, life was not good for the Germans
at that time. Then suddenly there was a way to fight back and have fun while doing it?
Its no wonder people joined in the first place.

What about the people killed sir? Surely people were angry about that? Someone called
from the back of the class.

Ben nodded, this was the response he had expected. Yes, people were surprised and
angry. However by the time the information that people were being executed got out, the
Nazi party was huge. There was no way to just stop the Nazi party by force, and the
people in the party were desensitised to what was happening around them. So many
people got caught in Hitlers trap.

Half the class was looking at ben in surprise, the other still looked regretful.

Now listen to me, it is not your fault this happened. If anything its mine. People want to
have fun and see those who dont as strange. This is why the Wave turned sour. I
intended it to be a lesson but it got out of hand and far more serious that I would have
imagined. For that I apologise.

Many of the students were relaxing, held breaths were released and tension gone. The
silence was broken by the bell ringing again. Students jumped in surprise at the sudden
noise.
Ben smiled, Thank you all for listening closely, I hope that you will take the lesson with
you and know not to fall into that kind of thing again. Tomorrow we will move onto more
normal things I promise.

The class poured out the doors, joining the rest of the students in walking to the next class.
Ben slumped into his chair, exhausted.