Witch Sense of Humor · 24 October 2026
“Everyone knows you don’t wanna make the witches angry.”
“What’re they gonna do? Put a hex on me?” Joseph laughed.
“It’s not funny, Joseph.”
Jackie whisper shouted, “Yeah, Joseph. They put a hex on Penny last week!”
Penny looked at the ground. Jackie pointed to her own nose.
Joseph laughed even louder. “You’re saying that big zit on Penny’s nose last week was because of a hex! Oh, that is rich.”
Penny looked up at Joseph. “Shh. They’ll hear.”
“And what’re they gonna do to me?”
Jackie scoffed. “If we were lucky, they’d make it so you can’t speak.”
Penny looked at Jackie. She whisper shouted, “Don’t even suggest anything. They’ll just take it as a challenge. Or a suggestion.”
It was Joseph’s turn to scoff. “Ha! They can’t hex me. I don’t believe in witches. I don’t… Ribbit.” Joseph grabbed his throat. “I… Ribbit. Ribbit.”
All of a sudden, there was a dull thump. Joseph felt himself on the floor. He grabbed his throat. He thought he heard himself say, “Ribbit.” But the sound came from outside his bedroom. Not from his own throat. It was just a dream. It was just a dream. He spoke the words out loud, “It was just a dream.” Joseph sighed. “Ribbit.” He grabbed his throat again. He tried to speak again. “Maybe I won’t make fun of witches anymore.”
Joseph got back into his bed and tried to go to sleep again. He closed his eyes. He heard more than one cackle outside his bedroom window.
“Definitely, no more making fun of witches. Ribbit.” He grabbed his throat again.
It took a long time for Joseph to get back to sleep.
[“IEveryone knows that you don’t want to make the witches angry…”
Write a story starts with this line.
DailyPrompt prompt Inspired by Otakage]
© 2026 Michael T. Miyoshi
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The Doom of Career and Technical Education · 20 October 2026
The current FutureReady proposal will doom Career and Technical Education (CTE) in the state of Washington, and as a result will cripple both higher education and the workforce in general.
The proposed FutureReady recommendation cuts the current credit of CTE from high school graduation requirements. Perhaps the policy makers are thinking that the Financial Education course will be a CTE course, but it is not mandated as such. Even if it was mandated to be a CTE course, there should still be a full CTE credit beyond this as a requirement.
CTE classes are an important part of every high school student’s education. A friend of mine used to say tongue in cheek that CTE classes are the courses that the other classes are there to support. The grain of truth in his statement is that CTE courses put into practice the foundational material and skills that the academic classes teach. CTE teachers show the students how to apply the other courses to the world of work and give relevance to what students learn in their other high school courses.
I have been the beneficiary of CTE classes in my own education. I took an Architectural Drafting class in high school, which helped me in my college drafting course when I went to the University of Washington to become an engineer.
I have since left the engineering profession to become a CTE educator. I have been a CTE educator for over 30 years and have seen firsthand how not only my students but all CTE students have benefited from CTE classes and, more importantly, CTE teachers.
The CTE students who invest their time in CTE courses and in student leadership through Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) are the ones who are entering and completing college programs, both two-year and four-year programs. They are the ones completing certificate and apprenticeship programs. They are the ones entering the workforce prepared to do the jobs they are studying and training for. They are the ones becoming productive members of society and helping others to do the same. And they are the ones who will be hurt by the current recommendations of FutureReady if these recommendations are legislated and at least a full credit of CTE courses is not required for high school graduation.
But the damage will be wider spread than to just to those who currently take CTE courses. Indeed, the damage will be greater to those who do not already know the value of CTE courses. For those who are not required to take any CTE courses will not see the relevance of those academic courses they are required to take. The CTE course offerings will dwindle because students are not required to take them, which will mean that even those who want to take these courses will not be able to do so. Some of the students who only go to school to be in those CTE courses will stop attending. And so both higher education and the workforce will be bereft of even more quality candidates than they have today.
Am I overstating the effect of the eliminating the CTE course requirement? Perhaps. But I am not so sure. For it seems to me that CTE is the hidden gem of public education. The only ones who want to get rid of it are those who do not know any better or those who are jealous of its success.
So why has it seemed that the CTE world has been silent on FutureReady? I think it is because the proposal has changed before anybody noticed. The Draft Graduation Framework of July 22, 2026 is not the same as it was in earlier drafts, where CTE was still a graduation requirement instead of an additional nebulous requirement (as it currently stands). No supporter of CTE would look at the current proposal as a benefit to any student.
FutureReady is not ready to be enacted the way it currently stands. A full credit of CTE must continue to be a high school graduation requirement. Students, institutions of higher learning, and the workforce continue to need it to be so.
© 2026 Michael T. Miyoshi
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A Murder of Crows · 17 October 2026
“The Birds. I never should have watched Alfred Hitchcock last night. Now, even the birds sound suspicious.”
Jonathan rolled his eyes. “Ah c’mon, Jessica. How can birds sound suspicious?”
C-caw. C-caw!
“Did you hear that?”
“Yeah. It was a crow. Just a normal crow.” He looked at the gathering of crows. “A lot of crows.”
“And you know what a bunch of crows is, right?” Jessica did not wait. “A murder. A bunch of crows is a murder of crows. A murder!”
“Yeah. I get it, Jessica. Murder.”
Caw. C-c-caw. Caw.
Jonathan looked in the direction of the nearest crow. “Uh… Uh, that was weird. And a little…”
“Suspicious,” Jessica said as she nodded.
“Maybe.”
“And you didn’t even watch the movie!”
Jonathan shook his head. “I’ve never seen it. Ever.”
“But you still think it sounded suspicious.”
Jonathan was non-commital. “Maybe.”
C-c-c-caw. C-c-c-caw. C-c-c-caw!
Jonathan looked at the gathering crows. “All I know is that it’s time to leave.”
Jessica looked up at the gathering crows and nodded as she walked toward the vehicle. “Yeah. Time to go.”
***
The crows watched the vehicle drive out of sight.
“Do you think she’ll watch the movie again tonight, Jackie?”
“Nah. She’s spooked. Just like they all get.”
“Yeah. I know what you mean.”
“That Hitchcock. What a genius!”
“You can say that again.”
“That Hitchcock. What…”
“He didn’t really mean to repeat it.”
“C-c-caw. C-caw. C-c-caw.”
“Caw. C-caw.”
[It was the kind of morning where even the crows sounded suspicious…
DailyPrompt prompt]
© 2026 Michael T. Miyoshi
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