Mr. Broflovski had spent over 30 years teaching at Oakwood High, and they even threw out a fancy farewell party when he left. A couple of kind words and tedious speeches that seemed like they would never end were all this small town in the middle of nowhere high school could give to Mr Broflovski as a goodbye gift, but he seemed content with it. A few months later he had already moved to a nice little house he bought ‘cross the state. Even though he hated it at times, Oakwood High was all he got, maybe because it was the only place where poor little Mr Broflovski felt like he made an “impact”. He went above and beyond to help out students and a small thank you from a student meant the world to him.

 

 You see, Mr Broflovski never had children of his own, and for this reason, Oakwood High was like family to him, and he loved and cared for each and every student like they were his children, but when he revisited the school after 2 years, he was shattered. Not a single soul greeted him, welcomed him, or even realized he was there. His former students, the ones he had stayed late to tutor, the girls whose problems he had listened to with patience, didn’t even acknowledge his presence. It was as if he had never existed, as if his years of dedication had evaporated into nothing. No one even remembered him. He felt like he had taken a bullet to the chest, and he decided to shorten the trip which he had planned to take around 2 hours to 40 minutes. On the way back home, he tried to keep it together but eventually broke down into tears.

 

Now, Mr. Broflovski had become a shadow—faint and unnoticed. The very place that once defined him now felt foreign as if he had never walked those worn floors or breathed life into those classrooms. He existed still, but only in the quiet corners of fading memories, a faint figure against the bustling life of Oakwood High’s present. His passion, his effort, his love—all the things he had poured into that school—had faded like chalk dust wiped clean from a board. He had become a ghost, invisible, haunting a space that no longer recognized his existence. For the first time, Mr. Broflovski realized the cruel truth: even the brightest light eventually dims, leaving nothing but shadows behind.