At those words, Claire Sinclair instinctively flipped to the article Phoebe Lockwood had written. It was about the daily life of a young sanitation worker.
Besides "He even replied with an 'uh-huh,' flattered all the way to his mother," there was also "a white shirt, completely stained with a bright red Shawn Lowell, bathing in the sun," and "working until one, three, or four in the morning every day, only to get up at the crack of dawn and change into his work clothes"…
'This is awful.' The article was riddled with errors, and some parts were utterly incomprehensible.
Claire couldn't take it anymore. She looked up and asked Hughes, "How long is this piece? I'll see if I can find something on my computer to replace it."
Revising it now was out of the question; the only option was to replace the whole article. Thankfully, Teacher Hartwell often had her write editorials when things were slow, so she had something she could use in a pinch.
Hughes said, "850 words."
