A Lesson in Captivity (Mm/Mm)
Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2026 5:15 pm
Chapter 1
Sometimes I ask myself whether I really love my job. Or whether I would still choose it if I didn’t actually need the decent salary it pays. And the answer to those questions is always yes. Because I love kids. They are my best friends—and I’m pretty sure they love me too.
My name is Billy. I’m twenty-eight, single, and trying to save my paychecks so I can eventually have a decent life.

Billy
So what’s my job? Well, I teach children—not because their parents want them to excel in math or master French, but because in the afternoons, after school is over, while their parents are busy roaming the world of business or sitting in strategic meetings with major banks, they need someone to simply keep their kids. Naturally, keeping them comes at the cost of an expensive hourly class.
My job is to hold these kids in a private classroom and teach them a handful of skills that are neither very complicated nor particularly important. Things like how to meditate, or how to create a piece of art using recycled materials. And sometimes, I don’t teach them anything new at all—we just play different games and kill time until their parents come to pick them up.
The goal of these classes is not to teach school subjects. No. Here, we talk about real-life skills. To be honest, most of the time I’m teaching “how to survive” techniques to children who don’t need anything to survive other than their parents’ credit cards.
I’m standing in the classroom, waiting for the boys to arrive so we can start. Today’s class begins in ten minutes. I spent a long time thinking about what I should teach them today, and finally decided that it would be best to introduce an important, vital survival skill—disguised as a game. That’s why, before coming to class, I stopped by a hardware store and bought a few supplies for today’s lesson: five loops of rope, a couple of rolls of duct tape, and a few bandanas.
A few minutes later, the kids walk in and class officially starts.
Steve is the first one through the door. A thirteen-year-old blond kid with blue eyes. He’s a total troublemaker—always joking around and causing chaos in class. He walks in wearing tight jeans and a white T-shirt, flashes a grin as he brushes his long golden hair out of his face, and says:
“Hey Billy, how about we skip the lesson today and just play?”
I smile back and say,
“Steve, today we’re gonna play and learn a skill. Trust me, buddy.”
The second and third kids walk in together: Bamdad and Bardia. They’re eleven-year-old twin brothers, basically identical except for their hair. Bardia has straight brown hair, while Bamdad’s is curly. They’re always dressed the same—like right now, both wearing black T-shirts, black pants, and black sneakers.
The fourth kid is Farham. A little prodigy—a mini scientist who always gets the highest grades in class. He’s twelve, with short black hair, tan skin, and a cute, boyish face.
The last one to enter is Soheil. He’s older than the rest—fifteen years old. Taller than the other boys and only a few inches shorter than me. He’s genuinely kind and polite, with straight brown hair, sharp features, and an overall handsome look.
Once everyone’s inside, I close the classroom door and get started.
“Hey everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend. Today we’re gonna have some fun and learn a practical skill that could help save our lives in tough situations. Anyone wanna guess what we’re doing today?”
Farham looks at me curiously and asks,
“Are we learning Morse code?”
I shake my head.
“Not today, Farham. We’re not doing Morse code.”
I smile and keep going.
“All five of you come from wealthy families, which—let’s be honest—means there’s always a chance someone might target you and try to kidnap you. So today, we’re gonna learn how to escape if you ever end up in that kind of situation.”
Steve grins mischievously.
“Ooooh, sounds exciting.”
“Yeah, Steve. Exactly. If someone kidnaps you, the first thing they’ll do is tie up your hands and feet with rope and tape your mouth shut. So we need to be ready for that.”
I put my backpack on the desk. All five boys stare at it, curious. I pull out ropes, bandanas, and rolls of duct tape and lay them out on the table. Smiling, I ask:
“So… who wants to volunteer first?”
Sometimes I ask myself whether I really love my job. Or whether I would still choose it if I didn’t actually need the decent salary it pays. And the answer to those questions is always yes. Because I love kids. They are my best friends—and I’m pretty sure they love me too.
My name is Billy. I’m twenty-eight, single, and trying to save my paychecks so I can eventually have a decent life.

Billy
So what’s my job? Well, I teach children—not because their parents want them to excel in math or master French, but because in the afternoons, after school is over, while their parents are busy roaming the world of business or sitting in strategic meetings with major banks, they need someone to simply keep their kids. Naturally, keeping them comes at the cost of an expensive hourly class.
My job is to hold these kids in a private classroom and teach them a handful of skills that are neither very complicated nor particularly important. Things like how to meditate, or how to create a piece of art using recycled materials. And sometimes, I don’t teach them anything new at all—we just play different games and kill time until their parents come to pick them up.
The goal of these classes is not to teach school subjects. No. Here, we talk about real-life skills. To be honest, most of the time I’m teaching “how to survive” techniques to children who don’t need anything to survive other than their parents’ credit cards.
I’m standing in the classroom, waiting for the boys to arrive so we can start. Today’s class begins in ten minutes. I spent a long time thinking about what I should teach them today, and finally decided that it would be best to introduce an important, vital survival skill—disguised as a game. That’s why, before coming to class, I stopped by a hardware store and bought a few supplies for today’s lesson: five loops of rope, a couple of rolls of duct tape, and a few bandanas.
A few minutes later, the kids walk in and class officially starts.
Steve is the first one through the door. A thirteen-year-old blond kid with blue eyes. He’s a total troublemaker—always joking around and causing chaos in class. He walks in wearing tight jeans and a white T-shirt, flashes a grin as he brushes his long golden hair out of his face, and says:
“Hey Billy, how about we skip the lesson today and just play?”
I smile back and say,
“Steve, today we’re gonna play and learn a skill. Trust me, buddy.”
The second and third kids walk in together: Bamdad and Bardia. They’re eleven-year-old twin brothers, basically identical except for their hair. Bardia has straight brown hair, while Bamdad’s is curly. They’re always dressed the same—like right now, both wearing black T-shirts, black pants, and black sneakers.
The fourth kid is Farham. A little prodigy—a mini scientist who always gets the highest grades in class. He’s twelve, with short black hair, tan skin, and a cute, boyish face.
The last one to enter is Soheil. He’s older than the rest—fifteen years old. Taller than the other boys and only a few inches shorter than me. He’s genuinely kind and polite, with straight brown hair, sharp features, and an overall handsome look.
Once everyone’s inside, I close the classroom door and get started.
“Hey everyone. Hope you all had a great weekend. Today we’re gonna have some fun and learn a practical skill that could help save our lives in tough situations. Anyone wanna guess what we’re doing today?”
Farham looks at me curiously and asks,
“Are we learning Morse code?”
I shake my head.
“Not today, Farham. We’re not doing Morse code.”
I smile and keep going.
“All five of you come from wealthy families, which—let’s be honest—means there’s always a chance someone might target you and try to kidnap you. So today, we’re gonna learn how to escape if you ever end up in that kind of situation.”
Steve grins mischievously.
“Ooooh, sounds exciting.”
“Yeah, Steve. Exactly. If someone kidnaps you, the first thing they’ll do is tie up your hands and feet with rope and tape your mouth shut. So we need to be ready for that.”
I put my backpack on the desk. All five boys stare at it, curious. I pull out ropes, bandanas, and rolls of duct tape and lay them out on the table. Smiling, I ask:
“So… who wants to volunteer first?”