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The Azalea Artist

My friend told me that for about an hour every night, every security camera in the school district goes dead. It's just a rumor, but not completely unreasonable given the circumstances.

It started with some graffiti. A kid spraypainted an azalea on the side of my high school. Maybe they were testing the waters. I dunno. It immediately became 'the thing'. We loved it. The flower became the symbol of the student body. When the school threatened to remove it, protesters stopped it. The football team and student Council made Fridays spirit flower days. There was not a single student soul who didn't wear some sort of flower. People passed out Hawaiian leighs and girls and goofy guys wore azalea in their hair. You could see random petals in the halls during classes and after school. It was pretty wild.

Later on, my neighbors kid, a 5th grader at the time, told me that a seat on her schoolbus had a pink flower sewn into it. I almost didn't believe her, until I saw it for myself the next day when our busses were switched around. I took a photo with my phone and showed it to her. It was exactly what she saw.

The next incident was a bit more ambitious. At a nearby middle school, a portrait of a widely-respected teacher was painted on the wall, her face composed of azalea petals. Clearly, the artist used last year's yearbook photo as a reference. There was nothing on the security cameras, leading the joke of an investigation by the district to a dead end. Students defended the graffiti, and once again won.

The night after that, every desktop screen background in the district was changed to a picture of an azalea. Each screen was different- the azaleas were different colors, some photos, some digital art. At this point, the district determined that the now dubbed "Azalea Artist " was likely more than one person.

Every schoolnight, more and more azaleas popped up in my school district. They were planted in the soil, painted on the walls, embroidered into the busses, tie dyed into school merchandise, carved into the bleachers, celebrated on the school website. Every azalea was unique, featuring a different artist's fingerprint and style.

I think one of the artists was caught by a janitor one night. They tried to give her a suspension and questioned her about the others. She genuinely didn't know who the artists were, claiming she did it because she was simply inspired by them. She was an AP student and student body president, so she talked her way out of the school authorities grasp.

No one else was ever caught. I graduated high school ten years ago. Most of my old friends don't even know my name anymore, but the azaleas are well alive. They're everywhere in my old school district.

No real crime has been committed due to the azaleas. But everyone knows that every night, the cameras go dead for an hour, and an artist comes to life.

The Azalea Artist

My friend told me that for about an hour every night, every security camera in the school district goes dead. It's just a rumor, but not completely unreasonable given the circumstances.

It started with some graffiti. A kid spraypainted an azalea on the side of my high school. Maybe they were testing the waters. I dunno. It immediately became 'the thing'. We loved it. The flower became the symbol of the student body. When the school threatened to remove it, protesters stopped it. The football team and student Council made Fridays spirit flower days. There was not a single student soul who didn't wear some sort of flower. People passed out Hawaiian leighs and girls and goofy guys wore azalea in their hair. You could see random petals in the halls during classes and after school. It was pretty wild.

Later on, my neighbors kid, a 5th grader at the time, told me that a seat on her schoolbus had a pink flower sewn into it. I almost didn't believe her, until I saw it for myself the next day when our busses were switched around. I took a photo with my phone and showed it to her. It was exactly what she saw.

The next incident was a bit more ambitious. At a nearby middle school, a portrait of a widely-respected teacher was painted on the wall, her face composed of azalea petals. Clearly, the artist used last year's yearbook photo as a reference. There was nothing on the security cameras, leading the joke of an investigation by the district to a dead end. Students defended the graffiti, and once again won.

The night after that, every desktop screen background in the district was changed to a picture of an azalea. Each screen was different- the azaleas were different colors, some photos, some digital art. At this point, the district determined that the now dubbed "Azalea Artist " was likely more than one person.

Every schoolnight, more and more azaleas popped up in my school district. They were planted in the soil, painted on the walls, embroidered into the busses, tie dyed into school merchandise, carved into the bleachers, celebrated on the school website. Every azalea was unique, featuring a different artist's fingerprint and style.

I think one of the artists was caught by a janitor one night. They tried to give her a suspension and questioned her about the others. She genuinely didn't know who the artists were, claiming she did it because she was simply inspired by them. She was an AP student and student body president, so she talked her way out of the school authorities grasp.

No one else was ever caught. I graduated high school ten years ago. Most of my old friends don't even know my name anymore, but the azaleas are well alive. They're everywhere in my old school district.

No real crime has been committed due to the azaleas. But everyone knows that every night, the cameras go dead for an hour, and an artist comes to life.