1. The bald teacher takes his bike ride alongside a creek after the school term ends, reflecting on how the term went well except for an incident involving run-on sentences in a worksheet he had made. 2. He is called before the Committee for the Proper Use of Imaginary Character in Education to discuss the incident and wonders if he should get a lawyer, as the committee scrutinizes his worksheet but ultimately lets him go with a warning. 3. Back on his bike ride, the teacher sees a 20-foot tall run-on sentence emerge from the water and chase after him, but it catches up and attacks him, killing the teacher.

2. Each dependent clause must be connected to an independent using a comma.

3. Independent clauses can stand alone or be joined to one other independent clause.

4. Join independent clauses using a semi-colon or a comma followed by a conjunction.Common conjunctions include “and”, “because”, “while” and “as”. There are heaps more. Only join together closely related ideas.

5. Sentences are finished using your choice of a full stop, a question mark, an exclamation mark, or an ellipsis.

6. When you have added something to the end of every line, draw a box around each and every sentence. Next to the box, write the number of independent clauses in that sentence. This number can be either one or two, no more and no less.The Story I Dhe rode alongside the creekI Dlight bouncing off the murky brown waterI Das he shifted into top gearI Dhe reflectedI Dhe was glad that the school term was overI Das school terms goI Dit had gone pretty wellI DThere was that incident with the run on sentencesI Dit haunted it him dailyI Dit was meant as a light hearted storyI Djust a little something to brighten the day of his English studentsI Dbut thenI Dhe had been called before the Committee for the Proper Use of Imaginary Character in Education.I Don his way to speak to this groupI Dhe wondered if he should have a lawyer presentI Djust in caseI Dduring the hearingI DThe head of the committee barely let the bald teacher talkI Das you would expectI Dthe Grammar Thursday worksheet was entered in evidenceI Dsome pretty tough questions were askedI Dthe bald teacher wondered if his short career was overI Dthe committee discussed the incident for hoursI Dpouring over ever details of the worksheet I Dconsulting every serious grammar bookI Ddotting every “i”I Dcrossing every “t”I DfinallyI Dthey let the bald teacher go with a severe warningI Dthis sort of incident must never happen againI Dback in the track by the creekI Dhe thought about his careerI Dhow much he loved teachingI Dhow much he needed the jobI Dhe decided to play it safe from now onI DthenI Dout of the waterI Dit emergedI Dit must have been twenty feet allI Dtowering above the waterI Dstruck with fear and terrorI Dhe swerved on his bikeI Dit was another run-on-sentenceI Dhe knew this time it was personI Dthe run-on-sentence raced up the hill towards himI Dgreat feet flying over the grassI Dit showed its terrible teethI Dthe bald teacher knew that his time had comeI Dwith a terrible roarI Dsentence met bicycle and teacherI Dbits of bike and body flew in all directionsI Dat the bald teacher’s funeralI Dthe priest tried to comfort his familyI Dthere to see him offI Dthe principal of the school stood to make a speechI Din solemn tonesI Dhe warned about the dangers of trying to be funny in a worksheetI D“it’s not worth it,” he saidI Dwith thatI Dthey buried himI Dfar awayI Dthe run-on-sentence continues to roamI Dwild and untamedI Dhow many good English teachers will it take to control this beast