The Dreams of the Past

Time Out

An old classroom, dirty yet clean. A hammock by the board, a teacher's table, a few broken jointed chairs, unused speakers, square plywood, and an unusually very clean broombox. It was painted a bright yellow and had flowers all over it.

I stand in front and yet cannot be seen. I saw a few students, but only one female. She wore pigtails and a ragged uniform. She was quiet and timid-looking.

As soon as the school bell rings and the teacher comes in, the atmosphere in the room drops. The teacher was not intimidated at all nor strict enough to be feared. Yet throughout the entire class, nobody dared misbehave. When it was time for a recitation, the whole class was actively participating except for one, the little girl.

The teacher asked the girl, "Do you want to try?" and started to look at her expectantly. The girl stands up, "I don't know the answer, miss." she says. The teacher looked at her and gasped, "Despite that I just lectured on this. You. You. YOU! Don't know!" while pointing her fingers at the girl. The teacher seemed very angry at the girl's answer, but then the teacher only smiled. And with that, the entire class scrambled from their seats and leaned against the wall, as if sticking to the wall would hide them from it.

The teacher doesn't mind the behavior of the others and only focuses on the girl. "Well then, why don't you go ahead and sit in the 'private space'?" Then the girl stands from her seat and walks slowly to the "clean" broombox. As she opens it, desperate and loud screams, cries, and wails can be heard. This makes me cover my ears, but when I look at them, it seems like they cannot hear the noise.

Inside the broombox, there was a small chair, nothing unusual aside from the noise from inside it. As soon as the girl entered and sat down, she began to freak out, almost as if somebody was with her talking. And then she looked straight into my eyes, and it was as if she wanted me to save her. "She can see me." As she started to trash the box, the teacher resumed the class as if nothing had happened. And just before the last school bell rang, the teacher would tell the girl to get out of the box and be careful on her way home.

As the days passed, the teacher would always pick the girl up, and if she could not answer, she would go and leave the box at the last school bell. This pattern continued until the end of the school year, and I also stood at the same spot, the spot that I arrived at.

The teacher once again called the girl, "Do you know the answer?" and the girl would always say, "No miss," but today she said, "it was the heroine, miss." The teacher was shocked at the girl, yet instead of smiling at the girl because she answered correctly, She frowned at her and told her to go to the box. "I answered correctly, why do I need to go there?" the little girl said. "A lady must never talk back nor be above men. How dare you answer correctly! A lady must be frail and pure, not aggressive and violent. A lady must learn how to bow and never disrespect an elder!" the teacher continued. She grabs the girl's arm and shoves her into the box until the last bell rings.

"Until you learn how to be a lady, you shall not be leaving this space!" Then she slams the door on the girl and locks it from the outside. From the outside, loud slams and banging of the door can be heard.

"You will be punished for your cowardice! You will cry for the pain you have trapped, and I curse you—who sees but never moves." It stopped after a few more minutes of chuckling.

I remained inside the classroom however the only change was, I was moved on the right side parallel to the door and the box. The range of sight also changes, from a top view to a lowered view. A line of sight, what a normal student would see. I would finally move my body. The hammock was no longer there, so were the chairs and tables of the students and the teachers' table. The only remains were the broken speaker, raged plywood with nails out and the 'clean and newly' painted broom box. The room was now painted in dirty white with brown thick lines on the lower part of the walls. The ceiling now contains fluorescent light bulbs and fans, not with thick cobwebs and parasites. As I look outside the room, a thick fog can be seen hiding the wide ground of grass. 'This classroom was not located near an open field but a mountain full of trees.'

There goes the bell, slowly the number inside the room increases. The teacher comes in, together with the class, stands up and greets them. The teacher doesn't look nice or friendly, rather a fierce and strict looking one. It seems like she doesn't like the greetings, so she made the whole class repeat the greetings again and again until she was satisfied. "Much better, you need to put stress on the word 'Good' and the later part of the word 'Mor-ning'. And don't call me Miss but Ma'am Lily, do you understand?" Then she snapped her fingers to us, so we could only nod like shaking heads. She smiles, "Open your textbooks on page 6, we need to start our lesson in order not to fall back." And the lesson goes on.

Lunch break, the class ended with a hectic schedule of long tests this afternoon. I stay in my seat and try to review the lecture. However, I heard a rattle from the box. I slightly tap my seatmate, Nate and ask if he heard something but he only shook his head. Then I return to my review but there goes again the rattle but more violent. This time, Nate asks if I could hear the noise, I nod my head still minding the lecture in front of my desk. But then suddenly, the teacher sitting behind the class stood up and walked towards the door of the box. It gained our attention, but before she could touch the lock, it rattled again violently with muffled screams. It alarmed the teacher that something bad was going to happen, so she asked me and Nate to leave the room to get a security guard(?) to help her. But then, the speaker began to slide straight to the box that it hit the side hard causing the box to damage. And then the plywood just behind the speaker flew right above us and hit the rosary on the top middle of the classroom.

The teacher grabbed my arm and her arm and quickly shoved us outside the classroom but as soon as we were kicked out the door of the room shuts that it creates a loud bang. Nate told me that we should get some lunch in the canteen and slowly walked away. I only took her hands still my eyes not leaving the classroom. But then until we arrived at the canteen, I now ordered two sandwiches and juice for my classmate and I, however the staff gave me a look that I cannot finish two servings so it piqued my interest. Without looking I pointed over my shoulder, "my friend over here" but the staff said that I was the only one at the store so I began to look around and he was right. I looked at my hands and it was covered in some kind of webs with insects. I was shocked that I immediately went to the nearest wash area to clean it off. Then, I heard my name being called from far away, it was Nate! He rushed to me and asked "where have you been? I was looking for you. We are supposed to get the security guard as Ma'am Lily requested. I even pulled your hand, remember." And then I told him what happened, we could only look at each other with a terrified expression. So we immediately returned to the classroom, surprisingly as if nothing happened, the speaker and the plywood was there and the box was never damaged. Even the rosary was not touched. And then the teacher called out and told me that the class will start in less than 5 minutes. We go to our respective seats and here comes the bell.

The afternoon classes started with a very long test and ended with a group activity. It was nearly 5 when the classes ended. Now I realise that it was not an open field but in the middle of the city. Buildings connected as if it was a large maze with a large grass field like a fountain in it. I walked out of the school while keeping my eyes around, but noticed there are no ringing bells on each building nor a large bell. So where do the bells come from?

From the gate of the school you can see the bustling city, cars back and fort and the shop and mini stores nearby. The gate was tall, made of more like a crystal rather than a metal, and the details of the name of the school was amazing. However, I cannot read the name of it. As I step out of the gate, a step. A large truck hit me. Then I woke up.

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Authors' Note

Series of the weird dreams every night that keeps me awake.

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From Yours Truly,