A Journey, A Coincidence, A Memory

Chapter 3: Richard

January 18, 2022, 8:10 am

Well, that was unexpected. Everybody rushes out of the class like some Frankenstein is chasing after them. Our class is literally at the dead end, so we have to walk a mile to reach the stairs. Dread was hovering around the school, with people crying and screaming. Including Mrs. Julia, she's literally over-freaked and I could sort of see tears coming straight down from her eyes, ruining her mascara. Well, who else do you think would scream like a baby? It's Harper, totally Harper. She is literally screaming like a newborn who is starving. Not to mention that she is huddled against her cousin, Abigail.

Alan and I are the last ones in line, running behind the whole class.

"Ugh, how far are the stairs?" Alan complains.

"To be exact, a mile away," I say in an ironic, nerdy tone.

"Ha-ha, you make the funniest jokes during the darkest times," Alan chuckles and I kept going on and on about making jokes, but we weren't focusing on where we were going; we ended up in the bathroom.

"What are we doing where?" I ask; I totally got lost in talking. I then noticed where we were. We were in the bathroom. I scanned our surroundings and completely forgot there was a fire; the sight of smoke got me attentive. "How did we end up here?"

"I don't know, but we have to...run!" Alan yells as the smoke started to fill up the bathroom.

We started to run as fast as we can, at the speed of light. Our teacher is probably wondering where we are, and I don't want to see her fear grow. It's just taking too long to look for the stairs; the school is like a mansion which I'm still not used to. "Where are the stairs?" I immediately ask.

"It's over there, to the righ-" Alan replies, but he started to lose his breath as more smoke fills our surroundings. He, therefore, got unconscious in the middle of his speech.

"Oh no, Alan!" I scream. "Please wake up, please!" ... No answer. I never got frightened in my life. I was always courageous, yet this event is the most startling one I've been through. I couldn't stay here and wait till my doom; I had to move, so I brought myself up, picked up Alan and listened to his instruction. It's over there, to the right.

I ran like a galloping horse, using all my strength to carry Alan at the same time. I shifted towards the right, and there I could see the stairs. It was with my own eyes, that it would dart straight away to see those big steps that lead down, to relieving freedom.

I started to put one foot down on one step, looking at my Adidas sneakers. I tried to be careful while taking Alan down. Out of nowhere, Mr. Rowan showed up. "Need a little help with that, Richard?" he kindly asked.

"Yes, please!" I eagerly replied as he took Alan from me and we headed down ... "Oh no! I forgot about my phone!"

"Forget about it and come down!" Mr. Rowan yells, yet I simply ignored him and rushed back to the bathroom. We are the 21st century generation after all.

I looked here and there, but it was hard to see as the smoke filled the bathroom. I started to choke and felt exceedingly dizzy, this made me oblivious that I was supposed to escape the school. I could then see it; got it insight as my mom just texted me. I should really thank her for saving my life, even if she just texted that she cooked macaroni.

"Richard! Richard, where are you?" Mr. Rowan shouted.

"I am here, Mr. Rowan!" I reply as I run towards him.

"We need to get out of here! I dropped off Alan and you're the only one left in this school. You need to run now; this school is going to explode!" Mr. Rowan warns. And ... there you have it; he made me nauseous.

I sprlabelledowards the stairs again and kept on thinking about Alan. Oh no, is he going to be okay? I began to feel a sympathy for what Alan was feeling; I can't breathe. I was at the edge of the stairs and Mr. Rowan ran all the way down, leaving me up all alone. He glanced at me and screamed, "Richard! Come down!"

He was practically begging me to get down, but I didn't move. I stayed in one place, trying to catch my breath. I knew my life was at risk, but my bones couldn't move, my head started to pain and my eyes commenced to close. Pain was scattered all over my body. It turns out I got burned everywhere; the fire was right behind me, going to spread across me. The stairway broke and darted towards the ground. Mr. Rowan ran off.

What should I do? Wait till my body falls apart? The answer to this is a 'no'. I have to do something; I'm the most adventurous, daring and valiant person in this school. Everyone always complemented me on my adventures, not on my grades. That is a talent that I'll stick to; all the way to the end.

I took a step up, till I fully adjusted myself straight. Even if I was facing pain, I was about to do something that a daredevil would do, not a nerd. My audacious instincts began to grow, with my nerves full of them. I looked at how high I was supposed to jump, from the first level to the ground level. Afterwards, I jumped ... and landed on the nurse's bed. What a relief!

I quickly ran towards the big gate, that leads to safety. The school started to explode and the fire was raging more every split-second. I got out to freedom and liberty, where the school vigorously exploded every bit of it.

I was safe. I escaped. My instincts never gave up, even during the darkest times. As I stared at the raging school building, firefighters came to put the fire out. Along with them, Mrs. Julia scared me as she rushed toward me, "Richard! Are you okay?"

"Never been better," I sardonically say, "Butthe school is not," which is true, it looks like a bunch of crushed Legopieces. "R.I.P, Hollywood Middle School."