screaming season

the quiet room

Lula hated first grade, nap time was out of the schedule completely,the work was getting harder and her new teacher was really mean. She couldn't wait for each day to end so she could go home. Home wasn't much better anyway,her mom never paid much attention to her,it wasn't her fault though,she was just sad about what happened to daddy, but Lula was sad too and she needed her mom, why couldn't her mom realize that? Mrs polly was a very strict teacher who hated misbehaving kids, if a kid got too rowdy she would put them in this soundproof room and wouldn't let them out until class was over. Lula stared longingly at the quiet room door as Mrs polly was grading homework. She could hear the other first grade class from the other side of the wall. It sounded like they were having fun, maybe they were, maybe Mrs polly's idea of first grade was different from the other teachers idea. Lula wished she was in the quiet room,she loves it in there even though it was supposed to be a punishment. Lula loved it because it was so quiet,so peaceful,she could spend hours in there and still be sad when it was time to come out, the real world was so noisy and jarring and Lula wished it was more like the quiet room,she would like it so much more. Lula was so caught up in her daydream that she didn't realize someone was talking to her. "That's where Tommy is" she turned to see that Sarah was trying to tell her something. Tommy had gone missing a few days before, Mrs polly told the class that he moved away. "What do you mean?" Lula whispered back to Sarah. "Tommy is in there,that's where he went" Lula shook her head at Sarah. "Tommy moved away,Mrs polly told us" Sarah looked around and then whispered back to Lula. "that's what she wants us to think, he's in there I saw him go in but he never came out" Lula thought about the last time she had seen Tommy. Mrs polly had dragged him into the quiet room even though he was screaming that he didn't want to go back in there, he said there was something in there that wanted to hurt him, Lula assumed he was lying,or playing a joke, she had been in there before and nothing had hurt her,it was just a quiet place to think,there was nothing scary about it. Sarah suddenly screamed as a bug went across her desk. Mrs polly looked up and shushed Lula sarah with a finger to her lips. "Mrs there's a bug on my desk." Sarah complained. "Well at least it's quiet unlike you little brats, now sit down and be still or else you're going in the quiet room." Sarah immediately sat down but as soon as she did the bug began to crawl all over her arm and she screamed again. "That's it!" Mrs polly grabbed Sarah by her arm and pulled her into the soundproof room. Lula watched as Sarah kicked and screamed trying to get away but Mrs polly was stronger than her, she pushed Sarah into the quiet room and locked the door, Lula imagined she was banging on the door screaming to be let out but she couldn't hear anything, that was the beauty of the quiet room.

The next day Mrs polly announced that Sarah had moved away. Lula looked over to the empty desk where Sarah used to sit,she wouldn't be there again. Lula didn't mind, it was one less person around her. Lula popped a piece of gum into her mouth and began to snap it, she had done this before,she felt like she had to be doing something at all times or she would go insane, however this time Mrs polly seemed to notice her chewing as it was louder than usual. Mrs polly looked up at her and gave her a warning look but that was all Lula needed,unlike the other students she didn't need to be dragged into the room. She took the key off the hook and unlocked the door before putting the key back on the hook and entering the room,shutting the door behind her as she heard it lock. Lula was usually silent as a mouse in the room even though she didn't have to be. There was something so peaceful about it and she didn't wanna ruin the peace by making too much noise. Today though she had her gum in her mouth and was loudly snapping it, after a little while she heard something, as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room she looked to the corner and saw something waiting, something inhuman, it's legs were short and it looked like some kind of undiscovered creature,like something from one of those fantasy movies her dad used to love. It was getting closer and closer to her and as it opened its mouth she heard the screams of Sarah and Tommy mixing together in its voice, they hadn't moved away,this thing had eaten them. Why had Lula never seen this thing before? In her fear she had gone quiet again, stopping the snapping of her gum. The creature slowly backed away from her as she went quiet and she realized it didn't like noise,he had something in common with it. She sat down in the corner of the room making no sound at all. This creature couldn't be that bad, it was just like her, craving the peace and quiet that the real world lacked. She smiled as the creature went back to its own corner of the room and went back to sleep.