Dragon Ties

Chapter 3: Sleeping On The Job

“ Ah so this is the Summer girl.” The receptionist had her back to me and was busy gathering papers from the green cabinets behind the counter.  I glanced around me, getting my bearings. 

The office was small but quaint. On my right were two closed doors, with plaques reading, “Mr. Dwighter-Principal’s Office” and the other, “ Mrs. Wallow- Guidance Counselor”. To my right the beige wall was covered with framed pictures of staff, special notions, and awards given to the school. The only furniture on that wall was a tiny refrigerator, the black cord stretched out in the open and plugged in a little ways down the wall, like a snake basking in the sun, with the tip of it’s tail beneath a rock.

“ Well, everything seems to be in order”, came the strong high pitched southern accent. The receptionist swivelled in her chair to face me. Her black stringy hair was up in a messy bun, with more hair fallen out then pinned up. She had big brown far set eyes.  I could tell that the woman was oriental.  She had dry thin lips, that wore a bright red lipstick, and smile marks outlined the sides. Her skin glowed, and I could see beads of sweat on her forehead and upper lip. The woman pushed up her circular glass spectacles which had fallen down her nose.

She pushed a folder towards me. A few awkward moments passed in silence before I realized she was giving me the papers to look at. I glanced down and sure enough there was last year’s school picture paper clipped to the pages. My hands flipped through the warm paper, recently printed. The woman told me her name was Mahiru, but other than her name that was all she had told me about herself. Mahiru’s voice was warm and kind. She talked me through my school schedule and directions. Things like; lunch was at 12, my home room was number 221, and I had history first. 

“ Thank you” I said sincerely as I left the office with some papers to be given to mum. You know the usual. Aree you alergic to anything? Do you have any mediacl conditions and stuff like that. Mahiru’s smiling face followed me to the doorway.

“ Un-huh.” She said, and with that, her head was buried in her work again.

It was 20 minutes to 8 o’clock, leaving me only that long to find my locker. By now the silence in the hallways had been replaced with the low mummer of voices and students began to fill in. The hallways were wide and the walls on either side of me were bright blue and yellow, with tall golden coloured lockers. The lockers cast shadows upon the blue floors from the rising sun in the enormous skylight on the third floor that was positioned to show the sunrise.

I kept my head down and climbed the wide stairs to the second floor, turned a corner and nearly ran into a water fountain. A large clock mounted the wall and was ticking away. Water fountains scattered the walls. I was suddenly aware of the hidden panic inside me as my chest felt constricted. People were everywhere and the colours made my head spin. How was it possible that the clock now showed 8:20 AM? Did people have to pack so tightly? Did it not mention in my records that I was claustrophobic? I had to cover my eyes as the sun shone into them directly above me from the skylight. Those blue walls seemed as tall as waves in a vicious storm and they swam towards me trying to catch me I between them. My skin grew hot as though my blood were boiling and bubbling inside me, steaming up my lungs, making it hard to breath. The bright air around me darkened. Now I knew I was about to faint! My knees buckled, legs collapsed, as if someone had pulled the carpet from beneath my feet and with a bang my head struck the floor. The pounding in my temple made the talking in the halls seem like whispers, and when the final bell rang for class, it sounded like a church bell miles away. The last thing I saw were the last few students remaining in the hall, duck into doors. The halls were empty and the clock showed a sideways 8 o’clock. What was happening? Then my eyes closed.

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All was bright. All around me was white, and I was the portrait of myself on a blank canvas. In the distance I could just make out a spot of red. I was aware that I was dreaming because the walls were gone. The students, the noise, the sun was all gone. It was replaced with a chill even in the light, which soaked my clothes with eery fingers. Although, the smell in the air made me high. There was a strong aroma of roses, and honey. My feet mechanically moved towards the dot in the distance.