My Friend Anna

In an instant, there I was in the middle of a broad hallway, nurses rushing about, yells & screams coming from the rooms, men & women of all ages & race in blue, cotton, robes. All with the same saturnine & lackadaisical stares as if the very soul from their bodies had been dead for years. Their hunched over posture & slow shuffle of a walk making them appear almost zombie-like.

    "Hello?" I called &, as if on que, everything vanished & I was standing in the hallway of my school. Curious eyes watched me as my face burned bright with a red glow when I realized I had said hello aloud, to no one. I walked quickly to my next class, pushing the imagery of the hospital & the peircing sound of the screams out of my head. "Great" I thought to myself "My first day of school & now people think I'm a weirdo". I quickly sat down & buried my face in my arms, trying not to be noticed. "Hi there!" a rather chipper voice greeted me & startled me out of my trance of embarrasment. I looked up to see a girl with braided brown hair, a little younger looking, maybe two years younger than I, but you could never tell these days. She wore a white, daisy print sundress & white flipflops, she looked reather sickly, but she seemed nice, so I returned her smile & said "Hi".

    "Are you new here?" she asked, taking the seat in front of me "Um, yeah, my name's Dawn, what's your's?" she stuck out her hand in a friendly gesture "I'm Anna, Anna Carmichael" I took her hand & shook it, her hand was a bit cold but, then again, it wasn't all that warm outside or in the classroom. I heard some whispering coming from the other side of the room, looking over, I caught the curious stares of the others in the classroom, staring at me again like they did in the hallway, I leaned over to Anna whispering "Why are they starring at us?" Anna looked over & shrugged "They do that to everyone, at least everyone I know, I think they don't like me." she got a solloum look on her face & I tried to smile re-assuringly "That's nonsense! Why wouldn't they like you? You're so nice!" she shrugged once again in such a sad, depressing, manner with her head hung so low that it made my heart sink to my stomach. I started to tear up, it was like I could feel her sorrow & rejection. "Well, if it's any concilation" I tried to bring back my re-assuring smile "I like you".

    She looked up, smiling, that smile made me feel alright again, my heart was now back in my chest & not down in my stomach. "Really?" even her tone of voice was back to its original brightness, "Yes, really" I could already feel a friendship  forming. "Maybe this school year won't be so bad after all" I thought to myself.

    I would never see Anna anywhere but that class, then again, I guess that was typical of school schedules. But it was ok, I at least had one friend to look forward to seeing every day. Today was a rainy day, I walked into my Geometry class, aimlessly daydreaming, when suddenly a cold wind clutched itself around my body, squeezing me like a serpent squeezed its prey to suffocate it! It sent goosbumps shooting down my arms & legs, the hair on my neck standing on end. I looked up to where my classroom should have been & gasped as my eyes fell upon a scene of macabre: a surgery was taking place, nurses & doctos frantically going about, picking up drills & suchers & scalples, a nurse came up to me "Ms.Dawn?" she said through her blood dappled surgery mask, I slightly panicked about how she knew my name. "Ms. Dawn!" I looked back up at the nurse, but she was no longer there, now in her place was my Geometry teacher, a look of concern on her face "Are you ok?" she continued "You look like you're going to be sick!" I stared at my teacher's face, dumbfounded, & I even felt like I was going to be sick, I could feel the bile rising in my throat.

    "Excuse me!" I exclaimed as I dropped my books & ran to the bathroom, but running was a little hard to do, mixed with my distain for the feeling of throwing up, I was still in shock from what I saw. I burst into the bathroom, it was empty, the strong odor of pine & lemon scented cleaning products, bleach, & girl's perfume permiatting the air. I found my way to the sinks, using my shakey arms to support myself, I looked in the mirror, my face was pale with a tint of green. I turned on the cold water, tied up my hair with a scruncii & splashed the crisp, cool, refreshing water on my face & the back of my neck, drinking some, I closed my eyes & took a deep breath. The disgusting feeling of bile was gone, but I was still shakey. I sat against the lilac colored walls, curling up my legs & putting my elbows on my knees, craddling my forehead in my palms.

    "Are you ok?" I jumped as Anna sat next to me, clutching my hand to my chest, wanting the surprises to stop "I saw you run down the hall to the bathroom & got worried, what's wrong?" she looked at me with pure concern, like my teacher had, & I shook my head "Don't worry about it, you'd think I was insane", my head was still spinning, even I thought I was insane. "Try me" she said with confidence, as if she had seen it all  & nothing could phase her. I concindered it for a second, but shook my head "Maybe another time, not right now, my head is spinning" I put my head back in my hands. "Alright" she still sounded concerned "But I'm here whenever you want to talk, ok?".

    I nodded in responce, a couple of moments of silence went by & the bathroom door opened "Dawn?" came my Geometry teacher's voice, I looked up at her & then to Anna, but she wasn't there, I hadn't heard her leave . . . But, then again, I hadn't heard her enter either. Looking back at my teacher I asked "Where'd Anna go?",  my teacher looked at me in confusion in responce "Anna who, dear?"

    "Anna Carmichael, do you know her?" I asked, my teacher gave me a look that made me feel a little weird, like she knew what I was talking about but she didn't. "Young lady if you're well enough to pull pranks then I believe you're well enough to come back to class", "What? I'm not pulling a prank, why would I be pulling a prank?". At first she seemed to be getting mad about me still going along with whatever charade I was pulling, but after studying my face & realizing I was purely confused by what she meant, her face grew slightly concerned "Oh dear" she said in a small voice, looking back at me "Dawn, please come with me".

    I got up from the floor, legs sturdier than before, & followed her to a trophy case where pictures were displayed alongside the school's rewards & achievments. The old time pictures were pictures of a hospital, pictures with nurses standing with patients who were wearing blue cotton robes. I studied the pictures & looked to my teacher "I don't get it, what is this about?" she, too, looked at the pictures, a disturbing look on her face, when her eyes met mine she spoke with sincerity. "Dawn, this school was converted from a hospital, that also served as an asylum. . ." she paused as if she wasn't sure to go on, her body rigid in discomfort, I could feel it radiating off of her. "I still don't understand what this has to do with Anna". She pointed at a picture, I followed her finger & studied the portrait, a girl with brown, braided hair, a white, daisy print dress & flip flops sitting on a window seat.

    "That's a girl who's parents left her here because they couldn't afford to keep her, they never wanted her in the first place, she was kept here, this was her home. Although, the nurses & doctors were never that nice to her, she lived a tormented existance, the poor girl." She paused again to concider what she was going to tell me next, but continued "When she was 15 she caught pneumonia & died". I scoffed slightly with a laugh "That's impossible! I see her in your class every day! She was the first friend I made here!" My smile vanished immediately when I saw the look of seriousness on her face. "Dawn" She said "My classroom was the room Anna & died in."