Faith looked at her reflection in the window of the old dusty building before her, her bright green eyes filled with wonder, her fiery red hair scrapped back off her face and tied in two plaited pigtails that lay lazily on her shoulders, and her creamy white skin looked grey from the thick dust that had settled on the windows from many years of being abandoned, no-one knew the exact reason why the building was no longer in use, there was a lot of speculations, from the old head teacher liking the children too much to flesh eating zombies patrolling the corridors on a night, most of these stories were meant to keep children away from the old infant and junior school, a school built in the late 19th century, it used to rival Havercroft school and students used to compete in games and sports during school holidays to determine which school was the better, a school Faith herself used to go to, it has closed down some 20 years ago, she remembers it well, it came as a shock to everyone, it was the same summer she finished that school, her new journey at Crofton High School was just starting and an era had ended with the closing of her beloved childhood school, sure she got picked on and tormented there like any other child but she had always loved the building, especially the old part. She clung on to the once bright blue railings, now it was more rust then paint and what was left of the paint chipped off in her hand as she held on, she pressed her face between two of the spindles, with closed eyes she took a deep breath in through her nose and sent her mind back to when she was a child, she could vaguely hear her childhood friends laughing, she could scarcely feel the bright sun shining down on her face, she could almost smell the fresh paint from the janitor painting over the graffiti, with a start she opened her eyes and all faint memories faded deeper into her mind.
Crouching down in the tall dead grass Faith nursed her knee from landing awkward from jumping over the fence, the building she wanted was in front of her, she knew there was no danger from entering the building, no flesh eating zombies, the only thing she had to be worried about was getting caught, the building had to have been closed down for a reason, she told herself that she was only going to look round then go home, nothing else she wasn’t going to take anything, or really touch anything more then she had to, she just wanted to look around at her old school and go home. As Faith stood at the reception door she noticed that the door was open, “Hello?” she called out through the crack, the sound echoed loudly through the abandoned school, she could hear it travelling down the corridors and entering each classroom as it travelled and getting quieter as it went along, no sound returned, “Hello? Is there anybody there?” she called out again a little louder, again no sound returned, no sound at all, the place was deserted of all life, she pushed the once heavy door open wide, the light from the sun burst into the reception, the carpets and curtains heavily dusty and moth eaten, the magnolia paint chipping off the walls and green ivy clung to the ceiling and hung lazily over the walls, Faith pressed on further into the school, her heavy boots sent chilling echo’s down the corridor, the sound seemed to bounce back off the walls and hit her back, as she looked around she saw a large pile of flat cardboard boxes learning dangerously high, on the table next to them she noticed a piece of paper, she walked over to the table to read the note, she noticed it was a list of what books and things to put in their own boxes, she looked around the classroom and saw that the books had not been touched from when she was last in this classroom some 20 years previous, all along the wall were old reading books, her favourite had always been ‘Watership Down’ she saw the book in its battered state was still in the same place she put it, she moved carefully around the desks and found hers, she crouched down and removed the ruler from the desk and then pulled the drawer out, she carefully fingered through the old pictures and work books she had left behind, she felt a stab at her heart as she looked through her old books and then down at her tiny chair, she realised no other child was ever again to sit in the same chair as her, she stood back up straight and looked around her surroundings, with one last look she walked back to the corridor, at the end of the short corridor she stopped, to her right was another classroom, again abandoned, nothing had been touched since the last day of school, in front of her was the old boys cloakroom, and toilets, to her left the corridor continued right down to nursery, the first door on the left was the old library, it was the only part of the original school that hadn’t been changed, even the bookshelves were the original ones, the thick door was warped and fixed shut, Faith used all her weight and pushed the door open just a crack, the stench of old books flooded her nostrils, the smell was a mix of old books, mould and dust, the air hung thick with it, she pushed again at the door and again it only budged and inch, the same smell poured out of the room and she saw the thick dust billowing out of the tiny crack from the room behind the door, she looked down the corridor and listened for any signs of life, when she was satisfied there were none she whispered “I’m sorry headmaster,” a sound that was quickly swallowed by the empty school, she lifted up her leg and kicked at the door, it opened further still but she was satisfied as she could slip through the gap, a large cloud of thick grey dust and fragments of mould billowed out of the library, she pulled her white t-shirt over her mouth and proceeded to walk inside, all the books she vaguely remembered, she lightly fingered the edge of the bookcases her fingertips were now covered with a thick film of grease and dust, she rubbed her thumb and fingers together but the dust would remain there until she got to a sink, the broken window let in some much needed fresh air, the cool air settles on Faith’s shoulders and makes her shudder slightly, a light catches her eyes and she walks over to the reflecting surface, she picks up the bit of mirror and looks around the room, a broken piece of mirror placed on the centre of the table, she placed it back on the table and followed it reflection, it hit the wall, she shrugged and walked back out of the library, the next door on her left was into the old dining hall, or what was the old dining hall before they built the new one which was where they did sports during the wet and winter days, she looked around the old hall and smiled, even though the place was covered in a thick film of dust she could still smell the sweet sickly smell of disinfectant, the carpets always seemed to smell of it for some reason and she smiled warmly as the smell lingered, the old T.V. was still on its wheeled stand in the middle of the wall with two half circles of cushions on the floor where they used to sit and watch videos on the last day of school, at the cushions she picked one up, it still felt as fluffy as it did all those years ago, she held it closed to her face and inhaled it’s dusty, bleach aroma a door slamming made her drop the cushion to the floor, as it hit the floor it landed with a soft thud, Faith spun on her heel and tip toed to the corridor, she peered into the corridor and looked around, she could hear no footsteps or other breathing but her own, she turned back down the corridor, her boots sending tapping sounds down the corridor, she turned to the library and the heavy door was shut up tight, she faced the library door and placed her hand on the handle, she turned it and pushed the door, it wouldn’t move, she tried harder, still it wouldn’t budge, it was as though it was locked, she turned back to the corridor and quickened her pace as she walked back to the reception, once there she walked straight outside not looking back, her heart pounding in her chest, her skin covered in goose bumps, she turned back the beautiful building and looked at with sad eyes, a voice made her jump, “What the hell you think you’re doing in there?” the voice boomed, she looked in the direction of the sound and saw a builder, “we’re tearing this place down so I suggest you shift,” Faith took one long look back at the building, the red brickwork, the sandstone weathered wording, the chipped bright blue painted railings, the tennis ball still lodged in the air vent of the sports hall, she ran her fingers along the wall as she ran back towards the grass.
Once at the safety of the fence Faith turned and watched the dragon looking truck approach the building, it’s claw hit the building with a heavy thump, from the fence Faith could hear the crunch of glass and the truck drove deeper into the building, tearing down walls and doors as it went by, a lone tear fell down Faiths cheek, she stayed perched on the top of the fence until the building was just a pile of rubble, stray pieces of paper lifted up into the sky and danced on the wind, Faith jumped down from the fence and with one sad look back at the place her beautiful school once stood she walked home.
