Glass

Chapter 4

On one of their normal afternoons, they were in the middle of Terrarium by Scott Russel Sanders. They were discussing how the lives of the characters are un-lived construction manuals. How the rules that were followed constricted those who abided by them, creating lifeless zombies. How the want to live was drained from them in their dreary existences.

He was about to draw the connection of the fiction to reality, about to explain what mindset the author may have been in. But he was interrupted by the slam of the door knob colliding with the wall. A masked figure sulked into the room, gun pointed in between him and the teacher. The figure seemed panicked but aware, its cool grey eyes freezing blood. He had frozen. Goose bumps appearing as a chill slithers along his skin.

He remembered the moments in slow motion. Mr. Samk had stayed calm, he looked between the boy and the gun. He told the boy to look out the window and to count how many leaves were on the trees.

The boy did as told, but the glass only made what happened more real. It reflected the scene in a way that gave no error in showing every last detail.

The teacher made a move to get up, staring straight at the figure. His gaze focus; his lips parted slightly with words never to be spoken.

BANG

The noise echoed around the room. Only when the boy saw the busted bullet lodged in his window did he understand what happened. Only then did he realize that the body he saw drop was the teacher's. The webbed design that was created from the broken glass interrupted the reflection behind the boy.

The boy traced the pattern with his eyes. His mind and body were numb. He followed the segments radiating from the middle. He trailed the jagged angles until he reached the center. It was bloody.

That was the trigger.