Dreaming

Mesmerizing

It happened well into my tenure at school. There was nothing more to learn, at least in my mind. The duration of the class felt shortened in my inattentive state— it might've been just me who felt that way— so when the bell signaled the halfway point of the fifth subject, it startled me into action.

We all made our way to the lunchroom, almost in a rush. It would fill up quickly. The food would be gone. I found a seat first, a stupid decision on my part— the line would fill up quickly. The wait would be long. I must've realized as such because I immediately turned and, with a quickened pace, made my way to the line.

Luckily, there weren't many students there yet, my walk was shorter than most, so there weren't that many in front of me, maybe 10. As I stood, I noticed an oddity to my left— stacks of raw fish sat there. Upon further inspection, I realized that was supposed to be part of our meal— students would take as much as they liked before returning to the line. I turned my gaze to the front of the line, to the servers. Ah, they would cook them for us. I was suddenly a bit more enthusiastic.

Whereas many would grab one or two slabs, I took four. As I got closer to the front, I saw that the fish was not the only delicacy served on this day. The layout of the seafood cuisine was more suited to a hotel buffet than a school cafeteria, this must've been a special occasion. It must've been.

I saw a new face, she was cooking our fish. I saw a new creature, a shellfish that I had never seen before. I struck up a conversation. I pointed at the shellfish. What's that? She looked at me, smiled. A Duster. I had never heard of it, but she must've known, it was her job. Wow.

I must've looked surprised. She chuckled. I smiled. I forgot to ask the occasion as I handed her my stack of fish. Cooking took a while, she told me she'd call me back up when it was ready, so I left to find a seat.

I sat with familiar faces, watched as they ate. Why was the wait so long? I distracted myself with conversation, the table filled up a bit. At some point, an unfamiliar face took the seat next to me. I turned to take a look, a peek really. I froze.

Her visage was mesmerizing, I could do nothing but stare, the background fading into a blur, and her countenance glimmering as if it were a filter on a photograph.

Time passed, we talked a bit, I continued to stare. I followed her out of the cafeteria—the bell had rung apparently— class is less boring, more drawn out. I saw nothing but that smile.

Needless to say, I didn't get my lunch that day.