The Irrational Fear of the Human Mind

Where have you been

The 1st of October 2014 was the day everything changed. Most say that it was for the worst, but I say that it was for the best.

     Our town is a small, Christian dominated community that resides in the middle of small state of Louisiana. Every day is predictable down to the last second, nothing ever changes, no-one ever visits, and no-one ever leaves. October 1st is a Wednesday. The local news forecasted it to be clear and sunny with a top of 850F. And for the first time ever, the news was wrong. Monstrous, black clouds appear out of nowhere and blanket the town in sea of darkness, shadowing everything that lay in its path. As the sky booms with earth-shattering thunder, every women in town sprints like crazy to the ancient, crumbling church to pray for the Lords forgiveness. Outside, lightning streaks and ripples above the frightened town, illuminating every plume of ever-darkening blackness. Barely anyone attends school today, a handful of us at most. We huddle together in the cafeteria as we wait for the bell to summon us to class, but it’s doubtful that it can be heard over the roaring thunder that threatens to beat every building into dust.

“What did you do?” I shout over the ragging thunder at my friend, James. James is a tall guy, much like me except I have more muscle on my bones than he does. He has champagne coloured hair that is now plastered to his head in a tangled wet mess. He takes off his squared glasses that are too big for his face, and wipes the water off them with the edge of his jacket.

“You sound like my mother. She asked if I forgot to say my prayers last night.” He takes a seat next to me, sliding his drenched bag off his back and throwing it on to the table in front of us. “Why does everyone think that this storm is my fault?” He asks, his voice competing with a clap of thunder. “It’s not like we’ve never had a storm before, why is everyone freaking out over this one?” He examines the damage done to the contents of his bag, pulling out book after book, all soaking and falling apart.

“Usually I would agree with you, but have you ever seen a storm like this?” I raise my eyebrows. James shrugs his shoulders in agreement and continues to rummage through his bag. The dull, yellow light that streams down from the cafeteria lights flickers a couple of times. As I go to resume my conversation with James, the room gets slightly brighter and with the shattering of all the light globes, the room is plunged into darkness. Shards of glass fall from the ceiling and are illuminated by the quick flashes of lightning that filter in from the translucent windows. The group of girls that were sitting in the far corner of the room, fly out of the seats, screaming and jumping up and down like a flock of disturbed cockatoos.

“Everyone into the gym!” Mr Perkins’ voice booms from the doorway. He holds a flashlight, swirling it around the room like one of those big spotlights that they have on prison walls. “In a calm and orderly fashion! Please!” Mr Perkins bellows as he is pushed and shoved by the mob of fanatic school girls that are acting like it’s the end of the world, as they claw their ways out of the cafeteria. As James and I are making our way out the doors, Mr Perkins pulls on my shirt. “James go ahead, I need to speak to Josh.” James nods his head and follows the rest of the screaming mob into the gym.

“Have I done something wrong, sir?” I ask.

“No, no, no. You’re not in trouble. I just need to ask a favour of you.” Mr Perkins reassures and leads me down the corridor and into the office area.

“We have a new student starting today.” Mr Perkins starts. I turn to him with my eyes ablaze in curiosity. We’ve never had a new student before. “I know it’s not the best day to be starting at a new school, but oh well. She’s here now.” She? I follow him through another set of corridors to where the interview rooms are. “Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to introduce yourself to her, make her more comfortable; maybe show her around later?” Mr Perkins inclines his head to a door, but before opening it he waits for my answer. I nod eagerly.