Alice

“Why are you crying?” I asked the new girl. She had covered her face with her hands but I could see the tears falling. “I don’t want to be here. I want to go home.” She replied raising her head to look at me. Her eyes were red, she had been crying for a long time. “Oh don’t cry. I know you are new here but this school is not that bad. You will like it.” I said sitting close to her. “Tell me about your old school.” I added. She wiped her tears with her hands. “It was smaller than this. The boys didn’t make fun of how I talked and my mummy was a teacher there too. We used to come to school together and go home together too.” She explained. She had stopped crying and a smile was crawling up her face. “Wow, you know what? After the break I’ll tell the boys in the class not to tease you again and I will find you a new friend ok?” I replied with my arm around her. She nodded sharply. “Do you want a girl or boy?” I asked again. “Oh a girl.” She said very shyly. We both giggled.

I could tell she was better after our little talk. She wasn’t talking much still but she didn’t have that sad look on her face. I warned the naughty boys at the back to leave her alone. We were halfway into the math lesson when I heard her speak. “Mrs. Hanson, can I go to the bathroom?” She asked so politely in almost a whisper. I looked down at her and smiled. “Sure. You know where it is right?” I asked. She nodded and walked out very briskly. A few minutes later without any warning the tables and chairs started shaking. All the paintings on the walls fell violently. It was an earthquake!

“Children, go out now!” I yelled over the terrified screams all over the school. The siren was blowing and tried to get all the children out of the class as fast as possible, before the roof started to fall. There was a stampede of kids and teachers rushing towards all the exits. There were cracks in the walls now. Just when I got to the emergency exit it hit me, Alice!!! I turned around and rushed back upstairs. “Mrs. Hanson, what are you doing?” Another teacher asked me, grabbing my hand in horror. “There is a child in the washroom!” I replied and rushed off. The roof was getting weaker now. There was dust everywhere. I passed by the science lab and it was on fire! Alice.

I managed to get to the washroom safely and yelled her name. “Alice! Are you here?!” I opened the doors one after the other. I found her and what I saw was far from words can describe. She was standing and holding both sides of the cubicle walls. Her eyes were closed and her head down. Her hair had turned long and violet and was blowing all over the place.I looked at her feet and they were not touching the ground! “I hate this school. I want to go home.” She kept saying. She felt my presence and opened her eyes. Instantly the earthquake stopped and she fell to the ground. “My God, Alice.” I whispered to myself.

To be continued…