THE SCHOOL

"It all started out as a dream. Hope THE SCHOOL entertains you"

THE SCHOOL - EPISODE 1

Tonight was a little different than the rest. It was raining and lightning heavily outside. My friends and I were on a bus ride to night school. It was a newly renovated school for adults to upgrade and gain knowledge. The road was rather dark and lonely with several cars passed by. The bus somehow slowed down, as the rain got heavier and heavier. However, the bus driver managed to guide on the road and safely arrive to the night school. Looking out from the bus window, I felt tired and wanted to rest on my bed. It wasn’t a great night to study when I was supposed to sleep on my bed while listening to some smooth music. Like it or not, I got off from the bus and sprang towards the school’s main entrance. My friends, Tyson and Jesse, on the other hand, were showered with raindrops. I was lucky because I knew it was going to rain tonight and also brought myself an umbrella.

We managed to attend the class but we were a little late due to the rainy weather. Anyway, the instructor was fine with us since our reason to be late was absolutely acceptable. As usual, the class was rather dull and repetitive. Throughout the class, we almost felt asleep. Well, I started writing messages to my classmates in a piece of paper. In the note, I wrote, “This class is bored to death”. Tyson wrote back, “Let’s go out for a break”. Jesse suggested us to hang out at the cafeteria. Well, we eventually ended up agreeing on his suggestion. To go out from the class together at once would trigger some suspicious feedback from the instructor; therefore, we came up different excuses to escape the dullness of the class. My excuse was simple that I needed to go to washroom. Tyson wanted to get some drinks from the cafeteria, and Jesse wanted to hand in his already-due assignment.

As we got out from the class and to the cafeteria, we were laughing like kids in the hallway. Out of nowhere, we felt relaxing and free. In a table, in front of a cashier counter, we sat there to chill out and laugh at everyone’s jokes. The cafeteria was quite empty during this hour since most students would probably stay at home, watching American Idol. It was just tiring and hectic for me to study and at the same time working part-time. I needed extra income to sustain my busy lifestyle. Well, we took our turn to order our drinks. Tyson went first to order a cold orange juice, and Jesse got himself a hot chocolate. They both came back to the table and started sipping in their delicious drinks. First, I didn’t feel like drinking at all, but somehow my throat got thirsty. As usual, I went to line-up and wanted to order something warm and refreshing.

My turn to order my drink finally arrived. However, the counter girl gave me a smile for like few seconds. To me, it was a little weird. I thought she knew me from somewhere or she was smiling at someone behind me. I slowly turned around and saw nothing. My friends, who sat on the table in front of the counter, disappeared. To my sudden surprise, I turned back to the counter girl. During the process of turning back, the cozy environment, the bright walls of the school and the sweet surrounding of the cafeteria unimaginably turned to a gloomy and eerie old school. The newly painted wall had turned into a rusty charcoal-like wall with unpaved bricks. The smiling girl had vanished as I finally turned back and looked at her. Now, the school had turned into total darkness. This was something daunting.

--== Breathe - Demonstration ==--

[Please be informed that this is a blog series. Please start reading from the beginning if you have read so. Enjoy!]

Constant frustration and immediate tiredness are encasing my whole body, especially my mind. I can't really think of anything right now. My blood is not running through my brain. Maybe revenge or maybe justice is needed here. Whatever it is, I had enough. I am used to say that Life is hopeless but that doesn't mean we don't do anything. We don't live for nothing but we die for something, something to be remembered for our own good cause. Something, I believe, will make a difference, even if it’s just saving the lives of others.

Karl protected his family by leaving his country. Karl’s dad protected his son by staying away from the politics. What is left for Karl is nothing but the soul of self-enlightenment. He is living his life day by day, hoping he could rest in peace on his last day and also knowing that the world will turn into a beautiful place.

To me, he was living his life with full of regrets and hatreds. I know that time heals everything, but time will run out too. This is my defining moment to take any necessary action for the sake of life, hope, justice and survival.

There are human who attach their bodies with self-detonated bombs, but there are also people, like us, with fear of losing freedom. Dangerously, we don’t need to use bombs or weapons; we ourselves explode without any fear of death because our main fundamental rights are gone.

The Day after the Demonstration

Holevent: The city suffered 2 major blows simultaneously when the explosion killed 20 and injured 40 at the Food Bank and the demonstration hit hard at the city area with 50,000 protestors. Government has managed to control the rally with force, causing some bloodshed and major injuries to at least 200 people.

“We believe that today’s explosion and demonstration were linked,” said John Thompson, head of the Holevent Police forces department. He believes that today’s action was barbaric because some demonstrators were trying to create a diversion by blowing up the food bank and simultaneously, making a chaotic protest. Thompson continued, “ We decided to use rubber bullets and tear gases to control the situation when our men were harmed with stones and gun shots”. On the other side of the story, most protesters were absolutely depressed over the Food bank explosion incident; furthermore, the governments put a possible blame on the demonstrators for creating such a barbaric action. James, one of the protesters, claimed that the police was using forces and not rubber bullets. Now, the streets were scattered with bloods and bullets. A huge amount of pressure is pilling up on the government. They will investigate on the incident and provide a substantial report within weeks. The government has yet to come up with a full report on death of several protesters. The streets are closed for ….

Having stopped reading today’s headlines. I am stuck with a mixed feeling of frustration. Rumors of government’s conspiracy on the food bank explosion are all over the town. I quickly dash to my office at West Avenue Road. On my way to my office, there are people crying and shouting. My mind, too, starts cursing the fucking killers. The roads are scattered with old newspapers and broken protest signboards, written with words such as GOV’T SUCKS and GOV’T KILLS US.

I have reached my office and quickly dash to my manager’s room, asking for the permission to do the newspaper’s investigation on yesterday’s brutal explosion and also the demonstration. My manager, with a sudden shock on his face, looks at me for like 5 seconds. Then, my manager mentions, “ Son, This is going to be a road-to-hell investigation. You will jeopardize your life. Are you sure you wanna do it?”