The Endless Ringing
The bell rang throughout the narrow hall. There were rusty black lockers that filled the silence before the bell when slammed in a hurry. All four doors swung open as the masses flooded in, either gossiping and speaking with their peers or in dreadful dispositions. In this hall, there were two doors along each tall, stained white wall– with those same rusty black lockers. But it was only at one of these doors—a teacher stood guard, masked with a bright smile as a stream of students entered.
Many could already feel every pound of their heartbeat, following in rhythm with the ticking black round clock resting on the walls of each room. No one individual could escape its tick, following the victim to each and every corner of the room. It felt like all of eternity had been spent within those four white walls— a neutral shade of white that would taunt all. Everyone felt uneasy once that static would bring the room to a hush. In one corner of the classroom, the color red pounced on those who were oblivious to the danger.
Once all stood within that corner, danger was creeping — whispers were discovered to fill the silence and to calm the nerves of those pounding heartbeats. In the second corner, the colors black and white were present throughout— the hanging clock, words of encouragement, and supplies were color-coded in the same manner. The third corner, purple, was where the coats and garments of the students hung delicately on each purple hook, with a black board firmly keeping the purple hooks in place. Last was the green corner, which kept the turn-in bin and all extra worksheets for those with absences. Not all classrooms were in this state— only the one where the teacher stood guard, watching those who entered their classroom.
The corner of black and white was where those who were victims of it would feel the course of time. The clock had begun to leave its mark on the corner and those in it, a constant reminder of class after class to come. The last corner, green, served as the place to turn in homework, leading to new understanding for students, and happiness with the results or filled with envy glancing at other papers, as grades would be sent back in the same bin. The corner of purple, where trendy and expensive coats and garments hung delicately on the purple hooks, once it was time to leave for the next period students would be left to observe and compare clothing, some eager to show off, others hiding away. The corner, ever so red, remained empty unless an emergency were to come— causing a lockdown of the campus.
Such a fright for those oblivious to it as the alarm sounds to alert all of the threat. Shoulder to shoulder, a forced sense of closeness yet in such an emergency this was not a thought. When danger is near and discomfort creeps in, such closeness is necessary to feel strength and courage. The teacher is expected to remain alert, to protect those students to the best of their ability from danger. Outside of this corner, this classroom— students are left to face the danger of the real world.
One student abruptly stood up, trailing over to the red, black and white, purple, green, and then black and white corner as before. It was silent in the classroom, so the student’s footsteps filled the room with sound. The student did so quietly for fear of their peers questioning their actions when the reality was the student went unnoticed. Once again, looking for a response of any sort the student went back to red, black and white, purple, green, and stumbled into the purple corner. This time walking between corners became difficult because the student was shaky with every step they took.
Still little to no reaction from their peers, and the student simply went unnoticed. The bell soon rang. All chairs scraped the hard floors at once, with those legs of metal, with backpacks lifted to the shoulders of the students in sync. Before leaving each student planted a hand print onto the student, one by one. As the last one of their peers placed a handprint onto the student, the teacher happily dismissed the class. The door swung open again and again as the students filed out of the room, silent unlike before. Yet there still stood, the student alone with the paint of every corner rubbed off on them, red, black and white, purple, and green paint. Tears stained the face of the student, they were green tears. No matter where the student stood, they felt the same uneasiness, with the ringing of it all in their ears.
