499th post

This is the 499th post. I decided to celebrate the half-a-millenium mark one post earlier in case I forget about it. I had thought of celebrating when I was nearing my 100th post some time back but believed that 100 was far too little to be proud of.

For today, I have posted up a short story written by myself. Hope you'll enjoy it.

***

I climbed up the fence and jumped into the school’s backyard. I landed on my back. I was all alone on a Sunday night. I had to find that book I left in class. I need it for tomorrow’s exam. I have to get it back. I must.

The moment I stood up I knew I was in for something. A cat’s meow greeted me as I started walking to the nearest block. My ears heard the cat but my eyes couldn’t find it. The moon was shining brightly in the sky, but not bright enough to make things visible around me.

I walked up a slope. It was the way towards the science labs. My mind flew back to that afternoon. We were having biology class. This sudden flashback appeared to have made the whole area bright again, just like any other school day.

I started recalling what transpired on that afternoon.

We had to dissect a frog but I couldn’t be bothered with the theory behind it. I just tore mine up into pieces and mashed them up. I utilized every possible object within my reach to mutilate the dead animal. I was out of my mind. I chopped up the amphibian until the pieces became too small for any further breakdown.

I stopped walking. I was standing right outside that very laboratory now. I saw myself getting lectured by the teacher, my classmates were gave a disgusted look and the poor frog was physically beyond recognition.

I felt so silly. I felt so immature. Guilt was multiplying inside my body.

I strolled towards the window and peered inside. Everything looked the same. My eyes moved to look at the whiteboard. Suddenly, I heard a sound. I listened carefully. My eyes couldn’t find it again. It was a monotonous, low-pitched groan. I was still looking inside the lab.

Then, a green creature jumped up from nowhere and stuck out its tongue. It looked as though it was going to pierce through my eyeball. I shut my eyelids tightly. I screamed.

I started running.

I stepped onto something and tripped. That made me open up my eyes at last. The school bookshop was resting right beside me. Memories started flowing back again.
I had been stealing from the bookshop lady for as long as I can remember.

Pens, I pilfered pens and profited from the sale of them to my friends. It was the easiest stationery to steal. Sometimes, I would work with a trusted accomplice, on other occasions, I was an independent thief.

I had always been proud of myself for being so competent. I was never caught red-handed. It felt like an achievement whenever I walk out of the shop with something unpaid in my pocket.

Actually, news has it that the bookshop lady had just pass away last week. Rumour has it that she ate something poisonous. The bookshop has been closed for the past few days. That made impatient students buying stationery at the eleventh hour even more impatient.

All of a sudden, I felt sorry for the bookshop lady. My so-called pride vanished; I realized my achievements were just crimes; I got away scot-free out of pure luck each time. Or did somebody just didn’t report me?

My mind was in a mess. I had completely forgotten about the book I left in class.

“Kid, I know what you’re up to every time you enter the shop.” a voice above me said

I slowly looked up. It was a head. A floating head. The head of the bookshop lady!

“You’re still young so you’re entitled to chances. Chances to repent and reflect.”

That was the reason why I was never caught.

I jumped up and made a dash away from the bookshop. As I ran, I repeatedly told myself that it was a hallucination.

I let out a yell and it echoed throughout the school compound on a silent night.

I paused the run and found myself next to the water cooler. It was always the first place I went to when there was a break during band practice.

I stared at it for a second. The motor was still on and roaring like a monster trapped inside. Its metallic body reflected moonlight in the dark with shimmering elegance.

There was one day when no water came out. I kicked the machine non-stop as if it had cheated me all of my money.

I hurried over and tried looking for that dent I created. My fingers crawled around its body and sensed a hollow area. My left hand started stroking that area for no reason. While I was doing that, my right hand unexpectedly touched my tummy. “What if somebody kicked me like that?” I thought.

I had still yet to find my book. I ambled down the aisle where my classroom was. The bookshop lady’s head was still in my mind. She seemed to be smiling.

I had to move quickly and just get out of this weird place which I study at.

It took me more than ten seconds to make the first and second steps into the classroom. My breathing and heartbeat were competing each other to see who was louder. My eyes kept blinking.

The classroom froze in the dark. So was I.

My legs were too afraid to drag me forward. I kept turning my neck as if somebody was behind me.

All of a sudden, my mobile phone exploded in my pocket, playing my favourite ringtone. I trudged out of the classroom and answered the call.

“Gor, where’re you? I’ve found your book.”

“Where?”

“At the back of the sofa. I don’t know how it ended up there”

But I do know. I have misplaced it. And I just came to understand that I had been wasting my time in the school. I immediately ran back to the backyard. I climbed the fence and landed on my back again.

As I got up, I heaved a huge sigh of relief but a thunderclap overpowered it.

I had just attended a valuable lesson in school on a Sunday night. A lesson that will never happen on a bright and normal school day.

Another thunder laughed loudly in the night sky. I paced back home with quick steps. Raindrops started falling on my head.