Activity

Here’s mine. Cool idea.

(note: it’s a very, very rough draft)

 

Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five…

So close. Freedom is so close.

Four…three…two…one!

The bell rings, we laugh and scream. Chairs scrape backwards, canes scratch against cold tile, and books slide across weathered wood as we scramble to our feet.

School is out, senior year is over. We are free.

“Dude,” Lance grumbles beside me, “that took forever.”

“I thought she’d never stop talking,” says Brenna, her cane brushing against my ankle. “Who cares about Abraham Lincoln at a time like this? We’re graduated.”

Lance chuckles. “The rest of those losers are stuck in her class for another week.”

“Hey!” I shove him away. “My sister is in that class, dummy.”

He gulps. “Ah. Right.”

To my right, Brenna laughs, the sound like a tiny bell, the triumph in it lost as we walk into the hallway.

Lance curses. “God I can’t wait to get out of here.”

Everyone is shrieking, hollering at one another as they slam their lockers shut. Voices like tiny knives pierce their way into my skull. Backpacks and walking sticks poke and jab at my ankles, my shoulders.

One hand is at my side, the other grips my cane so tightly my entire arm trembles. It’s all I can do not to flail outward, spread my arms like wings and run out of this stupid hall, away from the smell of sweat and the sound of screams.

I hate this place.

Someone rams into me, sending me jolting forward. My cane flies out of my hand and clatters somewhere to my left. I lunge forward, a hand outstretched, but the cane is gone, and I am moving through darkness, darkness and a sea of bodies.

“Whoa,” Lance catches my arm. “Chill.” He grunts as he bends down, cane clicking against the floor, and slides my walking stick towards my hand. “Got it?”

“Yeah.” I stand, breathe in deeply, and start forward. “Thanks.”

I can almost see him grin. “Few more steps, man. Then we’re out of here forever.”

“Forever.” I nearly forgot Brenna was standing there.

“Forever,” I say. It feels like a promise, a vow between us three, and I grin.

We walk forward, shoving open the doors, and march into the sun-lit beginning of forever.