by Loui Downing
‘Ah, there…There he is!’ claimed Pennie as she had been scanning the hallway seating for the health and fitness teacher they had been so longing to talk to. The queue still was rather long so they would have to wait for a few minutes until they could go over and start talking.
‘What are we going to do?’ said Francesca, watching Mr Johnson walk towards them, heading for the exit presumptuously.
‘We’ll just ask if we can have a talk in his office now for a few minutes informally’ said Pennie as if Francesca didn’t have a clue about these things. Mr Johnson was on his way past as the girls politely asked him for a talk in his office, which he was more than happy to assist them with. The girls had been told to go to room 12b in around ten minutes, after him making a joke about tidying his office, which surprisingly it was in need of, only he neither had the strength nor the desire to bring himself to do it.
Around ten minutes later the girls arrived at his small office door at the other end of the corridor of similar offices, hearing a muffled shout for them to come in, which made Francesca open the door right away, on opening they were greeted by a staggeringly broad smile. He appeared to be pulling a box of files towards himself with his feet as though he was hiding something. They sat down and explained all the things they have experienced over the past few days, going into great detail so that he could get all the facts before making a decision. Francesca spoke mostly as Pennie interjected small details to make the whole story accurate and concise as possible. Pennie noticed that there was a certain disbelief or frightened look in Mr Johnson’s eyes as though he found this all hard to comprehend. He sat back in his comfy leather chair that fell back at his command; he gazed out of the window and stroked his beard with his finger and thumb, taking in all the details. He then appeared very shifty and restless as he excused himself from their company and exited into a small room where a few other teachers were located. He closed the door but Pennie just managed to sneak over and placed her foot in the doorway to prevent the door from closing. Francesca was perplexed to see what she was doing but soon sneaked over and followed suit after she waved her over moments after he had left the room. Listening intently, they could hear what he was saying to the other teachers in the room, Francesca holding back a cough that would have alerted their position.
‘I have two pupils in my office detailing of a series of unknown things happening around the school, what should we do?’ said Mr Johnson generally to the teachers present, which consisted of Mr Woi-chi Ataki a Chinese teacher of history that clearly had an appetite in another area outside of trench warfare, a literature teacher Mr William Deeds whose lips were as mean as the eyes of a storm, a business teacher Ms Alice Green that was actually quite normal until she laughed, which would pierce through any material and finally a religious and ethical teacher called Mr Phillip Bird whose clothes hung off him as though they had been stretched by a giant, along with his thick platted dreadlocks that flopped down to his shoulders, creating a hippie style, which sometimes makes the teachers and pupils laugh when he talks of his Volkswagen touring van he used to have when he was younger.
‘Tell them anything Andrew, use your imagination you’re best at that’ replied Alice, saying the first thing that came to her mind.
‘What exactly have these children claimed to have seen?’ said William; the willingness to dismantle their beliefs and morals shining brightly in his eyes.
‘Flickering light on the borders, their friend has gone missing, temperature drops and repetitive things from their bedrooms, it’s all getting so obvious’ said Andrew as Francesca and Pennie’s eyebrows lifted with intrigue to what is happening and what they mean.
‘Oh my!’ said Alice, straightening up her dress and hair as she stopped crunching on an apple.
‘Yes, it appears that we are in substantial trouble here, we need to do something about it’ said Andrew, pointing out the urgency of the matter due to everyone’s posture and body language being ill-concerned and half-hearted.
‘We have to find the child that is our main priority, but we also need to restrain the others, they cannot be trusted and must be ejected from here at once’ said Woi-chi, the other teachers agreeing. Francesca dropped to the floor as she felt faint, half caught by Pennie, which made a loud noise and the room went deadly silent.
‘Andrew I think this conversation is now over’ said Phillip.
‘[whispers] Go and check…see if there’s anyone there’ added Phillip, the whole room being filled with tension at the thought of what might happen next. Francesca and Pennie bolted from the office and down into corridors where they sprinted down and back into the grounds of the school where they had been previously. Mr Johnson reverted back into his office, swinging the door open which crashed into coats and umbrellas on the other side of the door as he looked around the room.
‘THERE GONE!!’ shouted Andrew. The other teachers rushed to assist him as they too saw what he was staring at so angrily.
‘We should alert the R.H.S shouldn’t we?’ asked Alice.
‘Yes, immediately. We’ll have to all besiege to the border. We had better hurry, for our hands rest in the curious minds of the children. If anything is suspected, it means our future will be no more’ said Phillip as he lifted his suit jacket sleeve and started writing with his finger on a screen that was embedded into his wrist. The teachers collected the necessary documents and started to shred them, as well as closing down their offices. All equipment was dismantled and files wiped from existence, which Ms Green was currently doing at her desk, the mid-air screen contained a percentage progress bar that was in its mid-sixties, Andrew noticed her looking so he nodded in acknowledgement as she touches the screen and they were surrounded by darkness.
The two girls were heading back into the muddy forest, just as the skies started to darken rather quicker than they had seen before. The footsteps where they traipsed earlier were still visible along the grass pathway that they had formed. The crinkly boot impressions could still be seen as the gentle ripples of the water fluctuated delicately. Tauntingly twisted clouds swarmed above them as they courageously made their way through the forest, with the hope of seeing Edward at any moment and that they could all work out what is going on back at the school.
Pennie panted harder and harder as she swung her arms graciously back and forth, slicing the air with every stride. The harsh inhalation of freezing cold air painfully made its way down her oesophagus and down, stretching her lungs like an over filled balloon, ready to burst without warning. Her muscles started to strain so she decided to slow down and break into a light jog to cool off any aches and pains, but they still hurt none the less. Francesca and Pennie carried on down the slope and started walking along a dry stretch of grass plane, across from the field of flies. Pennie waved her arm as she turned to Francesca for a reaction, only to see her looking back at the hostel but Pennie refrained from saying anything, she knows never to interrupt her thoughts. Francesca casually yawed as she turned back, noticing Pennie urgently pointing to something. Francesca was deeply apologetic for her tiresome expression and the fact that she had been daydreaming for some time now, realising how impatient Pennie is.
Francesca and Pennie arrived at the bridge only to find the entire place deserted, not even the distant tweets from the birds could find its way to the ears of them.
‘He must be somewhere around; it wasn’t that long ago since we last saw him so he can’t have gone very far. Maybe he could have joined the other group and headed that way’ said Francesca, leaning over the crumby bricks that worryingly still holds the supports for the bridge, creaking and moaning at every possible strain, not reassuring Francesca in any way. Tiny dried old cement fell off into the wrinkly ripples of the water below where Francesca was admiring her hair and something she was wearing. The tiny pieces seemed to take a few minutes to fall to the floor, distorting the reflected image in the water. Francesca moved closer to the water edge to get a detailed view, where s
he saw a distant blur in the sky that was to the left of the bridge. She immediately ran back to the grass verge and tilted her head high, straining her neck at the same time as she saw something completely shocking and unbelievable.
‘That’s Edward! Oh my god what is he doing?’ shouted Francesca as she squinted so much that her eyes could take now more and she had to look away. As Francesca cast her head aside, so she was looking directly at the muddy underpass, stones and frog corpses which gave a nasty smell.
‘What? Where’s Edward?’ replied Pennie, further underneath the bridge where she was sat down with her head in her hands. Pennie walked slowly towards Francesca, which fuelled Francesca’s rage as she beamed a really disgusted look back at Francesca. Francesca’s eyes were burning wildly like a natural forest fire, so intensive that all she could do was elevate her arm and point to what she had been looking at a few moments ago. Pennie couldn’t take her eyes off Edward, standing around two and a half miles away above her, mesmerised and fixated on him. Francesca climbed the grass verge to get a better view as she straightened up, stumbling slightly to reach the bridge front. They both stared intently at Edward until their necks started to seize up and become painful, Pennie lifted her arm and started to massage the muscle. Edward was just standing their motionless as if he was propped-up on something but there was nothing there.
‘He’s gone!!!’ shouted Francesca, just as Pennie took her eyes off him, only to turn back immediately, making a gargling sound along with a sudden inhalation of air.
‘He was right there a moment ago, how come he’s disappeared?’ replied Pennie, questioning what just happened.
‘I really have no idea. I do know one thing and that is I have a feeling that this place might not be what everyone believes it to be’ said Francesca, revealing her feelings at last to her.
‘What do you mean?’ replied Pennie, with a sense of urgency in her voice, interrupting before she had time to finish.
‘I don’t have anything to do with the light thing you always talk about’ added Pennie condescendingly.
‘No…it’s a number of things and one of them is that’ said Francesca, pointing vertically where Edward was earlier.
‘I’ve noticed a few things around this place that really do scare me…and some other things that fills me with rage’ said Francesca, being even more elusive which made Pennie more attentive. Pennie remained silent as she toyed with what Francesca had just said.
‘But it can’t be…wait! No, no…it’s just not possible’ said Francesca, rambling to herself as she paced up and down the bridge opening, passing Pennie as she did.
‘THE WATER!! That must be it!’ burst out Francesca, leaping from the ground as she shouted, which made Pennie juddered in fright. Francesca hurried to underneath the bridge, this time leaping down over the grass verge this time. Pennie watched her, thoughts swirled her mind of Francesca being locked away for insanity as she found her ramblings worryingly preposterous.
‘It can’t be!’ said Francesca, her voice echoed by the cosy bridge walls, magnifying her voice as it wiggled its way towards Pennie. Pennie looked down at Francesca from the bank, only to see her kneeling down and looking into the water. Pennie kept her distance and agreed with anything as she was part scared at what she might do and part intrigued to find out what she is going on about.
‘Fran…we need to get to the border…and now!’ said Pennie, way too softly for what it should have been. Francesca carried on looking into the water and mumbling to herself.
‘The teachers are coming, we best go and hide somewhere no-one will find us…the borders are probably the best bet’ said Pennie, organising their next move to avoid the consequences of Mr Johnson and Ms Green, who can be incredibly nasty at times where her sugar level plummets dangerously. Francesca panicked like Pennie had dreaded, Francesca was soon at her level and collecting the odd pieces of paper and things they had acquired over the years in the bottom of her satchel, like a mouldy sandwich that appeared slimy green and odd patches of black. The sandwich was the least of her worries at the moment, scrambling around for a compass, binoculars and a few text books for A.I. Pennie decided to start sprinting as Francesca bolted down the path along the river side. They sprinted for around ten minutes before becoming fatigued, Francesca urging for them to carry on and Pennie reluctantly did. As they slowed on arrival to a sign, this time it was large and detailed
‘ANY PUPIL CAUGHT CROSSING THE BORDER OR ATTEMPTING TO DO SO WILL BE PUNISHED INDEFINATELY AND ALL ACTIVITIES WILL BE POSTPONED, ALONG WITH THE PUPIL BEING DETAINED IN THE CHATTER BOX
Yours appreciatively Mr Marvel’
They both came to a halt and began to read the sign that had worn away and looked very old. The sign stood centre of the giant posts that beamed red lights in every direction. The area looked reasonably clean and orderly, but the sign was so old, confusing Pennie even more, as she started to believe Francesca, although she attempted to make sense of the puzzling events with no sound outcome being reached. The border stretched all the way around the premises of the hostel, Francesca seeing the same giant posts in the distance, only considerably smaller. They hide behind a fallen tree and some of the branches the overhung perfectly. Time past as they waited to see the teachers homing in on the border, ready to punish them for breaking the rules. Francesca yawned as she placed both of her arms on a dingy section of bark. The path that they were observing had been empty for quite some time now, their body language portraying that they would like to give up, although neither of them had the confidence to come out and say it. They watched more and more of the same deserted pathway, which finally resulted in them both standing and planning their next move to evade being caught.
Pennie and Francesca are stood over the messy mound of trees and twigs. Pennie noticed a shiny blue pebble underneath a branch and on some grass and weeds not far from her. She bent down and stretched to reach the dazzling blue pebble as she held it in her hands and admired for a while. Francesca realised what Pennie was doing and remained standing looking directly at her, to make it completely obvious that she has been seen. Pennie looked up and noticed Francesca’s mouth opening and shutting as she spoke, although her mind was elsewhere that she didn’t have a clue as to what she was saying. Pennie thought she might as well look into the distance and try to piece together what Francesca had just said. The sky behind the border beamed a healthy blue, with a few strokes of white that etched their way into the skyline. Pennie realised what Francesca must be talking about as he caught the last few words which were ‘…go back…nothing for us here’. Pennie opened her clenched fist which contained the pebble and she aimed for the sign, preparing to break it at her disapproval for rules. She threw the pebble but it curved up, making her collect her things just as she threw it and was preparing for their departure. All of a sudden there was a thud which made them both stop in their tracks and look back apprehensively. Pennie constantly thinking about what would happen to them if they did get caught or seen by anyone. The noise magnified as Francesca and Pennie turned around at the same moment, noticing the same blue pebble Pennie had thrown seconds earlier. They watched the pebble dance on the stony path, getting closer towards them both.
“THE LIGHT!” shouted Francesca, pointing straight ahead at where the posts and sign were. Francesca squinted and Pennie followed suit as she could see something where the light beam had just shone from. A small hole appeared from where Pennie threw the pebble as they both move closer to see what it was. As they move closer the shocking images fill their eyes, Pennie’s jaw receding to the floor. Their eye’s filled with the roaring flames and dusty debris. A snap of a branch alerts them both to turn around, which they did concurrently. A line of teachers barricaded the pathway ahead of where they had just been walking down. The teachers instantly started to run, heading straight for Francesca and Pennie. The girls started shaking uncontrollably. Francesca impulsively kicked at what appeared to be mid-air, which is in fact was something, making a smashing
sound. The hole where the pebble had gone through had now grown even larger. In a quick flash of desperation at what to do next Francesca grabs Pennie’s arm runs and jumps where the hole is, both of them closing their eyes at they ran. Moments later, Francesca is brushing moist mud of her t-shirt and jeans, gradually getting slower and slower as she looks up and around her, to find she is in a completely different place whatsoever. There they are stood next to a large dome shape building and pure plains of land that contained nothing but demolition. Looking back through the hole they see their teachers homing in on the other side. Francesca pauses and looks around, astounded at what they have uncovered, deeply searching for an excuse for all of this. She now realises that what she thought to be just her imagination was in fact reality. She was in fact looking back at what had been created and stood beneath the truth she had longed to uncover.
CHAPTER EIGHT
